Archives: future_stories

Being the mother of a young child can be stressful, but having a young child with emotional and behavioral needs has its own unique set of challenges. Danielle shares her experiences with her son, Theo.

Jennifer Santana knows the importance of child care for babies as both an Early Head Start manager as well as a mother. However, she also acknowledges the high cost of quality for both the family and for the provider. Read her story.

Time spent at home with newborns is a critical bonding period between parent and child, and can also prove helpful for parents simply adjusting to the little one in their lives. Hear one story from a family who had children under the old Paid Family Leave program.

“I had to call out of work a lot and employers who don’t have children just don’t understand.”

“If you’re a working parent, there’s only so many days that you got that you can call out before it starts to be an issue.”

“Sometimes, you have to choose, do I need my money? Or do I need to choose my child? I got released from my job because I had to keep calling out. But at the end of the day, I had to be a mom.”

“I don’t feel like there’s a lot of quality day cares and it’s kind of like factory-run, especially in low-income day cares.”

“All children should be treated the same way, even if you have a subsidy. They deserve to be in a safe place and they deserve to have resources available to them.”

“The cost is usually quite a factor. If you and your husband are both working, you don’t qualify because you’re not poor enough. Just five dollars can put you out of the program.”