By JOAN JOSEPHSON

OBSERVER Staff Writer

It took less than a week for a letter from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to get a positive reaction from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

In her Sept. 22 letter to Sec. Sebelius, Sen. Gillibrand asked guidelines be established to allow Western New York (WNY) counties to gain access to federal funds designed to provide affordable child care.

According to the senator, WNY received $385,311 for child care subsidies through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

Sen. Gillibrand helped pass this act, but, according to her letter, local officials have been unable to spend the money because the federal government had not yet provided guidelines for the program.

"The counties could spend these federal dollars to meet a broad range of goals for their child care centers," she said.

"In these tough economic times, we must ensure that Western New York families have access to quality, affordable child care," she added.

On Friday, Sen. Gillibrand's office issued a news release indicating that through her efforts, nearly $100 million in stimulus funds for federal childcare assistance in New York state are now available.

"At the urging of Sen. Gillibrand, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today provided spending and reporting guidelines for counties that received child-care funds in the ARRA," the release noted.

"This is great news for counties across N.Y. that have been waiting for the federal guidelines needed to put these funds to use for families that rely on these centers.

"I would like to thank Sec. Sebelius for responding so quickly to my request and for understanding that in these tough economic times, we need to speed the process of providing federal assistance for these important services," the news release quoting the senator said.