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Childcare Resources of Indian River, Inc. Children in Centers Children's services Advisory Committee B. PROGRAM NEED STATEMENT (Entire Section B not to exceed one page) 1 . a) What is the unacceptable condition requiring change? b) Who has the need? c) Where do they live? d) Provide local, state, or national trend data, with reference source, that corroborates that this is an area of need. a. Working families whose incomes are below 200% of poverty cannot find the dollars for childcare without sacrificing essentials such as food, shelter and clothing. The quality of the care in which young children spend a large part of the day is of vital importance to their ability to acquire school readiness skills, and ultimately to succeed in life. This quality of care is neither available nor affordable to low-income families unless subsidized in some way. In addition, parents with minimal income, education and/or lack of positive life experiences face much higher levels of financial and emotional stress creating a barrier to them effectively parenting their children. b. From current Early Learning Coalition, Head Start, RCMA, and Childcare Resources waiting lists: Early Learning Coalition 212 Redland' s Christian Migrant 178 Head Start 40 Childcare Resources 151 Total Wait List (birth-5 years) 581 Of those waiting, 424 are infants and toddlers. It is important to remember that Head Start does not provide services for infants/toddlers, which is in critical shortage in Indian River County. c. The targeted population appears to be spread evenly throughout the County mainland. d. There are 581 children on the combined wait lists; however, this represents only the people who have called for help. It does not reflect the number of people needing assistance. Based on information from the Indian River School District Food Service Program, 52% of kindergarten and elementary students are eligible for free or reduced school lunch. Free/reduced school lunch is based on 185% of poverty. The Indian River County birth rate is at about 1 ,200 births per year. Therefore, we can extrapolate that 3 , 120 children from birth to age 5 are eligible for the Childcare Resources program at 185% of the poverty level. Beyond that, we have no way to determine the number of families that fall within the 185%-200% poverty level, and would be eligible only for Childcare Resources' childcare subsidy. We also know that 57% of all babies born in Indian River County are Medicaid eligible, or at the 185% of poverty level identified by the federal government. The Children' s Services Advisory Committee 2002-2005 Community Assessment and Plan lists Indian River County' s subsidized/assisted pay childcare services' capacity (infant/preschool) at 489. According to these statistics, 2,631 children do not have the opportunity for early childhood education. 2. a) Identify similar programs that are currently serving the needs of your targeted population; b) Explain how these existing programs are under-serving the targeted population of your program. Head Start, Subsidized Care through the Early Learning Coalition, and RCMA are similar programs that serve families with varying income eligibility requirements. The target population for Childcare Resources families is 150%-2001/o of the federal poverty level and we are the only organization that serves that group. The Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program provides educational opportunities for four year olds regardless of income however it is available only three hours per day. Childcare Resources parents work full time and need all day care. 5