[Vision2020] News from Boise

[Tom Ivie]

Shirley,
This is entirely too bad.  Many of those who benefit from the post secondary childcare assistance are single parents.  A great majority of them already work more than 10 hours per week as well.  I know of one single mother with a 4 year old that is a full time law student, works 10 hours per week, is on Law Review, and "volunteers" in order to gain legal experience.  She will be a good and compassionate lawyer and make decent money after she graduates.  The state will benefit from her education by way of service in the courts (first job will be clerking for a judge) and she will be paying taxes in Idaho.

One of the many problems with the welfare system is that it punishes you and kicks you down when you are trying to get up on your feet. It punishes you for working too many hours and if you make $1 over the cut off, that's it.  

A couple of ideas:
How about a sliding scale?  
What about special programs that give better benefits to fill career areas that we need in Idaho (ie. technical, legal, teaching, science, Math, etc.)?

Donovan Arnold <donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote: Shirley,
   
  Thanks for the update. What are you, Tom, and Gary doing about the financial problems concerning Latah Health Services? I hope you guys have not given up on our community members that are elderly and disabled? Part of the problem rests with the limited funding we get from the state to operate the facility. 
   
  What are each of you doing about the ridiculous and painful 6% tax on food in our state? 
   
  Thanks for your communications and work.
   
  Donovan Arnold
   
  
Shirley Ringo <ringoshirl at moscow.com> wrote:
          Visionaries:    
   Last Friday, we had a report in the Joint Finance Committee from Russ Barron, Division Administrator for the Division of Welfare
   
  He reported upon a series of changes proposed to the Idaho Child Care Program.  This program is designed to help the working poor by providing a subsidy for child care expenses.  Last year, this program paid a portion of child care expenses for 9.100 children  every month.  This program is funded primarily with capped federal dollars and we are currently at the maximum federal match.
   
  The Department proposes a “cost neutral” approach to make two changes:
   
  1.                  Update the  eligibility limit from 150% of 1998 federal poverty rates to 150% of 2005 federal poverty rates.  (This will make more people eligible.)
  2.                  Update the market rates for reimbursing Child Care providers.  Many providers will not accept ICCP customers because of low reimbursement rates.
   
  The Department proposes to compensate for these two changes by making two eligibility modifications:
   
  1.                  Reduce the length of time post-secondary students can receive child care assistance from four years to two  years.
  2.                  Require post-secondary students to work a  ten hour per week minimum as a condition for eligibility.
   
  This poses a thorny situation for a student who needs childcare to attend classes and has this support taken away after the first two  years of post-secondary education.  I just learned today that this is to be presented as a rule change in Health and Welfare.  (Rule changes are decided in committee, and don't go to the full House and Senate for consideration.) Apparently the Senate Committee postponed a decision on the rule and may take it up Thursday, January 25.  There are options being considered to retain the childcare support for the final two post-secondary years.
   
   
   
   
   
   

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