YMCA After-School Program Comes Up Short : Child care: Organization had applied to supervise 200 extra youths this academic year but was denied. It’s now adding more slots to accommodate children of parents who aren’t at home.

Parents in the Capistrano Unified School District who thought they had everything in place for the new school year received an unpleasant surprise this week when the YMCA told them there wasn’t room for their children in the agency’s extended day-care program.

The YMCA had asked the State Department of Social Services last March for permission to add almost 200 children to its South County morning and after-school child care programs.

But citing problems the state has had in the past with the Orange County YMCA--including what it called inadequate child supervision, improper documentation of staff qualifications, and use of unsafe play areas--the department on Aug. 23 denied the YMCA’s request to care for a greater number of children.

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Negotiations continued, but nothing had been worked out by Thursday, the first day of school.

That left the parents of older children the YMCA wanted to move into more loosely supervised programs--so it could get younger children in the structured day-care program--in the lurch.

However, by Friday Social Services had approved a majority of the requested increases, reducing the number of children the YMCA could care for at other Orange County schools where demand for day care has dropped, and increasing the student limits at South County schools.

“We have the issues worked out to get through the school year,” said Art Wannlund, president of the Orange County YMCA. “I think we’re going to take the time necessary to work with licensing to get this resolved on a longer-term basis.”

Wannlund said Capistrano Unified’s rapid population growth has complicated the YMCA’s day-care plans at schools there. “What has made this unusual,” he said, “is that Capistrano Unified opened five new schools and the elementary school boundaries were redefined. The system isn’t set up to respond quickly.”

Social Services would not release the details of the agreement, saying the final legal touches on the document will be complete by next week.

According to Wannlund, the YMCA day-care programs at four Capistrano Unified elementary schools have received permission to have more students than they had last year.

Arroyo Vista in Rancho Santa Margarita will go from 96 to 144 slots, while Viejo in Mission Viejo will have 140 students, 44 more than last year. Reilly Elementary in Mission Viejo can accept 60 students, up 30 from last year, and White Elementary in Laguna Niguel will increase from 51 to 96 students.

Next week, the state and the YMCA will discuss requested increases at Hidden Hills Elementary in Laguna Niguel and Barcelona Hills Elementary in Mission Viejo, Wannlund said.

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Working parents said they were happy that an agreement had finally been worked out, but said they hope that next time negotiations between the state and the YMCA are quicker and completed longer before the start of school.

“The parents and children are being manipulated by both sides in this issue,” said Ken LeDuc, whose two children at Reilly Elementary had been asked by the YMCA to be in the more loosely supervised drop-in program, in which the children may come and go as they please. “We have issues with the state where they must change, but there are also places the Y has screwed up and not checked all the boxes.”

Complaints by frustrated parents have even caught the eye of local legislators, who are considering co-authoring a bill to revamp the licensing process for extended day-care programs for elementary school-age children, said Betty Anderson, district coordinator for Assemblyman William Morrow (R-Oceanside).

“I don’t think anyone enjoys being caught up in this mess,” Anderson said. “We don’t need more latchkey kids out there.”