Lorain/Elyria, OH
State stops payments to child care providers
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ELYRIA — Child care provider Chris St. Peter was stunned when she received a letter this week saying the state has no money to pay her for taking care of children of low-income parents in June.
“To be honest, I threw up,” St. Peter said. “My husband works at Invacare, but this money (from child care) pays our mortgage — we have a $1,100 mortgage.”
For the time being, St. Peter will continue to take in the children without pay in her Bell Avenue home.
So will her friend Jenn Hill, who cares for youngsters in her home on Furnace Street.
“I’m going to provide services next week and see what happens,” said Hill, the single mom of two. “The parents might have to provide their own food.”
St. Peter, Hill and other anxious child care providers crowded the Thursday meeting of Lorain County Commissioners.
They didn’t get many answers. County Administrator James Cordes said federal money is not flowing to Lorain County Job & Family Services because of the state budget crisis.
Commissioners urged them to contact State Reps. Matt Lundy, D-Elyria and Joseph Koziura, D-Lorain, as well as state Sen. Sue Morano, D-Lorain, to supply with them detailed information about their plight.
The state budget crisis is responsible, according to Mary Lou Golski, director of Lorain County Job & Family Services, who did not attend the meeting.
“They (state officials) do not have any money to forward to us,” Golski said. “We’re sitting on a million dollars of child care bills … a lot of innocent people are going to be harmed.”
The state owes the $1 million to 160 child care providers in Lorain County at 85 centers, Golski said.
Children from some 3,000 households receive care in those facilities while their parents work or train for jobs, Golski said.
“I feel really bad for the day care providers, but we aren’t singling them out,” Golski said.
She said providers are required to give a 10-day notice they will stop providing services. She said Wednesday afternoon that she did not know of any child care providers who are dropping out.
Child care providers said they are worried about the ripple effect if they stop caring for children while their parents work.
“If the parents can’t get to work, they’re going to go on welfare,” said Mary Glynn, of Elyria.
Child Care provider Jean Armstrong said providers will meet on the issue from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the community room at the Elyria Police Station.
She had told county commissioners that child care providers have tight budgets too and mortgages to pay.
“You have to pay your money or they’re going to snatch your house up,” Armstrong said.
After the meeting, Armstrong said she will carry on for now.
“I love my kids — that’s my joy,” she said.
Except for paying its own employees, Golski said Job & Family Services has not been paying its vendors or even paying the county on its lease of the old Cook’s department store building on North Ridge Road.
“I haven’t got any money (from the state) since the middle of June,” Golski said.
She said Cordes told her the county does not have any money to front to her agency for the payments.
“The cupboards are getting bare,” Golski said.
The last check to the agency from the state was just $27,296, with $27,153 designated for child care services and $143 for adult protective services, she said.
Golski said the $27,153 for child care wouldn’t go very far in making $1 million in payments to providers, so the payments are being frozen for now. The payments go out once a month and normally would be sent out by early next week, she said.
Golski met with the union representing some of her own staff of about 300 employees on Thursday but declined to comment on any possible concessions.
Without state funding, the agency could continue to pay its staff for some time — possibly up to two months, she said.
Meanwhile, child care providers worried about what will happen to their small clients and their working parents.
Chris St. Peter and Jenn Hill brought nine children they care for to the county commissioner’s meeting. The children listened patiently, quietly and were well behaved after being told that they were there for a very important purpose.
St. Peter said the parents of children in her center have a hard enough time meeting co-pays ranging from about $10 to $118 a month.
Most of her parents work at restaurants, she said. One mom who works at Red Lobster has four children, according to St. Peter.
Jenn Hill said two of the mothers of children in her care are going to school – one to business college and one to Lorain County Community College.
Hill, who has a first and second mortgage — also worries about caring for her own two kids.
“Where’s our food going to come from?” she asked. “I’m a single mom — the only income-earner in my house.”
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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Well I feel much better knowing that money that could have paid for daycare has been spent on wind mills and solar panels. Along with nice big rec centers at the State Universities.
If I’m correct didn’t Ohio pass a minimum wage law last year? When is that set to increase again? I’m sure thats not going to help unemployment in Ohio. So more people on welfare, foodstamps, and unemployment. Hope and Change people, Hope and Change.
