Authorities will suspend the Child Care Assistance Program in Oswego County later this month.
The Oswego County Department of Social Services says the CCAP program will pause until further notice, starting Feb. 16. The department says it is due to a funding shortage and impacts new applications and recertifications.
The chair of the county Legislature’s Human Services Committee said more people have enrolled in the program due to recent state changes, but those changes did not come with more money to support enrollment.
“This will have a significant impact on many families and child care providers around our county, no doubt,” said committee chairman Michael Solowy. “New York State made changes to the eligibility guidelines which boosted program enrollment. While it’s great that we can help more residents, those changes didn’t come with additional funding to subsidize these families.”
The pause will not affect certain temporary assistance recipients or people eligible for transitional child care.
“We remain committed to supporting our community through this development and will resume the program when funding becomes available once again,” said Oswego County Department of Social Services Commissioner Lee Sullivan.