State nixes Washington County Child Care Info Services appeal
The Child Care Information Services office in the Washington County office building
The Child Care Information Services office in the Washington County office building
Washington County lost its attempt to have the state reconsider its offer to provide information on subsidized child care for a four-county region.
A news release the state sent out earlier this week said the agencies known as Child Care Information Services for Washington, Greene, Fayette and Westmoreland counties will be based in Greensburg beginning July 1.
The local agency, a part of Washington County government, has provided information and referrals about subsidized child care and determined families’ eligibility for nearly 30 years.
Child-care providers and their clients will be notified of the changes by letter next month, according to Tracy Holsopple, director of Washington County Child Care Information Services, which serves Washington and Beaver counties.
“We have not heard from Westmoreland County yet what their plans are,” Holsopple said. “We will notify clients as soon as we do know.”
Beaver will be part of a new region that includes Armstrong, Butler, Indiana and Lawrence counties.
The Beaver office serves about 1,400 families, and the Washington office has about 700 client families, Holsopple said.
The Washington office’s budget in 2017 was $12,180,000, all of which came from state taxpayers.
Butler County is going to retain an office in Beaver and has offered employment to all five staff members, Holsopple said.
The office in Washington County’s Courthouse Square building serves, in person, an average of 13 clients a day. Clients can phone, fax or fill out information online, but many still prefer to handle it directly, according to Holsopple.
The Washington County office will be closing, “so our goal and concern at this point is for the families to make a smooth transition,” Holsopple said.
“We’re down to six at this point,” she said of the size of her staff. “Two of us are going to stay through the transition.”
Those who work for Washington County CCIS are not members of Service Employees International Union and therefore have no ability to “bump” other workers.
A call to Westmoreland Child Care Information Services Inc., a nonprofit agency, referred comment about Washington and Waynesburg CCIS offices to a press contact at the state Department of Human Services in Harrisburg.
According to the state’s news release, “All Early Learning Resource Centers will have a primary location in their designated region and most will have satellite offices.”
Washington County in February filed what is known as a “bid protest” with the state Department of Human Services, claiming Westmoreland “scored last in technical merit and (its) submission lacked basic requirements, such as a transition plan,” mandated by the state’s request for proposals.
Washington County proposed satellite offices for each of the four counties, while Westmoreland Child Care Information Inc. proposed a sole office.
Scott Fergus, director of administration for Washington County, said its CCIS office received a 100 percent rating on its proposal to provide service for the four-county area, but it was deemed more costly after the Westmoreland provider was given the opportunity to rework its figures before the state awarded a contract in mid-December.
Having lost its bid protest, Washington County had the option of taking the matter to Commonwealth Court but declined to do so.
That’s a route the state’s two largest counties are pursuing. In its news release, the state noted “due to pending litigation, DHS’ selection for two regions, Allegheny and Philadelphia counties, is on hold.”
Greene County subcontracts the program through Fayette County, where Amy Switalski, housing and family resources director at Greene County Human Services, referred questions about changes in the program.
Mary Spak, director of the program in Uniontown, also said she had been asked to refer all media calls regarding the program changes to the state Human Services Department.
The program based in Waynesburg had one full-timer and one part-time staff member in the Fort Jackson Building. The full-time person recently left, however, because of changes expected from the realignment.
The Fayette County office normally has seven staff members working in the program; however, one left last year.
Spak said her department is still waiting for information on the proposed changes.
To qualify for CCIS, parents and caretakers must be working or attending job training for a minimum of 20 hours a week; have a promise of a job within 30 days of applying for the program; or be teen parents attending an education program.
A single parent with one child, for example, can have a maximum annual income of $32,480.
“Some of our low-income families work and train,” said Holsopple, who started as an eligibility coordinator with the agency 27 years ago.
“It’s been an excellent program. Often the deterrent to working was the high cost of child care. That’s where we came in.
“It will continue. It’s the delivery of the service that changes. It’s not an issue with the way the program is run. It’s cost.”
Staff writer Bob Niedbala contributed to this story.