Day care providers who rely on government subsidies to get paid for their services say they are having a tough time getting through the red tape.

Melvina Van Dross, who operates a home day care center, says her mission is to ready kids for their first day of school. But she says due to the red tape involved with getting paid from government subsidies, the kids are suffering. She claims she has not been paid for the market rate increase she has been owed since last summer, and when she calls the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) she gets a busy signal.

News 12 The Bronx contacted the ACS and officials said Dross can expect to be paid this month. Situations like Van Dross' have prompted other day care providers to call for unionization. Van Dross says she is now working with UFT and ACORN to form a day care provider union.