United Way urges Saline County to restore Early Child Care Initiative funding; requested $40,000

Christina Small, representing Salina Area United Way, told the Saline County Commission on July 1 that the county's proposed budget does not include funding for the Early Child Care Initiative Fund (ECIF), which United Way uses to supplement wages for early educators.

Small said ECIF supports seven centers and that centers averaged more than $67,000 in losses last fiscal year; individually, some centers operated at deficits she said were as large as $214,000. She said United Way's initial request to the county was $40,000 and that, if that full amount is not feasible, the county should provide whatever level of support it can.

"This fund gives [early educators] a chance to stay in that field," Small said. She warned that loss of the ECIF grants could lead to the loss of "up to 591 childcare slots in Saline County," and said that would affect families, the local workforce and county and city revenues that depend on local employment.

In his presentation of the recommended budget later in the meeting, County Administrator Philip Smith Haines said he did not recommend funding the United Way's $40,000 request in his draft budget. Commissioners discussed outside-agency funding priorities and the limits of one-time ARPA support that previously helped similar programs.

Ending: United Way asked the commission for a funding allocation; the county administrator's recommended budget did not include the $40,000 request. Commissioners will consider appropriations during upcoming budget deliberations.