Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/circumventing-child-care-crisis-through-community-collaboration/5019220/
Attention child care directors! Do any of these fears keep you awake at night?• Increased benefits costs will force you to replace full-time teachers with hourly workers?
• Cuts to subsidies will require low-income families to pull their children from your center?
• The rise in local ‘market rates’ for rent will require you to find a new home?
• Global budget cuts will lead sponsoring agencies to withdraw support, making it impossible for you to meet expenses?
• The children you currently care for will be removed from your high-quality, nurturing environment and be placed in sub-standard settings?
If these fears resonate with you, you are not alone! Despite our firm conviction that children need a consistent, stable environment, we grapple with the underlying suspicion that our centers are constantly trying to hold the line against disaster. Ironically, the need for quality child care has never been greater. There are more parents in the work force, with a scarcity of full-time child care options. There is an increased national concern about school readiness beginning with early education.
Why do center directors still feel so vulnerable? Some of these fears stem from a heightened sense of responsibility. Directors feel responsibility for providing high-quality care, employing well-trained staff, ...