UNDATED (WSAU) Another change is about to made with the goal of cutting fraud in the Wisconsin Shares child care program for the working poor.
Starting on Sunday, family-based care providers with 4-to-8 children will get state funding that hinges on the number of low-income kids who actually attend – and not on the numbers enrolled. State officials have been cracking down for three years, after small providers bilked Wisconsin Shares out of millions of tax dollars. But Jon Peacock of the Wisconsin Council on Children-and-Families says the latest change will mean a five-percent pay for family-based providers – and it will make them less willing to take low-income families in Wisconsin Shares.
Republican lawmakers and Governor Scott Walker had approved a host of cost-cutting options in the new state budget – including tighter eligibility levels. But Stephanie Hayden of the Children-and-Families’ Department said her agency chose the option with the least impact on centers and families. She said basing state aid on attendance guarantees accountability, so taxpayers get what they pay for. But Peacock says it’s not fair to penalize providers for kids who sign up and don’t show up. He says child care centers are not like airlines, which often overbook their accommodations to make sure they have full planes.
The new change does not affect group day care centers, or certified care facilities where state payments already hinge on child attendance.
