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MAYOR
BATES PROPOSES EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO KEEP CHILDCARE OPEN TO LOW
INCOME KIDS
Nearly 300
Berkeley children may lose child care because of state budge
impasse. Mayor Bates introduces emergency legislation to avert
crisis.
Berkeley, CA With 288
Berkeley children poised to lose their childcare funding, Mayor Tom
Bates has proposed emergency city loans to keep the doors open to
low-income families.
With no state budget,
California Controller Steve Westly stopped payments to a number of
state programs, including those that subsidize childcare for
low-income children. Berkeley
is home to six subsidized childcare centers and two Alternative
Payment Programs serving a total of 288 children between the ages
birth to 12 years old.
With the cut off of state
funding, programs have been making plans to close their doors to
low-income children as early as August first.
The Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement, Inc. (BAHIA)
informed parents on July 10th that they would be forced
to terminate all subsidized childcare at the end of July.
To avert this crisis,
Mayor Tom Bates has requested that the Berkeley City Council
authorize city payment advances and, if necessary, emergency bridge
loans to all affected childcare providers in the city.
It would be simply
unconscionable to allow hundreds of children to suddenly lose their
child care. Parents
would have to miss work, employees would be laid off, and children
would be left home alone, said Mayor Bates. I believe the
state must raise revenue to balance its budget and protect our
safety net. Until the
legislature acts, Berkeley should step in to fill the void.
The City Council will take
up this item at its July 15th City Council meeting.
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Other Contacts Include:
Beatriz Leyva-Cutler, BAHIA Childcare program.
(510-525-1463 or 524-7300)
Arlyce Currie, Bananas Childcare resource and referral agency.
(510-658-7353)
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