TO THE EDITOR:
Among the cuts the Orange County manager recently recommended for the 2012 budget is the elimination of all funding for Child Care Services Association (CCSA) consumer education and referral services. In the previous budget, the county cut funding for this vital public service by 50 percent to $18,000. Now, a parent looking for childcare or with questions about their childcare provider will have recourse only to online information and no referral counselor.
Services provided by referral counselors are invaluable to the working parent or the parent pursuing their education. Counselors offer rapid responses to personalized questions about childcare needs. Websites are informative, but when one is making choices impacting the lives of newborns and toddlers it is important to be able to speak directly with a knowledgeable human being.
If you want to live in a county that proactively protects its youngest citizens by providing their parent(s) or guardian(s) with valuable information, please take time to ask Orange County commissioners to continue funding CCSA referral service. The CCSA as a single point of contact for all childcare resources increases governmental efficiency for a comparatively limited amount of taxpayer dollars.
Michael Joseph Mulvey
Graduate Student
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