Muskogee County - Federal Head Start Grant Not Enough

I just found another article that outlines the growing child care crunch in the United States. Muskogee County, Oklahoma recently received a federal grant to provide additional funds for their Head Start programs - but the county still has an abundance of children from poor families who are struggling to find affordable, adequate child care.

The Head Start program, started in the 1960's, is specifically designed to help end the cycle of poverty by providing a "head start" on education for children of low-income families.

As child care costs rise, more families are finding themselves in need of the assistance that the Head Start program provides. In Muskogee County, officials have received over 200 applications for the 60 slots available in the program.

Infant slots are at a premium in Muskogee County - and many places nationwide. State and local regulations, as well as common sense, demand a sensible ratio between care givers and children, and many child daycare providers are reluctant to invest the cost for facilities, labor and increased regulation to help meet the demand.

Here is a link to the Muskogee Phoenix article:

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/opinion/local_story_232171726.html?keyword=secondarystory



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Waukesha Daycare on top of Toy Recall

The recent toy recall has sparked concern with parents,especially those who put their child in the care of others during the work day. I came across an article from TMJ4, a Milwaukee TV station that outlines a Waukesha daycare who is proactively ensuring the safety of the children in their care - and helping put their parents' minds at ease.

Here's the article:

Daycare Concerned About Toy Recall
Melissa McCrady
WAUKESHA - Corinne Chartier is worried her 19-month-old son, Owen, will get hold of some recalled toys at home and at daycare.

Wednesday she toured All About Learning, a child care center, and learned not to worry.

All About Learning's Education Director, Louise Hansen, spent the day looking through all the toys at the center and removing the recalled items.

"We print out the recall notice. Give them to teachers in the classroom then they go through all the toys and get rid of all the toys that have been recalled," Hansen said.

Daycare workers make sure they have the exact recalled item by matching the product number on the list with the product number on the toy.

Hansen pulled just a handful of items from the daycare shelves. Even though she insists the kids are safe from dangerous toys, she's still on alert.

"Are you nervous about more recalls?" TODAY'S TMJ4's Melissa McCrady asked.

"Sure we don't want to have unsafe products in our classrooms," Hansen replied.

Hansen is certain they've gotten all of the recalled toys because teachers wash every toy at the end of the day, so if they happened to miss the item earlier, they'd catch it at night.

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