For the next 30 days, the Tompkins County Department of Social Services will accept comments from the public on amendments to the following changes to the Child and Family Services Plan:

The district’s recertification period for child care assistance is every 12 months, rather than 6 months.  (Appendix M, page 6)

Recipients must provide documents used to verify continued need every 12 months, rather than 6 months (Appendix M, page 7)

The additional local standard, verification provider gave accurate and complete information regarding indicated reports of child abuse or maltreatment is  applied to providers, provider's employees, provider's volunteers, and household members age 18 or older in  legally exempt family child care programs and providers, provider's volunteers, provider's employees of legally exempt in home child care programs.  This additional local standard will not be applied to providers, provider's employees, and provider's volunteers of legally exempt group providers operating and not operating under the auspices of another government agency and or tribal agencies.  (Appendix Q1, page 13)

Reviews of this additional local standard are conducted at re-enrollment as well as at initial enrollment (Appendix Q1, page 16, #6)

Please contact Maryanne Banks (274-5297) or Cindy Mott (274-5293)  Tompkins County Department of Social Services, 320 W. Martin Luther King, Jr/State St. Ithaca, NY  14850.
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The Lansing Town Board unanimously passed an extension to the Town's moratorium on high impact commercial and industrial activities Wednesday.  The original one year moratorium was passed into law last May to protect the town against the threat of hydrofracking while the town updates ordinances and plans to offer permanent protection against potential environmental and road damage to town property.  The new law extends the moratorium for another year and includes one minor clarification of permitted business uses to protect existing businesses in the town.

Town officials and committees are in the process of updating zoning laws and the town's comprehensive plan.  The moratorium is crafted to allow time for the work of Town Center Committee, the Comprehensive Plan Committee, the Pathways Committee, the Codes Committee, the Oil & Gas Committee, as well as what officials deem 'key drivers of the future' including the comprehensive plan and zoning efforts, including the South Lansing sewer initiative.

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