A Daycare Center Suspended From Government Grant Program!

Local county officials have suspended a local daycare center from a program that provides care for low-income families, saying the program was billed for days when children weren't at the center. The county is looking into whether the daycare intentionally billed for hours that aren't authorized as part of the grants program. According to police reports, the daycare center has said the overbilling was an error, but the county says they've talked to parents who said their children weren't present on days the childcare center claimed. The Sheriff's Department report notes discrepancies from 2008 to 2009. The county won't authorize any more children for the program at that daycare center for at least six months. A state Department agency revoked the daycare center's license based on the county's claims. The daycare center has appealed that decision and a hearing will be set. The daycare center also appealed the county's decision, and a hearing with the Division of Hearings and Appeals of the state Department of Administration will also be set. According to newspaper reports no one answered a phone at the daycare center and the center itself was closed and dark Friday afternoon.

The grant program itself provides state funding to child-care centers for low-income families in an effort to help parents find and keep jobs. Much of the program's funding comes through federal block grants. The county might overpay for a program for a variety of reasons, including changes to a parent's work schedule and changes to state regulations that facilities might not know about. Caseworkers look for patterns that might indicate problems.

Childcare centers are asked to report attendance every two weeks.

The grant program itself has seen the number of children participants drop from 1,640 in January to 1,481 in March. The number of providers also has dropped from 119 to 115 providers in that time period, as did the monetary distributions, which went from $779,000 to $529,000.