crayons (11901 bytes)Main Issues Identified


Several issues remained constant throughout these public forums.  Below we've identified
these main issues along with ideas and quotes from parents who completed our survey.

Parent Education
  • Resource/referral book given to all parents.
  • Availability of Cooperative Preschool where support and education of the parent and child takes place.
  • Parent Cooperative Education is an incredible support network and nursery for parents involved in schooling beyond early childhood.
  • Encouragement of families to be a committed family.
  • Parental education of current research on brain development and the importance of parental involvement. A more family approach in the work setting.
  • Classes, support groups especially for those who have no family.
  • Parents need parenting skills. They need to know and understand that they are their children’s first and most important teacher.
Child Care
  • More access to children of all income levels to services/education available.
  • Quality child care – increase subsidy rates for child care.
  • Access for families to be able to stay home with child for first three years (i.e., mother).
  • Help with preschool costs for middle-income families. (I make too much to qualify for Head Start, but not enough to pay for quality programs). Mandatory ECE training for all child care providers and teachers of preschool.
  • Success by 6; support public libraries; preschool co-ops through community colleges.
  • Make the child care profession as attractive as other professions.
  • We need to help parents know how to take care of their children and help facilitate their children's learning. Parents can only teach their children what they have been taught.
  • Better child care/day care support for newborns – toddler aged children.
Health Services
  • Universal newborn hearing screening before discharge from hospital.
  • Information on brain development and providing nurturing environment. How children learn and what should be expected. Exposing children to appropriate stimuli and experiences.
  • Pediatricians should be front-line information sources about services and connecting parents.
  • Information at birth to all new parents from hospital; visiting nurses; universal hearing and vision screenings; early intervention services – supported and accessible for parents early on, i.e., physicians, visiting nurses, etc.
  • Continued home nursing services until age 3, transition into community services, follow-up and family contact.
  • Centralized database of resources available and means to direct people toward them.
  • Continued support to birth to 3 programs, ECEAP, Head Start, Parent Co-ops. Working relationships with medical community, school district, public health, parents.
Employer Support
  • Flexible workplace to allow parents to engage in parent programs like co-ops.
  • Family friendly work practice – parental leave, parenting classes, time to spend in child care
  • Support and encourage businesses to provide child care for employees; simplify and streamline procedures for establishing on-site day care (make the system more user-friendly).
  • Increased locations of drop-in/educational child care options. Support and ease of creating employer operated day care (education based). Used as a benefit to employees, not necessarily for profit. To streamline the regulations to make this more of an option for employers of small businesses.
Public Awareness
  • A phone line to call to get information. Access to quality child care while working. How what is experienced in child care can be connected to at home.
  • Public awareness information for parents. Child care training and quality funding for those who care for our most precious assets.

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