What Would You Do Without Child Care?

I’ve been working on child care policy for about 15 years now, and I’ve seen a lot of articles like this one that ran in USA Today on Wednesday. Every time I read one I wonder why it’s so difficult to make progress on ensuring that working families have the high quality, affordable child care they need. Honestly. Around 58% of children ages birth to six have mothers who are employed, and almost 78% of kids ages six to 18 have moms who are working for pay. Most work full-time. Most mothers of babies, toddlers, and school-age kids need some kind of child care or after-school program so they can work.

So why don't federal and state policy makers put more funding into child care, even in less economically challenging times? One theory I’ve considered is that progress on child care policy suffers from a high-turnover constituency. That’s advocacy and organizer-speak, so let me break it down. You’re a parent, and you need to work. You can’t find child care, or you can’t find child care you like or trust. Or you can’t find child care you can afford on your hourly salary. You feel desperate and angry. You are a perfect advocate, because you can call policy-makers and say, “Look, if I can’t find or afford decent child care then I can’t work! That’s not good for my family!” That’s powerful.

But then, eventually, you work it out. You find a child care situation that you can afford. Maybe it’s perfect, or maybe it’s not the best for you or your kid, but it works for now, and it lets you get to your job. Then you’re really busy – because you’re a mom or a dad, and you’re working outside the home. Who has time to call legislators or write letters to the editor? Your problem is solved, and you need to move on. You are part of a high-turnover constituency.

But lots of other moms and dads are still out there, facing the same situation you used to face. And they are struggling. So this is my appeal to all you parents out there who either have great child care now, or used great child care when your kids were younger. You know how important it was to you and your family. Look around you throughout your day. Look at your your nurse, your cashier, your child’s teacher, and your waitress. I wonder if they have children. I wonder if they’re having a hard time finding child care. I wonder if they could use your help – your voice – in improving child care policy.

If you think maybe they can, contact your state and federal legislators and let them know how important it is to provide funding for child care subsidies and quality supports. Other parents and kids still need you. For more information on how to help, check out these organizations: NWLC, Early Education for All (in MA), NAEYC

For All You Cape Cod Parents and Kid People!

If you've never been to the Upper Cape Early Childhood Conference put on by the Upper Cape Family Network, five area Community Partnerships for Children, and the Child Care Network of the Cape and Islands, this is the year! It's on Saturday, October 31st, 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Bourne High School, and will be jam packed with information and fun for parents, early childhood professionals, local businesses, policy makers, and anyone who has an interest in what our young children need and deserve. You can enjoy workshops, continental breakfast, a (free) Discovery toys Give-away, and raffle prizes -- all for $30.00.

Workshops include:

• Different Children, Different Needs (with Jeanine K. Fitzgerald)
• Building Bias-Free Foundations (with my frolleague Tracey Bromley Goodwin!)
• Everything You Always Wanted To Ask the Pediatrician… But ran Out of Time to Ask! (with Dr. Lisa Dobberteen)
• A Match Made in Heaven: NAEYC Guidelines and EEC Regulations
• And much more!

To register or for more information, email Tina Toran at ttoran@falmouth.k12.ma.us by October 16th.

While I'm plugging local events and thinking about Tracey, I also want to pass on information about a workshop for parents on Navigating ADHD she and her partner Holly Oberacker are holding in Sandwich on November 7. For more information or to register click here.

These people love kids, and I love these people - thanks for letting me share!

Afterschool, Summer, and Closing the Achievement Gap

About a year ago my then-seven year old daughter came home from school and declared that we shouldn’t vote for Obama because he wants kids to be in school during the summer. From her narrow perspective, school is fun but summer is more fun. That’s when she can dance, swim, and play with abandon. Who would want to mess with that? Similarly, I’ve been watching good thinkers, people who I consider to be like-minded, react with dismay to President Obama’s suggestion that in this less-agrarian era in which the economy demands educated, skilled workers, we might consider lengthening the school year and/or the school day. From a personal perspective I can relate to his critics. We just had a great, glorious summer. We spent time at the beach and the mountains. My kids had many sprawling, unstructured summer days. Summer is one of the reasons I enjoy having a flexible, work-at-home career. A good summer break is what kids who are over-stressed, over-protected, and deprived of nature need. Who would want to mess with that?

But here’s the reality of most families. In its new report, the Afterschool Alliance reports that 15 million U.S. children are alone and unsupervised after school. Their parents aren’t working at home – they’re working at grocery stores and hotels and in office buildings. And they keep working through the summer. The kids who aren’t in afterschool programs during the school year are also very likely not in summer camps during the summer. And while I wish they could all have the relatively carefree summers my children enjoy while I work in my guest room office, I know better. As a person who grew up with both parents working after school, I know those unsupervised afternoon hours can be liberating and empowering. They provide an opportunity to develop responsibility, maturity, and judgment, and to learn how to make your own mac and cheese. But they can also be long, lonely, and full of opportunities to make bad, even dangerous, choices.

