WURTSBORO – Mothers, grandmothers, fathers and business owners concerned with child care gathered at the Mamakating Library in Wurtsboro on Friday to discuss the potential benefits of a child care system in Orange and Sullivan counties.
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and members of Workforce Strategies, Sullivan County Child Care Council, the Teamsters Union, and the public talked about the need for child care solutions for not only the poorest but also the lower and middle-classes and especially single parents.
L-R: Donna Willi, Sullivan County Child Care Council; Sandy Shaddock Teamsters LU445; Maureen Halahan, Orange County
Partnership President;
Lois Johnson, WDI; Helena le Roux Ohm, Center for Discovery; Gunther
The average American working parent misses five to nine days each year due child care complications, according to the Workforce Development Institute.
Child care, for women in our society is a paramount issue, according to Gunther. The purpose of the forum was to brain storm and come away with next steps.
“It’s about find out the needs of our community, and making sure that there is adequate, safe child care,” Gunther said.
One way that this can be made a reality is through a grant from the state to the counties.
The average annual cost of child care in Sullivan County is $8,366; in Orange it’s $9,233. The grant would bankroll somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 of that, making child care more affordable for families.
The families would apply for the grants with the assistance of the county, according to Teamsters business agent Sandy Shaddock. The union represents nearly 400 women in Sullivan County. It’s important to get this idea moving, she said.
“If we’re talking about impacting anywhere between four- and five-hundred families in Sullivan County and four- and five-hundred in Orange County – that’s huge,” Shaddock said. “And the small amount of money in comparison to the effect that it will have is astronomical.”
Gunther made the suggestion of trying to get a petition signed by D-Day, Monday, for the 2015 state budget, which must be adopted by the end of this month.