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i dont know what her neighborhood is like; but 1100 house payment sounds high to me; maybe she should have thought about getting a more affordable house before taking state money for babysitting or perhaps she was cuaght up in milking the same gravy train as some of the people whos kids shes watching
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I live in a home that has an 1100 mortgage. That’s not an absurd price for a home now a days. It’s not about getting a more affordable house. Just like most people around, the income they receive for their house is diminishing. And as an FYI babysitting is a job. People do it on a full time basis to make a living so others can work as well. EVERYONE’S job depends on someone else having a job to survive. And I highly doubt watching children is in some way a state handout as your trying to imply Eatown.
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$1,100 is equivalent to a $0 down, $150,000 home loan at 30 years with a fixed 6.0% interest rate (assuming RE tax is escrowed and PMI included). Not bad, but not exactly the Ritz either, Eatown.
Regardless of what her intentions were when she began, God bless her and the other providers for continuing to watch the children despite the lack of funds. With everyone looking for a handout in these trying times, kind acts are free and are hopefully appreciated.
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Neither Furnace Street or Bell Ave are neighborhoods with homes worth that much a month. Seriously. As far as no funds left for the State to forward, cutting the free and excessive abuse of Medical Benefits provided by the county might be a start. At least 1/3 of Emergency Room visits are non-emergent cases by parents with Caresource, Wellcare or Medicaid. A $300 bill for a runny nose or cough that the taxpayers have to cover. This is why the system is failing. Insurance Abuse is out of control. I can not tell you how angry it makes Medical Staff that have worked so hard to provide care to people in real need to see a mother come in to the ER with a child that has no life threatening condition. And then the most common attitude we get is the complaint about having to wait. I am for proper medical care for every child, but this abuse and fraudulent use of tax monies has to stop.
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I think the state pays about $500 a month per kid in day care. But if you break that down assuming 20 working days a month that’s $25 a day per kid. And if they are watching a kid for 9-10 hours that’s only $2.50 an hour. I wouldn’t exactly say the people that have these daycares are scamming the state.
And whatever her mortgage payment is, it has nothing to do with the daycare aside from the fact that she uses that money to pay for it. Maybe she has bad credit, maybe it’s higher because she used extra money to set up the day care. Whatever the reason it’s irrelevant to the program. I’ve never heard of people saying a construction company got caught up milking the gravy train of state money because they bought a bulldozer for construction work and have a high payment.
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lorain4 decades has a good point and with abuses like that; can you blame people for getting negative impressions of people on social services?
and yes, babysitting is a job; i used to do it in high school and got paid a buck an hour per child. i’m even certified in cpr, but no longer in high school and no longer babysitting for income.
i have a parent who works in finance and banking. i know a few things. the relevence of house payment to the article is that if that p ayment is than normal in an neighborhood suggests that the people either dont know how to stop spending when they should becuase they probably borrowed more than its worth to buy things they want instead of need and now when the economy tanks; they are paying the price for bad decisions. or if the payment is that high; and in a neighborhood that is normal for that price than maybe they should find a less expensive house that is more within their budget so that they dont have to rely on state money to pay the mortgage. where im from 1100 a month payment isn’t the ritz; but its better than most people have.
when people stop thinking they are owed something just for being alive without doing something to earn it - then we wont need as many social programs. im not saying the homeowner is someone who think that way; just that there are alot of people who do and its that kind of thinking that is abusing the social systems and taking moeny away from the programs and people that use it honestly.
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OK… Why do you all care so much what they pay per month in house payment and why does everyone jump to conclusion that they are overmortgaged because they live on Bell? The far end of Bell Ave past Clemens (aka Bell Court) is probably where they live and if you recall there was a new development built around 02 and they were building in the $150-180k range at the time and they are really nice homes and support a $800-$1200 per mo mortgage… think before you judge someone’s finances on where they live!
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Because they live in glass houses, thats why they always have something to say about those that DONT live in them. I especially thought how EATOWN called themselves cleaning up what they originally said…….that was classic…..lol.
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Put your seatbelts on, it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. California is now paying their bills with IOU’s.
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Maybe people should stop having so many kids…taxpayers can’t afford to support them anymore
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