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Blog | | Early Edge California

Early Edge’s Parent Advisory Groups Convene for Spring Meetings

This spring, Early Edge California convened its Parent Advisory Group to discuss key aspects and priorities for parents in their child care options, with a focus on infant and toddler child care and how to better support parents and families. The Advisory Group held two meetings, one in English and one in Spanish, to ensure inclusive participation. By the end of the discussions, the Parent Advisory Group members had shared a list of challenges, suggestions for improvements, and success stories surrounding infant and toddler child care.

For infants and toddlers, parent advisory members were asked to share the factors they consider when making decisions on child care. The group prioritized safety and trust as their top considerations, followed by cost and affordability. Advisory members explained that trust is especially important for infant and toddler care, which is naturally built through personal connections or word-of-mouth recommendations. In addition to trust, the factors of cost and affordability play a significant role in parents’ decision-making, who are looking for child care programs that align with their income level, not by choice but by necessity.

As for challenges in finding child care for infants and toddlers, safety concerns were the main priority, followed by affordability. This means that both safety and affordability are, at the same time, the main consideration factors and challenges for parents when choosing infant and toddler child care. For Spanish-speaking parents, the trust between parents and caregivers to deliver culturally and linguistically responsive care was also a challenge, along with transportation to and from child care. When asked what improvements they believe would help increase access to child care for infants and toddlers, suggestions like financial support, safety training, developmentally appropriate practices, and full-day child care programs were improvements agreed upon among parent leaders.

To close out the session, parent advisory members compiled a list of suggestions on how to support parents and families. If a magic wand was at their disposal, advisory members said they would realize the dream of sufficient and accessible financial support to address child care deserts and accessibility, allowing parents to choose whichever child care programs best fit the needs of their children and families.

The Parent Advisory Group meetings are an opportunity for parent leaders across California to share space with one another to discuss best practices, suggestions, and concerns for parents with children in early care and education, which directly guides the work of Early Edge California.

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