"I want to get off welfare. The only problem is day care, because child care costs a lot. And I don't want just anyone taking care of my son." -- SRS client in Olathe.

Without available quality child care, welfare reform will not succeed as it should.

A major tenet of federal welfare reform is that people on public assistance need to move into the work force. The legislation calls for a dramatic increase in the number of people receiving assistance becoming involved in work activities.

Specifically, welfare reform requires that 25 percent of the state's public assistance caseload be involved in work activities in 1997 and 50 percent involved in work activities by 2002. During that time, the number of hours recipients must work also increases from 20 to 30 hours a week.

For recipients to meet these requirements, quality child care is a must. By far, the largest percentage of people receiving assistance in Kansas are single-parent families. Current statistics show over 86 percent of families in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program are headed by women.

Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Rochelle Chronister said providing child care assistance to meet work requirements is necessary.

We cannot let lack of child care stop the welfare-to-work movement," she said. Child care allows people to obtain and maintain employment and move toward self-sufficiency."

Chronister said federal lawmakers were aware of the need for child care when they crafted welfare reform. Kansas is guaranteed $18.7 million in federal funding to provide child care, an amount equal to last year. But the state also could receive about $7.1 million in additional matching funds if Kansas provides matching funds of $5 million.

Because of the work requirements in the federal bill, Chronister said Kansas will work to identify matching funds to access federal child care funding.

We are pursuing every possible avenue to come up with the matching funds," she said. Increasing the availability of child care will be necessary if we are to meet the work requirements of welfare reform."

Over the last several years, Kansas has created a totally integrated child care program, administered by SRS. This seamless system," however, will be tested as never before because of federal welfare reform.

As the numbers show, most of those now on assistance who will be joining the work force are mothers," said Connie Hubbell, commissioner of

Income Support and Employment Preparation Services for SRS. To allow for such a large increase of single mothers working outside the home, child care assistance must be available."

Because of the new work requirements, Hubbell said there is a strong need for the state to develop child care sites that provide non-traditional child care hours. Many public assistance recipients will have to move into jobs working night and weekend shifts. She also said there is a need for additional child care for children with disabilities.

The need is going to be tremendous for all types of child care," Hubbell said.

With welfare reform, SRS intends to maintain the emphasis on quality child care, Hubbell said. The agency will continue funding for capacity building, training, resource and referral, and licensing assistance, Hubbell said.

Quality is important to meet the developmental needs of children so children entering or continuing in school are ready to learn," she said. We need to balance quality in child care with the need to serve as many people as we can. Quality is very, very important, especially for children who may face lots of barriers."

SRS is also strongly encouraging private business to develop child care for employees to help meet a growing need. SRS will hold policy talks with community child care providers and advocates to work on ways to build the capacity of the system.

We will not have enough money to fund child care without community support and new initiatives from communities and businesses," Secretary Chronister said. It has to be a team effort."

SRS is currently serving an average of 13,107 children a month with child care assistance. These include low income working families, families on public assistance, and families moving from public assistance into the work force. In addition, families receiving family preservation services, children at risk of abuse or neglect, and children with disabilities are served.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001