For twenty-five years I taught, supervised and directed child care programs. I always enjoyed meeting the children’s grandparents and really admired the grandparents who took on raising their grandchildren. The grandparents really responded to the information I was always sharing about advocating for children and child care. They seemed to see the larger picture and understand how important it is for our society to invest in good quality child care and help working families. They saw their adult children struggling to afford and find good quality care. Many times grandparents changed their work hours or quit their jobs to accommodate caring for their grandchildren.

This Spring I was privileged to work with three grandparents who were among the 43 parents sponsored by NACCRRA to attend its Annual Research and Policy Symposium and advocate on Capitol Hill.

Karen Tomasini from Casper, Wyoming is a grandparent with legal guardianship of both her daughter, who has a disability, and granddaughter (who is now 5 ½).  She tried a few child care centers before quitting her job to stay home with her grandchild. Karen didn’t feel adequate security was in place in the centers she looked at because of the threat of kidnapping by the father, who lost his parental rights.

Karen felt that her experience meeting with her senators’ and representative’s staff was fantastic. They were very receptive to her perspective as a grandparent. Karen had done her research and found that 4 percent of the grandparents in her state have primary responsibility for their grandchildren (http://www.wpen.net/PDF/GPHandbook1106.pdf). Grandparents end up raising their grandchildren due to issues with physical, sexual or emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, prison, and drug and alcohol abuse. She feels that many caregivers have not had adequate training to meet the needs of children dealing with these issues. Karen shared with her representatives about the need for better training, child-staff ratios and background checks.

During her tough times, Karen sought the support of her minister. They decided to start a support group for grandparents raising a second generation of children. The group is called P2TA (Parenting the Second Time Around). Twenty to 30 grandparents participate in this group each month. Her support group feels that grandparents need monetary assistance, respite care, safe care and teacher training to assist children with challenging behaviors due to their circumstances.

Karen is continuing to advocate for children in her state. She is speaking to the state Child Care Finder Advisory Board this June about the needs grandparents have for better child care standards.

I commend Karen and hope that more grandparents speak up and take action on behalf of their grandchildren and all children. Every voice makes a difference. See what you can do in your community.  Join the CCA Parent Network and take an important first step!  www.ccaparentnetwork.org

For more information:  “Grandparents:  A Critical Safety Net”

The other day, I posted one of my usual missives about the horrible condition of child care in America on my Facebook page. It was just another day in my life in which I try to get people to wake up and smell the coffee about how far we (advocates, parents, child care providers, policy makers, the media, and everyone else) have to go to improve child care. Soon thereafter, and one of my childhood friends who doesn’t really know what I do for a living responded to the post by saying “It’s terrible! And those parents keep on working and sending their children.” I was horrified and quickly deleted the post.

That post made me wake up and smell the coffee about the implications of the messages I send out!  I looked back at my Facebook and Twitter posts, and I realized that I’m not completing the thought! People who don’t know me think I am “anti-child care!” Whhhoooa! I know child care, and when done well, it provides children and parents with many positive outcomes. As a matter of fact, high-quality child care includes developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that make the most of the critical early learning years when brain development is most rapid.  As a working mother and a child care professional, I know it is simply a necessary fact of life for most people in our nation. Clearly, I support parents and their need to work.

It’s true that based on the reports produced by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, I have come to believe that by and large, child care in America is in a deplorable state due to lack of standards, regulations, oversight, and adequate training. I also know, based on my experience as a parent of a child who has been in child care and as a child care center administrator in a multi-site organization dedicated to high-quality early learning experiences, there are examples of wonderful, well-operated programs throughout the country. Because I do know what high-quality child care looks like from the inside, and as someone with experience at the national level, I am passionate that all children and families have the highest quality care.

Why would someone who works on behalf of child care promote negative stories? It seems counterintuitive that advocates would not want to promote the stories of great examples of child care that works. Here’s why I post about negative stories:

• While there are good examples of family child care and child care programs, they are few and far between. The National Institute of Child Health and Development rated only 10% of programs throughout the nation as “good.” It’s hard to build interest based on such a small sample.
• NACCRRA’s studies reveal that parents believe the government is doing its part to protect children in child care, when, in fact, there is an alarming lack of standardization and regulation of child care throughout the country.
• There is a general lack of awareness about child care, and as an advocate, I need to do my part to raise awareness and educate the public.
• The media, policy-makers, and the general public don’t pay attention to the “feel-good” stories.
• The stories of the tragic results of poor child care provide clear illustrations of what needs to be done to improve quality throughout the nation.

I’ve learned that it is important for me to “complete” the thought when I post, so people who read the posts understand that I am not implying that parents should avoid child care, and most importantly, I do not want to make anyone feel guilty about using it.  I also don’t want to perpetuate the chasm that exists between working parents and those who have the luxury of a myriad of choices. As a matter of fact, I am posting in order to encourage people to join me, NACCRRA , and our new Child Care Aware Parent Network to advocate for Federal legislation for better regulation, funding, and oversight of child care through states and the local agencies that are tasked with child care licensing. Learn more about our Policy Agenda , and join us to educate the public and advocate for the world-class child care because 11 million children in child care in America are counting on us.

After 25 years working in the field of early childhood education, I never imagined I would be poised to launch a new national virtual membership organization for young children with an amazing team of dedicated, passionate, and expert advocates at the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. We’re thrilled to lead the development of an organization that will reach parents, grandparents, and other advocates for children through 21st century online organizing strategies. We’re also excited about being at the forefront of finding new ways to mesh this virtual network with the strong and proud history of grassroots organizing that that our country’s child care resource and referral agencies bring to the cause of educating and mobilizing parents.

So, what prompted Linda K. Smith, the Executive Director, and the Board of Directors of NACCRRA, to set out to build an online Parent Network? First, working parents of young children are under-represented in the halls of Congress. The needs of working parents are not clear to our policy makers and are getting lost amidst a sea of highly organized special interest groups. Our research on parents and grandparents suggests that there are clear mandates that are not being heard, and parents’ needs are not being met. Most of all, there are 12 million children who are regularly in the care of someone other than their parents and only 9% of regulated child care settings across the country can be considered  “high quality.”  Because there are few federal child care standards, and state standards are so low and so poorly implemented throughout the nation, children are being hurt, killed, and neglected in settings that are less than high quality. Finally, child care has always been hard to afford for many working parents, but with our recent economic downturn, the challenges are becoming insurmountable. Even parents who make minimum wage often cannot qualify for assistance. Parents are being forced to take their children out of child care. What will become of these families?

NACCRRA believes it is time to represent parents and ensure that their stories are told and heard by the public and by policy makers. Child Care Aware Parent Network is our initiative to gather, organize, and mobilize parents by arming them with great information and tools to help them voice their concerns. This blog space will be devoted to the parents in our Parent Network. Their stories will be brought to you by the insightful staff at NACCRRA and our member agencies throughout the country. I hope you will join us on our journey through this blog as we search for the answers to the complex problems facing working parents throughout the country.

Fran Simon
Chief of Parent Engagement
NACCRRA