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Wilkes County approves local child-care subsidy priorities; DSS warns funding drop could trigger wait list
Summary
The Board approved a two-year local wait-list policy for child-care subsidies that prioritizes special-needs children, CPS/foster cases and workforce participants. DSS reported the State projects roughly $441,000–$442,000 less childcare funding next fiscal year, a level that could require a state-imposed wait list.
Wilkes County Social Services presented and the Board approved a revised local Child Care Subsidy wait-list policy on June 2 that spells out how families will be prioritized when the State restricts enrollments. Child Care Supervisor Crystal Bowers explained the order: children with special needs and other vulnerable populations (homelessness, CPS/CWS/foster care) are highest priority, followed by workforce participants in employment services, then newborns and siblings.
DSS Director Kevin Brown told commissioners the State typically imposes a wait list when county spending approaches 95 percent of the allocated childcare budget. Brown said the State is projecting "about $442,000 less than they have right now for childcare, starting with the new fiscal year," and that Wilkes was on a wait list from September through March this year. The Board approved both the local policy and the required MOU (per G.S. §108A-74) by unanimous votes.
