A Sioux Falls after-school coordinator said she fielded calls from panicked parents this month after the state altered childcare assistance payments — in some cases slashing assistance by more than 80%, she said.
Rebecca Wimmer is the coordinator for the Sioux Falls School District’s after-school program. She reported hearing from families who said it would be more cost-effective for a parent to quit working and stay home with their kids than to pay for the lost assistance. She relayed those stories to state lawmakers, the Governor’s Office and the state Department of Social Services.
Child Care Assistance is a federal-state program that helps low-income working parents, students and job trainees afford childcare. South Dakota’s program costs the state about $6.7 million and the federal government $28.4 million. It covered 3,346 children in June…