Washington County social services staff reported to the Health and Human Services Committee on July 30 about the county’s ARPA-funded child‑care provider recruitment project and the status of the county’s child‑care grant waitlist. Staff recommended continuing the current waitlist instead of reopening applications to draw down a one‑time, time‑limited state allocation that would obligate the county to 12 months of additional grant payments.

Staff summarized the ARPA provider recruitment initiative ($61,160 passed through to the Southern Adirondack Childcare Network) and noted net openings and closings: between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2025, 18 family and group family child‑care programs closed in the county while 11 opened. Network staff told the county that without start‑up funds the net loss could have been greater, but the net result remains a loss of providers. The county will continue to receive quarterly reports from the network.

On child‑care subsidies, staff said the state has expanded eligibility and offered the county a one‑time opportunity to pull down roughly $250,000 that must be spent by Sept. 30. Staff warned that opening the program now would obligate recipients to 12 months of coverage and that the county lacks certainty around the federal fiscal‑year 2026 allocation; staff estimated that keeping the waitlist would limit 2025 overspending to roughly $38,000 rather than the previously projected $250,000 shortfall. “If we were to open all those cases, we throw ourselves right back into that same problem again,” staff said. Committee members asked clarifying questions about the size and capacity of closed vs. opened providers and the coun​ty’s financial exposure.

Committee members did not instruct staff to open the list; staff said they will continue administering the waitlist, monitor state guidance, and report back in October with updated projections.

Ending: The committee endorsed continuing the waitlist approach and asked staff to return with updated figures once the state issues final allocations.