Caledonia Argus

Child care assistance available for working families in county

Posted: 5/28/02

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

A total of 122 families in Houston County are taking advantage of the countyís child care assistance program, and three families are on a waiting list.

Jeanette Twite, financial worker, and Bonnie Goetzinger, financial assistance supervisor of Human Services, explained the program to county commissioners on May 21.

There are two types of programs, explained Twite. Families who are eligible for MFIP (Minnesota Families Investment Program*) are automatically eligible for child care assistance. Also eligible are families in which both parents are working but who have trouble meeting those expenses. In those cases, the amount of assistance the family receives is eligible for is based on a sliding fee scale which using income and family size as factors.

That amount is paid directly to the child care provider. For self-employed persons, the Human Services Department uses gross income in making the determination of assistance. Depreciation is added back in.

If a licensed child care provider charges more than $2.25 per hour, per child, the client must pay everything over that amount. Non-licensed providers receive a maximum of $2.02 per child. The maximum fees are based on a survey of county child care providers.

There is no asset test, said Twite.

Of the 122 families in the program, 81 are on the basic sliding fee scale. Every six months, the co-pay amount is reviewed and adjusted if necessary.

According to Goetzinger, fraud has been a problem in the program and is getting worse. Currently, there is a person who checks out cases of alleged fraud in Human Services. Although she works for five counties, she does a good job of checking out cases for Houston County in a timely manner. Providers also alert Human Services if there are discrepancies.

ìItís hard to administer a program and police it,î said Commissioner David Corcoran.

Goetzinger explained that the state has made $329,000 available for 2002 to cover the costs of the program for families who received a co-pay. If the county goes over that amount, county dollars can be used but Human Services does not plan on using more than what the state covers, said Goetzinger. For families on MFIP, the funds come from a different fund and are covered by the state.

Child care assistance has been available in the county for about 10 years, said Goetzinger. The purpose of the presentation Tuesday was to being commissioners up to date.

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