Shaitia S. - Parent
“Childcare means having somewhere safe and affordable that delivers quality programming for my child. Right now, for my 7 year old, that means before and after school care that isn't sitting him in front of a TV at a stranger's house or at a place I am not familiar with. At an earlier point it meant affordable, quality early education programming for my son when he wasn't in school and I had to work. Initially I had the hardest time finding childcare for my infant. I was a teen single mom with no voucher and no clue how to pay for daycare. I've had to work multiple job just to pay for childcare, let alone rent, food and car payments, etc. The network for finding childcare is just not there. The search engines and tools public assistance program send you to, are hard to navigate, and early education programs are not easily accessible. I was fortunate enough to land a teen parent voucher that allowed me to get my son into a daycare program for free but that was sheer luck and someone really wanted to help me at the New England Farm Workers Office in Springfield.”
What would affordable, high-quality early education and child care mean for your family? What would be different if you had access to such a program?
“Where I live, there aren’t many options for my family's needs. In Springfield, there are many but not all are created equal nor are they all "quality". This is uneven across the state. The bottom line, as it stands you need MONEY to get the good programming for your child. Otherwise you are settling for what you pay for. You can really see the inequities when you cross county lines.”
What else should lawmakers and policymakers know about your childcare/early education needs?
“The whole system needs to be revamped. Parents deserve a uniform way to understand vouchers, voucher programs, and the process to get childcare. There is no one place you can go to ask questions. There is no one way to get access to childcare providers where you live. It's jumping through hoops, long waiting lists and aggravation to even ask a question. It's truly a nightmare for parents, and it's even more upsetting for parents in LMI communities. To make matters worse, imagine being a single teen parent in the middle of all of this.”