Childcare Relief Scholarship offers local families help during COVID-19

DUTCHESS COUNTY — Families facing the challenges of finding childcare for their school-aged children during the 2020-21 school year may soon benefit from the $197,685 in funding that Dutchess County has allocated for a COVID-19 Childcare Relief Scholarship.

Designed to fill the gap between the number of days students are physically in school and days when they aren’t, this scholarship will allow parents more flexibility to work, to look for work or to attend college all the while, according to a recent press release from Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro’s office. 

Beginning Thursday, Oct. 1, scholarships will be awarded to families through the end of the academic year through a random selection process to eligible families with school-aged children. Among the scholarship’s criteria, eligible families must have a household income that doesn’t exceed 80% of the county’s median income limits: for example, a family of two must have a household income that doesn’t exceed $62,800 while a family of four must have a household income that doesn’t exceed $78,500. Excluding the city of Poughkeepsie, the scholarship fund will be available for families that reside in Dutchess County and have school-aged children who are eligible for acceptance into a regulated childcare facility in Dutchess County.  Families that have children with special needs will be prioritized. The family’s parents or guardians must be working, looking for work or in school in order to be eligible, unless there are extenuating circumstances and a demonstrated COVID-related need for childcare.

The scholarship fund will cover 75% of tuition for each child, which will be paid directly to the childcare facility; families will be responsible for the remaining 25% of tuition.

For more information on the COVID-19 Childcare Relief Scholarship, go to www.dutchessny.gov.

Families are encouraged to consider their community’s available resources and supports, and to request the minimal number of days needed to ensure funding can be maximized. 

Locally, there are various childcare resources available in northeastern Dutchess County,  like the Community Partnership with Schools and Business program available to youth and young adults through the North East Community Center (NECC) in Millerton, along with the NECC’s Out of School Time program for students enrolled in the North East (Webutuck) Central School District. The partnership program provides jobs and on site training for county teenagers. Meanwhile, the Out of School Time program offers enrichment activities to Webutuck students to promote academic achievement and socio-emotional and behavioral development. This year, the Out of School Time program will be held in-person for a reduced number of students daily to ensure social distancing compliance. 

NECC Executive Director Christine Sergent reported that the NECC has waived all the fees for its after-school programs this year to support local families and make sure they can afford to participate, regardless of income.

“We are grateful to be moving into a second year of important funding from the county to support our Community Partnership with Schools and Business program and our Out of School Time program,” Sergent said. “Both of those are not only important to teens and young children during normal times but we found that over the COVID crisis, they need us even more.”

To date, Sergent said NECC has been doing a lot of work both remotely and in-person with the teen programs while exercising the necessary precautions. She added that along with the Webutuck Central School District, NECC expects to be able to provide after-school programming this year while following the appropriate safety guidelines and restrictions.

Among the other childcare resources in northeastern Dutchess, Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County in Millbrook has its 4-H Youth Development program as well as its Green Teen and No Child Left Inside (NCLI) programs — all of which are funded in part by Dutchess County. 

Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County Environment and Energy Resource Educator Danielle Salisbury said the NCLI has continued to provide “environmentally based workforce development, as the Youth Educators in the program educate their peers and other youth on environmental topics and encourage youth to get outdoors through content that is continually published on NCLI’s social media,” including the “Dutchess No Child Left Inside” Facebook page, the “@dutchessNCLI” Instagram and the NCLI webpage at www.dutchessncli.com. 

Meanwhile, Jane Rodd, the 4-H Youth Development Program Leader at Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County, said the Green Teen is a youth vocational training program based in Beacon, for youth ages 14 to 20.

“Approximately 24 youth per year receive employment and career training while working in the community gardens and providing fresh food for those in need in their community,” she said.

The 4-H clubs, Rodd continued, are county-wide and serve both rural and urban youth ages 5 to 18, with club projects ranging from agriculture to science and sewing. Mentored by volunteer leaders, she said the 4-H youth learn skills like public speaking and record-keeping, and that all 375 4-H members give back by participating in community service activities every year.

Members of Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County’s Green Teen program worked together this past July to harvest food to give to the community. Photo courtesy of the CCEDC 4-H Program