The Child Care Council of the Finger Lakes, which on Monday confirmed it will end operations at the end of the month, has been losing money from its operations, publicly available tax returns show.
According to the Auburn-based agency's most recent filing for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008, the council posted a $50,005 operating deficit , wiping out a $37,295 fund balance it had at the end of the previous year and leaving it $18,900 in the red.
The council had posted an operational loss of $27,570 the year before.
The council, an agency that provides resources and child care referral services to parents and guardians in Cayuga and Seneca counties, is funded nearly entirely by federal and state monies. Of the total $623,253 in monetary contributions the council received in fiscal 2007-08, governmental agencies provided $605,371.
On Monday, Board of Directors President Karen Stewart said the board decided unanimously last week that the council was to close effective June 30 “due to unfortunate circumstances.” She would not disclose what those circumstances specifically are, and could not be reached Tuesday for this story.
Part of the agency's governmental money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is administered locally by the city of Auburn's Community Development Block Grant program, which provides programming for seniors, youth counseling services, child care and youth programs.
In fiscal 2007-08, the council received $27,168 to provide income-eligible parents and guardians living in the city a child care subsidy using a sliding scale. That contract was completed in December 2008, and the council received another allocation of $14,550 for January through April, Planning and Economic Development Program Manager Crystal Purcell said.
Purcell said the city is waiting for funding from HUD for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which was delayed due to the federal stimulus plan. A review committee that met last winter decided to reduce the council's 2009-10 allocation to $5,000 because it hadn't spent out the 2007-08 contract, but by late winter the committee saw that the council was spending money faster than anticipated.
Purcell said the committee was expecting to give the council a larger allocation in the fall.
The United Way of Cayuga County also provides about $8,000 of funding to the council for a child care subsidy.
The council also receives a federal grant funneled through the state Department of Health for the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which is a nutrition and meal reimbursement program that helps day care providers give children and adults nutritious and safely prepared snacks and meals, according to department officials. This program reaches more than 1,500 sponsoring organizations representing 12,000 licensed or registered center-based or family day care sites statewide.
According to officials, sponsoring organizations apply for reimbursement monthly for the rendering of these services. The council received a total of $325,501 in fiscal 2007-08, and in 2009 received on average $27,000 a month.
The council is also charged with licensing local community members and centers as certified child care providers, and for that service the state Office of Child and Family Services provides funding. In 2007-08, the council received a total of $243,909 with $156,518 going to Cayuga County and the remainder to Seneca County.
According to spokesperson Ed Borges, Cayuga County was allocated to receive $152,734, provided on a payment cycle. Borges said he does not know how much of the Office of Child and Family Services' money the council currently has on hand. He said a staff member from the department is currently in Cayuga County working with the council on these issues.
Borges said department is looking at neighboring counties' child care councils and will hopefully determine by the end of the week which one will handle Cayuga County in the future.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
The council had posted an operational loss of $27,570 the year before.
The council, an agency that provides resources and child care referral services to parents and guardians in Cayuga and Seneca counties, is funded nearly entirely by federal and state monies. Of the total $623,253 in monetary contributions the council received in fiscal 2007-08, governmental agencies provided $605,371.
On Monday, Board of Directors President Karen Stewart said the board decided unanimously last week that the council was to close effective June 30 “due to unfortunate circumstances.” She would not disclose what those circumstances specifically are, and could not be reached Tuesday for this story.
Part of the agency's governmental money comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is administered locally by the city of Auburn's Community Development Block Grant program, which provides programming for seniors, youth counseling services, child care and youth programs.
In fiscal 2007-08, the council received $27,168 to provide income-eligible parents and guardians living in the city a child care subsidy using a sliding scale. That contract was completed in December 2008, and the council received another allocation of $14,550 for January through April, Planning and Economic Development Program Manager Crystal Purcell said.
Purcell said the city is waiting for funding from HUD for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which was delayed due to the federal stimulus plan. A review committee that met last winter decided to reduce the council's 2009-10 allocation to $5,000 because it hadn't spent out the 2007-08 contract, but by late winter the committee saw that the council was spending money faster than anticipated.
Purcell said the committee was expecting to give the council a larger allocation in the fall.
The United Way of Cayuga County also provides about $8,000 of funding to the council for a child care subsidy.
The council also receives a federal grant funneled through the state Department of Health for the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which is a nutrition and meal reimbursement program that helps day care providers give children and adults nutritious and safely prepared snacks and meals, according to department officials. This program reaches more than 1,500 sponsoring organizations representing 12,000 licensed or registered center-based or family day care sites statewide.
According to officials, sponsoring organizations apply for reimbursement monthly for the rendering of these services. The council received a total of $325,501 in fiscal 2007-08, and in 2009 received on average $27,000 a month.
The council is also charged with licensing local community members and centers as certified child care providers, and for that service the state Office of Child and Family Services provides funding. In 2007-08, the council received a total of $243,909 with $156,518 going to Cayuga County and the remainder to Seneca County.
According to spokesperson Ed Borges, Cayuga County was allocated to receive $152,734, provided on a payment cycle. Borges said he does not know how much of the Office of Child and Family Services' money the council currently has on hand. He said a staff member from the department is currently in Cayuga County working with the council on these issues.
Borges said department is looking at neighboring counties' child care councils and will hopefully determine by the end of the week which one will handle Cayuga County in the future.
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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