Arlene L. - Educator

[Name changed at the request of participant]:

“Sara and Jen, are half-siblings, they resided in a shelter with their father and mother. This was the family’s first time living in a shelter. On December 1, 2019, both parents decided to book a hotel for the weekend in Worcester to get away from the shelter and took along their youngest daughter, Sara. Jen was left with family to be cared for. The family took a break from their hotel room and went out for a drive when they were pulled over for driving too slow. Officers assumed that they were drinking, driving, and smoking, and after a search of the vehicle, they obtained marijuana in the glove compartment. The marijuana was a legal amount but the officer observed the inside conditions of the vehicle and filed a 51A report to DCF due to allegations of neglect, referencing the dirty conditions of the vehicle. The Department of Children and Families (DCF) took immediate temporary custody of Sara, who at the time was 6 months old and later of Jen, and placed them both in a foster home. Both parents were arrested and charged with aggravated assault and jailed for two days. After 6 months both children were reunified with their parents and the DCF case closed exactly one year of the open date. Today the family has relocated and placed into a housing shattered site. The children are enrolled in child care and both children are very well taken care of. The Department, transfer the case prior to closing and a voucher for child care was granted for the family in their new location, and when the case closed the family received an additional year of care. Currently, both parents are unemployed, and cannot afford child care. Due to the pandemic, the Department has granted an extension of 6 months of care but state guidelines have also changed, the ratios in the daycares have significantly dropped and families, like the Johnsons, are stuck at home waiting for ratios to go back up as well as transportation space to become available. Families are in need of transportation. To pay out of pocket for child care, most parents must cover the full cost of child care on their own and expenses that a few can afford. The Johnson’s have made it known that without a voucher they cannot afford child care, so they have to wait for the ratios to go up. Once a case has closed with the department the additional date is set from that time, the Johnsons would now need additional resources, if the extra care of services ends, to cover child care fees if transportation ratios stay down. Without affordable child care, the Johnson's cannot consider paying for child care as an option once employed.”