CHILDCARE: OPINIONS/NEEDS IN SOUTH FULTON/FAYETTE

Based on a discussion in my early childhood program administration class, some people are concerned about the gap between the needs of children for high quality care and what the state is willing to pay in subsidies to help provide that care. We also discussed the needs of the residents in our local communities. We are collaborating to attempt to address any missed needs, so any feedback you could provide would be great! Laughing out loud

I'm interested in the opinions the residents in South Fulton and Fayette counties have on their existing child care in the area(s). I also want to know what services are most important to the families here and if there are any needs that are not being met currently (services, hours, level of care, etc).

Jeri Forbes, Owner(FORBES Kids Early Learning Center)/Provider(Family Daycare Home-Union City)
forbeskidsga@yahoo.com
770-969-2102

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Childcare
secret squirrel's picture
Submitted by secret squirrel on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 6:21am.

Why does the state (a.k.a. all of us who pay taxes) need to subsidize child care for anyone? Having a child is a personal choice- why does my wallet get hit for taking care of someone else's child? Of course we know it's because people do not make informed or intelligent decisions and frequently those who can least afford (socially and financially) to have a child are those who have several.

Frankly, my children are in one of the best facilities in the state. From the structure of the building itself to the internet cameras in every room to the educated and trained staff, it's one of the best in the state and certainly Fayette County.

Of course, it costs only slightly less than my mortgage on a Kedron-area home in Peachtree City, but it's worth it. And worth it do a degree that cost doesn't even play into the consideration.

And the knee-jerk response is usually to call those who have the same opinion as I an "elitist" or "snob." And while they might be right, they're ignoring the most important qualification for having children: being actually able to do so emotionally, physically and financially. Unfortunately for the children whose parents rely on my tax money to subsidize them, their parents showed less consideration in having them than we do in subsidizing them. Personally, I'd rather my taxes go to keep children safe and taken care of but the system seems to self-perpetuate at that point. But the parents are at fault, not the children.


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Wow! While I do understand
Submitted by FORBESKids on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 12:14pm.

Wow! While I do understand what you are saying because I get baffled by the families that live in "low-income" housing, have 4 or 5 children, and depend on the state to care for them, I do care about the ones that aren't looking to depend on the state but want high quality care for their child(ren)and as a result are sort of forced to.

Based on what you are saying, a single parent (whether through divorce, widow, never been married whatever) making $35K/yr should not have children EVER if they can't afford to pay the $200/wk fee for infant care (JUST FOR ONE CHILD) at the facility you are talking about. I don't think that's fair to say. If this parent only has that one child, they are still left with only about $24K BEFORE taxes to live off of AFTER paying for just daily child care.

Fayette county boasts some high numbers for income, but not every area is fortunate enough to have those same numbers. Care at that cost hits the pockets hard of families with household income of even $70K/year. I don't think these families should be deprived of the joy of having at least one child and giving that child some of the best care just because they aren't upper middle class. To me, that's the equivalent of saying poor people should not have kids period, which would be a large part of the country.

I do agree that those that are having difficulty caring for one shouldn't keep "popping them out" so to speak. lol!

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State Taxes for Daycare
Submitted by skyspy on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 6:30am.

You are absolutely right. We should not have to pay other people's bad choices. Tell me we are not giving out state financed free handouts to people who can't figure out birthcontrol.

If you can't afford them stop having them.

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birth control & "free handouts"
Submitted by FORBESKids on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 12:31pm.

No birth control is 100%, so does this mean you are an advocate for killing the child if the chosen method didn't work and the parents couldn't afford top notch care for the child?

State financed free handouts? LOL! That would be all "free" public education wouldn't you say? How would you weed out the good from the bad? Too much censorship can affect the ones that really need the care that our taxes provide.

It is mandatory for states to provide a free, public education to disabled children ages 3 to 21 years. That covers daycare years too. The state provides SUBSIDIES to parents that can't afford to pay for special care for their disabled children even younger than the 3 yr minimum. Would you say those parents made bad choices not to terminate the pregnancy when they found out that their child would have problems? There's no real way to separate our tax payments for these families and those that take advantage of the system. They already have it hard trying to care for "abnormal" children that need way more than children that develop normally, but it would get worse if they had to prove that they aren't bad parents for bringing a child into this world for which they had no control over during development in the womb just because they need support from the state that is required by law. I know this is the exception, but I think if the government had a way to separate the "good" from the "bad" they'd have done it by now. What do we do in the meantime?

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