Title
A Resolution urging the Commonwealth of Ky. to clarify and reconsider its decision to cut child care assistance and requesting that the Ky. General Assembly take appropriate measures to eliminate or reduce the impact this decision will have on impacted families, and hereby notifying the appropriate officials. [Council Office, Maynard]
Body
WHEREAS, it was announced on January 30, 2013 that the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services will cut child care assistance to low income families and will pay no new subsidies to relatives raising abused or neglected children beginning in April 2013; and
WHEREAS these cuts will reduce this funding by tens of millions of dollars and impact an estimated existing 8,700 families and 20,000 children and other future applicants will be denied this funding; and
WHEREAS these benefits allow the family members to work and/or attain higher education and these funding reductions could result in primary care givers leaving the work force in order to provide child care; and
WHEREAS, the elimination of these benefits to those raising abused or neglected children will increase the likelihood that some of the children benefitting from this assistance will end up in foster care, which has additional cost ramifications to taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, there is some likelihood that the ultimate cost to taxpayers and society will be greater than the savings achieved through the proposed cuts due to the potential costs of job loss, increase need for foster care, loss of opportunity to attain higher education and the increased burden the program participants will place on various public and private community assistance programs; and
WHEREAS, many of the children that will no longer be able to receive the benefits of this assistance will be denied the opportunity to receive a quality early education, which will have a significant long term negative economic and societal impact on those children and the citizens of Kent...
Click here for full text