Day-Care Provider Service to End

County budget cuts have eliminated a local program providing information on day-care providers, shifting callers to a state office in Santa Barbara beginning Dec. 1, a county official said.

Ventura County previously hired contractors locally to provide family day-care licensing information to those who called a county phone number, said Dennis Trenten, spokesman in the county’s Public Social Services Agency. After Nov. 30, all inquiries will be referred to the state’s Community Care Licensing Division office in Santa Barbara, Trenten said. That number is 682-7647.

Ventura County officials say they will eliminate the licensing information to save on the $30,000-a-year contract, Trenten said.

Callers will be able to get the same information from the Santa Barbara office. “The only difference will be that a call to Santa Barbara might be a little more expensive,” he said.

Child Development Resources of Ventura County will still supply free lists of county-based day-care providers, Trenten said. That information is available at 486-3531.