The importance of high-quality, affordable child care affects everyone. Child Care Aware^® of America is pleased to share with you our fourth story in Faces of Child Care, an eight-week series of stories from individuals of various walks of life who are affected by child care.

We used to have a perspective on child care that it was just Play-doh and crayons. Now we know that the experiences children have in early life are helping to form how their brains develop. As a nation we can do better, and there is a real urgency to invest in the lives of children. Investment isn’t a choice, rather a necessity for current and future generations.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) requires that states develop consumer education information for Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) parents, providers, and the general public on the following topics:

In the beginning, I kept saying “babies are for young people. I’m not as energetic as I used to be.” I couldn’t imagine being the child care provider of an infant at my age, but with the cost of quality child care being so high and my daughter starting a new job shortly after giving birth, I knew it was for the best that my husband and I care for Kai, just for a short while, until she could find a long-term solution.

As I walked into the trauma room, I was horrified to see my 6-year old daughter, barely visible under a head and neck brace while lying on a backboard. Doctors and nurses were carefully attending to my daughter, ordering tests, checking vital signs, and repeatedly calling out her name to keep her alert and awake. Not knowing the extent of her injuries, I felt helpless in the midst of this hurried and surreal environment, yet I tried to process the events surrounding this terrible accident.