Centre County faces a constant threat of losing subsidiary childcare funds allocated from the state because the county is among the least needy areas in the state, said Anne Walker of Centre County's Child Care Information Services (CCIS).

There are 2,480 children on waiting lists for low-income family childcare subsidies in Pennsylvania. Most of those children are from Philadelphia and Delaware counties. None are Centre County residents, said Kate Holod, director of the state Bureau of Child Day Care.

"[Extreme need] is not all around the state," Walker said.

"It's in certain counties. We could have a waiting list in the future," Walker said.

Holod said Centre County's exclusion from these waiting lists is not stable, because children are constantly cycling in and out.

Home visitors from Cen-Clearchild Services, Inc. work with low-income families or families with disabled children in their homes, Holod added.

Visitors refer families in their program who express need for childcare subsidies to CCIS.

A family's eligibility for subsidies is then assessed, and waiting lists are created if appropriate funds are readily not available.

Wible said there are no families on the waiting lists in Centre County and Walker said she has not seen any children on these lists in the past three or four months.

The federal government allocates monetary funds to each state for low-income families for childcare subsidies.

These funds are given to parents for childcare so that they can attend work or school while supporting their family.

The federal government uses a series of guidelines to determine the amount of money for state allocations.

When the federal government does not grant ample funds to a state -- the result of any number of eligibility infractions -- waiting lists are started, Walker said.

Walker said that she believes the small low-income population in Centre County might be attributed to costly services in the county and lack of resources for less fortunate families.

She added that Centre County is "not a friendly place for poor people."

It is hard to find substantially subsidized housing in Centre County, and low-income families are inclined to move elsewhere, Walker said.

Public transportation is also insufficient to support the needs of poorer workers in outlying areas, Walker added.

Heads of disadvantaged families trying to get into the workforce without relying on government support also have competition for part-time work in Centre County from Penn State students, Walker said.

"It's the transient nature of the area and it's expensive to live here," Walker said, explaining why Centre County continues to see an exodus of underprivileged families.

With almost 30 low-income families leaving the county each month, the program is struggling to fill the vacancies to keep the funds, Walker said.

The state designated about $1.3 million for Centre County childcare-related information services and subsidies for 2003-04, Walker said. This figure is slightly lower than last year, she said, because program dropouts are provoking underspending penalties and making it more difficult for the county to meet state eligibility requirements.

"We're always at risk of losing our funds," she said. "[However], if we didn't have the termination rate we do, we would have a waiting list. Definitely."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.