High school mom to graduate on time thanks to program that supports child care search
Over winter break, Tiara gave birth to Omari and needed to find affordable child care quickly in order to return to school.
“She [Tiara] is really smart, but I was worried that she was going to be behind being out almost a month of school,” Sandra said.
Sandra and Tiara went to Durham’s Alliance for Child Care Access shortly after Omari was born to receive a financial assistance towards the total cost of child care. While they were concerned about receiving assistance, they hadn’t really thought about launching a child care search until they were referred to Child Care Services Association’s Choosing and Using Quality Child Care Program, located in the same building.
The Partnership provides funds for Child Care Services Association’s Choosing and Using Quality Child Care Program. Quality infant care in Durham can range between $800 and $1,200 a month—rivaling an average mortgage payment. And the search for quality infant care can be difficult since many facilities have waiting lists.
“I was worried because I didn’t want to leave him with someone I didn’t know, and you really have to learn a lot about the child care provider and ask a lot of questions to get as much information as possible in a short amount of time,” Tiara said.
“Child Care Services [staff]were so knowledgeable and told us what to look for,” says Sandra. “We had a lot of questions and they helped us with a checklist.” Tiara said it helped that a family counselor drove her and her mother to different sites so they could focus on the questions and compare information between visits to possible child care facilities.
Today, through the help of Child Care Services Association, Durham’s Alliance for Child Care Access and funding from Durham’s Partnership for Children, 4-month-old Omari is nurtured at Love-N-Care Child Academy, a 4-star child care center.
Tiara is a full-time student and will be graduating this June. She plans on attending North Carolina Central University in the fall.
“Finding quality child care means I can graduate high school on time and continue to plan for my future,” she said.
