AMPLIFYING STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Every day, we talk to parents, small business owners, care providers and other community leaders who are fighting for the bold changes needed to lower the cost of care.
Head Start
Read about the providers, educators and parents who are fighting to preserve funding for Head Start.
On The Line
Read about how the policies pushed by the Trump administration are hanging working families out to dry.
Child Care Cliff
Read about the need to invest in child care to support families and our economy.
Child Care Closures
Read about the central role child care programs serve in communities, and what happens when they close.
Jenn Bailey
Madison, WI
In the nine years that Jen has served as the executive director of Reach Dane, she’s never had an issue receiving funding from the federal government. That changed earlier this year when the Trump administration announced a temporary freeze of Head Start funding. Jen describes herself as a contingency planner, and especially in the years since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she thought she had planned for all possible scenarios.
On the morning of the freeze, Jen received no official communication from the regional or federal Head Start agencies; she only received text messages from fellow Head Start directors who were having difficulty accessing funds. It quickly became clear that this was a national problem.
The freeze fell on a payroll week for Reach Dane, and since Jen had not yet submitted her request for that funding to be drawn down, she could not access the funds that had been allocated to the center. Jen ended up using a line of credit she had set up for emergencies through the bank to pay her staff.
Though a federal court ultimately intervened and lifted the freeze, Head Start programs were still unable to access funds for weeks. During this period, Jen also had to take a large amount of money out of her organization’s reserves.
Michelle Maslanka
Laconia, NH
Michelle Maslanka’s life changed in 2014 after a devastating accident left her with a spinal cord injury and quadriplegia. Overnight, she lost the ability to perform basic tasks like bathing, dressing, cooking and using the bathroom without full-time assistance. The physical and emotional toll on her family was overwhelming, but one thing made independence possible: Medicaid.
Michelle lives with her husband and daughter, but the care she needs is more than they can provide. Michelle first enrolled in Medicaid in 2007. After her injury, a local nonprofit helped Michelle apply for a Medicaid waiver that provides her with a personal home care attendant to care for her on a daily basis. Without this support, her husband would have to stop working to care for her, putting their financial stability at risk. Her daughter also relies on Medicaid for her own health care to receive regular therapy, see a doctor and an allergist, and maintain her EpiPen prescription.
Though Michelle was able to be connected to these services through the Granite State Independent Center, she worries that others in similar situations today may not receive the same support or information.
For Michelle’s family, Medicaid is more than a safety net; it is the foundation that allows her and her daughter to live with dignity and access essential care. Without it, she fears losing the stability and independence she has worked so hard to maintain.
Shineal Hunter
Philadelphia, PA
Shineal Hunter is a fourth-generation early child care educator and is passionate about her community and the children and families she serves as owner of Family Circle Academy. Shineal said that without relief funds she received during the pandemic from legislation like the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which allowed her to cover overhead costs and retain her staff, her child care center would have closed.
With the impending expiration of these funds, Shineal is concerned about the continued
sustainability of her small business. Based on her lived experience, she knows that the child care
industry requires more than just a temporary bailout – sustainable, permanent funding is crucial. Rising prices of essential goods and rent pose significant challenges. Shineal worries that she may have to reduce staff, turn away families, shorten hours or reduce services, impacting enrollment and financial goals.
If centers like hers have to shut down, a lack of childcare options hinders parents' ability to work.
Additionally, the industry faces a staffing crisis that cannot be resolved without increased wages for
workers to have a living wage themselves.
Susan Elandt
Waupaca, WI
Growing up, Susan Elandt wanted to work in elementary education, but as she stood in line to register for her freshman year of college, she realized how many science credits she needed for the degree and she switched to English theater. Following undergrad, Susan enrolled in a graduate school program for religious education, and after her schooling, Susan worked in parishes for a few years.
When she became a mom, Susan made the choice to stay at home to raise her kids, but when she was ready to rejoin the workforce, she had a hard time finding work. Eventually, Susan found an opening as a teacher at a child care center in Menominee, Michigan. She did not have the necessary qualifications, but she had worked with young children through her church, and the center's director took a chance on her. Since then, Susan has never looked back.
Though Susan had once aspired to be an educator, it took her some time - as well as some help from one of her students - to realize she had become just that. One afternoon, Susan was sitting on the playground with a four-year-old girl, who was telling Susan she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up.
Susan responded excitedly, saying that when she was little she had always wanted to be a teacher when she grew up, too. The four-year-old looked at Susan and said, “But Ms. Susan, you are a teacher.”
It was at that moment Susan realized that she had found the way in which she was meant to educate.