A Syracuse-based child care resource and referral agency will be expanding into Cayuga County by early July to replace the Child Care Council of the Finger Lakes, which will be closing at the end of the month.

Child Care Solutions, which provides information and resources to parents, employers and community members in Onondaga County who seek solutions to child care needs, accepted an offer from the state Office of Family and Child Services Wednesday to give people in Cayuga County those same opportunities.

“We want to express our excitement about having this opportunity and learning about Cayuga County, and really figuring out how to be the best child care resource and referral agency we can there,” Executive Director Peggy Liuzzi said.

Liuzzi said she and her staff have been working “double-time” to ensure a smooth transition of services in a very short timespan.

The Child Care Council of the Finger Lakes, which serves Seneca and Cayuga counties, recently decided that it would close June 30 “due to unfortunate circumstances,” according to the Board of Directors President Karen Stewart. Though she would not disclose what those circumstances are, publically-available tax returns from 2006 and 2007 show the council had two straight operational loses, in fiscal 2007-08 totaling more than $50,000.

The council, which was established in the mid-1980s in Seneca County and expanded to include Cayuga County in 1995, provides training to parents and child care providers on myriad topics, in addition to its role as a resource and referral agency that also licenses providers.

Liuzzi believes that training is very important to continue in the county. Child Care Solutions provides that service to people in Onondaga County, and to ensure people in the next county over can obtain those opportunities, the organization is looking to secure a physical location in Auburn. Child Care Solutions also provides distance learning, so people can receive this training right from their own homes.

“I can really reassure them that we will be bringing the training program there so it's easily accessible to providers in Cayuga County,” she said. “I think they will really enjoy taking part in our program.”

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.

Child Care Solutions as well as the Cayuga County Home Day Care Association, based on William Street in Auburn, will administer this program. Both organizations will host informational meetings for child care providers that participate in this program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. next Monday and Tuesday, June 22 and 23, to discuss how providers will be reimbursed for the month of June. Afterwards, providers have a choice of what organization to work with.

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net