Chatham will Increase Childcare Voucher Program Funding

CHATHAM – The town officials are planning to increase spending on a childcare voucher program in the coming town budget.

The childcare program is funded by Chatham’s Human Services committee, which hired Monomoy Community Services (MCS) to study and report on how the voucher program has been used in the past.

Last year, the program opened applications earlier in the year to help families to cover childcare during the summer months, when schools that normally watch children are out of session. 

Usually, the program is only open for applicants in the winter time, when the off-season reduced incomes makes affording childcare more difficult for families.

MCS Executive Director Theresa Malone reported the program was extensively used—within the first six weeks of the fiscal year, 97% of the funds were already encumbered for approved applicants.

“And that was with very little advertising done,” said Malone.

“We were blown away.”

The program served 42 families and a total of 70 children. Four families were put on a wait list.

$55,000 in funds were dedicated from the town’s Human Services Committee for the voucher program, which grants an average of $785 per child.  

Malone said that the costs of childcare can grow quickly, especially when not all families have just one child.

“Some of them have two and three kids in childcare, which–if you have had two and three kids in childcare, it’s basically bigger than your mortgage when you come right down to it.”

Malone recommended that the funding be increased by a minimum of $10,000 for the 2021 fiscal year, which Selectmen responded positively to.

Selectman Dean Nicastro said that the funding should be increased by at least $20,000 due to how much the program was evidently used.

Finance Director Alix Heilala said that the Human Services Committee recommended a $20,000 increase, as well.

“We need to be looking at the bigger picture. This is one of the most innovative things that I’ve seen in my work in child care in a long time,” said Malone.

Voters will consider the funding in May at the annual town meeting.

About Grady Culhane

Grady Culhane is a Cape Cod native from Eastham. He studied media communications at Cape Cod Community College and joined the CapeCod.com News Center in 2019.



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