Judge Halts Cuts Made to State Child Care Service in CalWORKS
On Friday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Wynne Carvill issued a temporary restraining order to block funding reductions to a state child care program, the Los Angeles Times reports (Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times, 10/30).Â
Background
When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed the budget package last month, he used line-item vetoes to eliminate $256 million from the child care program for beneficiaries of CalWORKS, California's welfare-to-work program.
The governor's line-item vetoes, which reduced state spending by almost $1 billion, also targeted funding for:
- Community health clinics;
- HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs; and
- Mental health services for special education students (California Healthline, 10/29).
Details of Ruling
Carvill's ruling is in response to a lawsuit filed on Thursday by the:
- Child Care Law Center;
- Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles;
- Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County;
- Public Counsel Law Center;
- Public Interest Law Project; and
- Western Center on Law and Poverty (Rohrs, Vallejo Times-Herald, 10/30).
According to the lawsuit, the California Department of Education did not properly provide families with information about alternative child care programs once the cuts were made (Murphy, Oakland Tribune, 10/29).
The funding cuts to the child care program were set to take effect on Monday (Van Oot, "Capitol Alert," Sacramento Bee, 10/29). The judge's ruling means that the program will continue for an estimated 60,000 families (Los Angeles Times, 10/30).
Carvill ordered the state to fund the child care programs until Nov. 5 (Oakland Tribune, 10/30).
Alternatives To Restore Funds
Democratic leaders have promised to try to restore funding for child care services in January when the state's new governor takes office.
Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) had pledged $6 million from the Assembly's budget to extend the child care subsidy.
The First 5 Los Angeles Commission recently offered to contribute as much as $15 million to help restore the child care subsidy. First 5 funds early childhood health care and education programs through revenues from California's tobacco tax (California Healthline, 10/29).
For additional coverage on the judge's ruling, see today's Features article.
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