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Child Care Inc. Proposal for Eugene City Council 3 • <br /> scale, providing parent education and support, and encouraging <br /> community involvement. <br /> Part 2: How we can better meet the community's needs. <br /> Our ability to serve the needs of low- income families has been <br /> aided by the support the program has received from the city <br /> throughout the school's history. Our ability to further meet the <br /> needs of low - income families in the community is dependent on <br /> relocating the program. <br /> Over the past several years our Board has realized that our <br /> current building no longer adequately meets the needs of the <br /> program. We have made do with the situation because of the <br /> concern that relocating could add expenses we do not currently <br /> have, such as rent or mortgage payments, which could result in <br /> higher tuition rates. This would have a serious impact on our <br /> low- income families, which make up approximately 800 of our <br /> enrollment. We have long known that our tenancy on the current <br /> site was "temporary ", given the long -term park - related plans for <br /> our location. In the last year, the need for us to move has <br /> become particularly apparent, since an evaluation of our building <br /> done by the Public Works department found that it would require <br /> more than $140,000 to bring it up to current safety and ADA <br /> accessibility codes. <br /> There is a critical need for quality child care for low- income <br /> families. Data supporting this includes: <br /> • Statistics from the Child Care Resource Connection (CCRC) <br /> identified needs for child care based on requests and supply. <br /> The CCRC statistics show infant /toddler care as the number one <br /> identified gap in the child care delivery system in our area. <br /> Affordable, accessible care in the Whiteaker area was also <br /> identified by the CCRC as a high need. From December 1, 1993 <br /> to December 1, 1994, seventy -one people called the CCRC <br /> needing infant /toddler care in the Whiteaker neighborhood. Of <br /> the four centers and five family child providers currently <br /> serving the neighborhood, CCRC identifies only 24 slots for <br /> infant /toddler care. This study does not speak to the <br /> availability of those or the quality of care available. <br /> • Child Care Inc.'s waiting list of families needing immediate <br /> care for their preschoolers averages 15 per month. Many other <br /> families choose to not be added to the lengthy waiting list <br /> because their child care needs are so immediate. Additionally, <br /> we receive numerous calls from parents, frequently single <br /> mothers, who are ineligible for Adult and Family Services <br /> Child Care subsidies and need care for their infants and <br /> toddlers. Many of them tell us of their frustration in being <br /> trapped on the welfare rolls, unable to go to work because of <br /> the lack of available, affordable care for their babies. <br /> Quality child care at the standard rate charged by most local <br /> Dec. 9, 1994 <br />