The Collins Administration’s Department of Social Services has in recent weeks become the gang that can’t shoot straight.

As further evidence of their continued mishandling of the day care subsidy issue, county DSS sent out a notice this past week to daycare providers telling them they had to collect pay stubs and other personal information from recipients, in order to prove their eligibility and that they are working.

It was to go into effect on Monday.

The providers objected for many reasons, including that they should not have such private information nor be required to do the job of the DSS caseworkers. The state sent the following letter:

Remember this next time someone tells you they want to run government like a business: not every business is run competently.

A press release from Assemblymembers Hoyt, Peoples, and Schroeder after the jump.
Assemblymember Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo), Assemblymember Crystal D. Peoples (D-Buffalo), and Assemblymember Mark Schroeder (D-Buffalo) released today a letter they sent to Erie County Department of Social Services Commisioner Carol Dankert, as well as a letter sent to Commissioner Dankert by the New York State Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS).

“Erie County is trying to place an unfair burden on child care providers by demanding that they collect pay stubs and employment verification from parents who utilize the child care subsidy program. This is also a violation of confidentiality for the parents. The County needs to follow the same rules as every other County in New York State, instead of trying to make it up as they go along,” said Hoyt.

Peoples said, “County government has a responsibility to the poor and working poor of our community. Forcing them out of the world of work is not the way to eliminate poverty in the poorest city in the nation.”

Hoyt, joined by Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, also called on OCFS to perform a review of the child care subsidy program amidst concerns that the program has been mismanaged. The County recently announced a change in eligibility requirements that will remove 1500 families from the program. The review will begin next week.

“Protecting confidentiality is very important, and I am pleased that the Office of Child and Family Services moved quickly to provide clarity to the County regarding this issue,” said Schroeder.

“Working parents need to know they can afford to have their children cared for while they are working to provide for them. It is short-sighted to eliminate these families from the subsidy program, and the ripple effects from an increased need for social services such as food stamps or welfare will far outweigh any savings the County thinks it will achieve. I am pleased that OCFS is stepping in to review this beneficial program, and I look forward to their results,” concluded Hoyt.