2-13-12: Courtesy of YNN. The subsidized day care program in Erie County took a major hit two years ago because of reduced state funding, but County Executive Mark Poloncarz says now, the county is maximizing available resources to help more families. YNN’s Kaitlyn Lionti tells us more about the change and the impact it’s expected to have. BUFFALO, NY — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced a change Monday he expects will benefit about 200 children, by expanding the subsidized day care program. He says the county is leveraging state and federal funds to increase the county’s day care income eligibility rate from 175 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to 200 percent. “This means that dozens upon dozens of additional working families in our community will have access to high quality, affordable day care for their children,” said Poloncarz. Poloncarz says the county reduced the childcare subsidy from 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level to 125 percent in 2010 under the Collins administration. County officials say that change impacted numerous families and day care facilities. One of those was Storytime Childcare in South Buffalo, which lost about 20 percent of its clients. “They had some difficult choices. A lot of parents said, you know, I’m better off just quitting and getting on welfare and staying home taking care of my kid because I can’t afford it and I can’t leave my kid with a stranger. We had to lay off some employees. It definitely got quiet around

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