March 17, 2016
Dear Provider,
As you know, Westchester County child care providers have recently seen a rash of late subsidy reimbursement payments
and inaccuracy of payments. I am writing to you today to give you an update on our work regarding this matter.
A team from the VOICE/CSEA DSS committee recently met with the CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo
(elected) and Chris Ludlow, the Southern Region Legislative and Political Action Coordinator (staff) who both have
relationships and connections with our Legislators and Westchester government agencies.
We are pleased to report this was a very fruitful meeting. They were very receptive to our concerns and frankly shocked
and sympathetic to what we are going through; the daily struggle of not getting paid and needing to run our child care
programs.
Since Rob Astorino’s tenure began as County Executive he has repeatedly slashed services and jobs citing waste. We
know that he is not cutting waste but actually gutting vital services that our communities need.
It is time for us to stand up, be united and raise our voices.
To begin this work, Chris Ludlow has already scheduled a meeting with the Chairman of Board of the Westchester
County Legislature at the end of March. He has also scheduled with the Social Services Committee Chair, Benjamin
Boykin as well. Members from the DSS team will accompany them to these meetings and detail how this is affecting
providers so negatively.
On a positive note, we are excited to be making progress toward solving this problem. We may need your help down the
line to turn out for a meeting or public show of strength. We will continue to keep you all updated as this work happens.
We will also need to identify and tell our stories of hardship as we go through this process. If you would like to tell your
story, please send it to jill.asencio@cseainc.org or call Jill Asencio at (518) 257-1276.
The VOICE/DSS committee is working with DSS to make sure everyone is on the CCTA system. Our VOICE/DSS
committee is also committed to training providers who are on the CCTA system and need help with understanding
whether there were miscalculations regarding their payments. Please call Dinita Blount at (914) 536-2614 to register for
the training.
If you have questions about this work, the union or wish to be connected with Representative Cynthia Bolding?
Call the VOICE/CSEA Child Care Resource Center at (877) 483-2732.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Bolding,VOICE/CSEA Westchester Chapter Representative and the
VOICE/CSEA DSS committee.