ANAHEIM : Child-Care Money to Pay for Facilities

Money that had been earmarked to study child-care needs in Anaheim will now be used to bring more child-care facilities to the city.

The City Council has rejected a request to spend about $13,000 to hire Child Care Planning Associates to determine the city’s child-care needs. Instead, the council asked that city staff begin looking for ways to provide child care based on the assumption that more facilities are needed.

Councilman William D. Ehrle pointed to the forthcoming Heritage Place development project, which is to bring 400 new homes, townhouses and apartments to the downtown area in the next year, as a location where new child-care facilities will be needed.

In the past, there have been concerns from some child-care providers in the city that are already too many day-care centers, many with vacancies. Those working with the city’s child-care project had hoped the study would settle the debate by determining whether the city’s demand for day-care centers is already being met.