No one eligible for subsidies will pay more than 16 percent of his or her income. It is available for as long as families need it, without time limit. The outreach to the working poor is part of a three-point directive from Gov. Tommy G. Thompson. Thompson also directed the Department to step up safety assurances for the small, certified child care settings, which are not licensed by the state. As he promised in his State of the State address, funding will be set aside to cover site visits and training materials, including videotapes, and smoke detectors, first aid kits, children's books, and other materials to improve the quality of care in these settings.
Employers can attract and retain workers by making child care more convenient.
Only 7 percent chose provisionally certified care, which allows providers to care for no more than three unrelated children. Stewart explained that Wisconsin's program of Child Care Subsidies for Working Families structures co-payments so that cost is not an obstacle to choosing the type of child care that makes the most sense to parents.