YOUTH: The Family Initiative Seeks To Improve Child Care Choices

I recently had the good fortune of meeting Leslie Calman of Legal Momentum (formerly the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund) and leader of the group's latest project, The Family Initiative. Since there seem to be quite a few young families in our neighborhood, I thought I would share some information on the work they are doing on a national level to ensure that all children have the care they deserve.

The goal of The Family Initiative is to mobilize families from all walks of life to support major public investment in high quality child care, pre-school and after school programs. The initiative is building towards federal and state legislation that will increase resources to improve the quality and accessibility of child care programs.

Many of us who have sought day care on the Hill for our children have been rudely awakened by the shortage of affordable options that we can feel good about. This is especially true for parents who would like to work part-time and need to find part-time childcare. The Family Initiative seeks to create options by promoting investment, partnerships, and the elevation of the challenging and skilled profession of childcare. In addition, the Initiative focuses on children ages 6-17 who need supervision before and after school, over the summer, and during schools breaks.

If you are interested in this topic, please visit the Family Initiative's Web site at http://www.familyinitiative.org. There you can sign on to the Initiative's principles, sign up for the newsletter and learn more about how you can take action.

I will be hosting an information session on Friday, May 14 (time / place to be determined), where Leslie and other members of the Initiative will provide more information on their progress to date and learn more about the needs of our particular community. Call or e-mail me at 548-9665 or andreafuller@yahoo.com for details (they're not yet finalized). I'll also be putting up a notice outside my front door as soon as I have more information. §