But President Obama’s interests are less developmental than educational. After all, depending on whom you ask it’s not the mission of our public schools to provide a safe and developmentally appropriate place for kids while their parents work to pay the bills. They need to somehow close the achievement gap – the one among U.S. students, and the one between our students and those in other countries.

Through a combination of high quality after-school programs, extended learning opportunities through school, and school or community-based summer programs that prevent summer learning loss, we might be able to close that gap.

• In Massachusetts, some districts have been funded to try Expanded Learning Time, and teachers participating in the evaluation of the initiative have reported that it provides the time to complete their curricula and meet the needs of all students.
• Two 2007 studies (one by Dr. Karl Alexander at Johns Hopkins University, and one by Dr. Beth Miller for the Nellie Mae Education Foundation) looked at summer learning loss as a key to the achievement gap. Both found that a big contributor to the achievement gap may be the difference in the ways kids from different socio-economic groups spend their summers. Those who spend some of their summer in educational activities – which can include having fun at a summer camp with well-trained staff – lose less of what they’ve learned from one school year to the next.
• Finally, a variety of research suggests that high quality after-school settings – programs that have trained staff and offer children a variety of activities and learning opportunities – can lead to more school success for kids.
  

None of those options precludes kids playing or having the freedom to make choices. In fact, high quality educational experiences -- whether they're in the classroom, at camp, or in an afterschool program -- include letting kids play.

So, what’s the answer? Longer school years and school days may be the answer for some kids and for some communities. A lot depends on what other options those kids and their families have during their time outside of school – after school and during the summer. What seems clear is that policy makers, schools, and parents have to consider all of these strategies in their efforts to close the achievement gap and give kids the education they need to be happy and successful adults.

Show your kids where policy happens!

Hey all you Wonky Moms and Dads out there! I was just thinking that this is the time of year when parents are starting to plan that school vacation get-away for February or April school vacation. You know - Disney. The Carolinas. Maybe a nice island somewhere.

All tempting, but why not do something different this year? If you haven't already, this may be the year to take your kids to their nation's capital! Show them where policy is made, tour the museums and maybe even the White House (get your tix early for that one!), visit your Congressional representatives... We took our kids to Washington, D.C. last year, and it was a great way to introduce them to some history, provide a backdrop for our dinner-time discussions of current events, and empower them to be active citizens who respect and enjoy their national treasures. Here's my son at the gates of the Department of the Treasury. He was doing a report on Alexander Hamilton at the time, and seeing his statue was one of the highlights of his trip. That, and riding in the flight simulator at the Air and Space Museum.

I know times are tight, and not all of you are on the East Coast. For a democracy destination within reach, you can also check out your state capitol. Take a tour, visit your state legislators if they're in session, and enjoy absorbing the power of democracy that is palpable inside those walls. You might even be able to see a committee hearing or watch some floor action.

Just a thought as you browse through your travel brochures and start making plans... If you're thinking about visiting D.C., here is a great site to get you started!

Policy News Families Can Use

Here are a few child and family policy-related nuggets from today’s news. How do they affect you and yours?

Health – The journal Pediatrics released 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health data yesterday that found that the rate of autism (also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD) as reported by parents in the U.S. has increased to one in 100 children, up from a previous estimate of 150. The Centers for Disease Control web site backs that research up, and further expresses hope that “these new data might raise awareness about ASDs to help improve early identification and intervention and to provide information for policy and service planning.” According to an Associated Press story, some of the increase is being attributed to earlier diagnosis and a broader definition for Autism.

Education – Raising a current or future college student? The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is considering raising the amount allowed per student under Pell Grants, federally funded college tuition grants for low income students. Pell Grants are a critical support for low income students and their families because unlike student loans they do not leave graduates in debt. In a Philadelphia Inquirer story, Laura W. Perna, an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University Graduate School of Education, is quoted as saying that two-thirds of students who received Pell Grants in 2007-08 came from families who earned less than $30,000. She also cited recent studies finding that the grants covered “32 percent of the average cost of tuition and fees at four-year public colleges and universities nationwide in 2007-08, down from 50 percent a decade earlier.”

Food – The Center for Science in the Public Interest looked at Food and Drug Administration (FDA) data on illnesses caused by food, and found that these are the foods most likely to make you sick: leafy greens, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, and berries. Unfortunately, the analysis did not include meat and poultry, because those are regulated by the Agriculture Department, and the Center only looked at FDA regulated foods, but some of the outbreaks included pathogens more commonly found in meat and poultry. Authors think there may be a link to large scale production and processing, so if you haven’t already you might want to get to know your local farmer. According to a Department of Health and Human Services article, Congress is considering a bill that would expand the FDA’s authority over food producers and make it easier to identify and remove tainted foods from grocery stores. In the meantime, eat your veggies but wash them well first!