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February 15, 2010 in Features
Head Start roadblock
Downtown care program might be moved, creating more hassles for young mothers and their children
Christina Jensen and her son, Hunter (left), 18 months, along with Katelyn Capps and her son, Dayton, 5 months, are concerned that the Head Start program at Crosswalk, which their children attend, might be relocated.
(Full-size photo)
“Good job, Mama.” For Katelynn Capps – a single mom juggling the responsibilities of parenting while earning the equivalent of a high school diploma – these three simple words can mean the world. “Good job, Mama,” the teachers often tell her when she picks up her 5-month-old son from Early Head Start, a program that provides free early childhood education as well as social and health services to infants and toddlers.
“Good job, Mama,” say the other moms, many of whom share her struggle of being young and poor and raising a child on their own.
Dayton was 6 weeks old when Capps first brought him to the Early Head Start site in downtown Spokane.
Located in the same building as Crosswalk – an emergency shelter and school drop-out prevention program that provides services for homeless youth – the child care center upstairs has enabled 18-year-old Capps to work toward her GED, knowing that her baby is safe, comfortable and close by.
“I can come upstairs and say hi and tell him that I love him,” said Capps, who arrived at Crosswalk as a homeless teen. “I definitely needed to go back to school, and there was no way I could do it if this place (Early Head Start) wasn’t here.”
She may have to find other options. The local administrators of Head Start, a national school readiness program for low-income children, is considering moving the program from Crosswalk to the East Central Community Center, about three miles away.
For Capps, it would mean two more bus rides each day – which translates to less classroom time.
After taking a bus downtown from the North Side, she would have to take her baby on another bus, drop him off at East Central and then return downtown. Since Dayton receives only three hours of free child care, Capps would also have to leave her GED class early to pick him up again.
Since Capps and some of the other moms also have other challenges to overcome, another bus ride could mean the difference between finishing school and becoming a dropout, said Christina Jensen, a parent and member of the local Head Start policy council.
Although Jensen has transportation and even has a 5-year-old currently enrolled at the Head Start program in East Central, the Spokane Valley mom has emerged as a strong advocate for keeping the Early Head Start program at Crosswalk.
“You can’t take this place away from these girls,” said Jensen, who also has a 3-year-old at the Crosswalk location. “You can’t imagine what it means to them.”
The Spokane County Head Start/ECEAP/Early Head Start serves nearly 1,600 children at more than 30 sites. Early Head Start, which provides free part-time care for children 6 weeks old up to 3 years, operates at seven area locations including Crosswalk.
Early Head Start has been at Crosswalk since 1992. Local administrators of the program – which is operated through Community Colleges of Spokane’s Institute for Extended Learning – are considering moving it because of the growing need in the East Central area.
Administrators have received numerous requests from parents to start an Early Head Start program at the East Central Community Center, said Anne Tucker, public information officer for Community Colleges of Spokane.
East Central has a Head Start for 4- and 5-year-olds, she said, but it would be beneficial to parents to also have Early Head Start for younger children.
“The need has grown in the East Central neighborhood and on the west side of town, but not downtown,” said Tucker. “Adding the Early Head Start component from Crosswalk will serve more families.”
Early Head Start at Crosswalk has room for 16 children, but only two are from Crosswalk families, according to Tucker, who noted that the proposed move to East Central would reserve four of the 16 spots for Crosswalk parents. Crosswalk also has a high turnover rate, she said.
Of the 15 families who have children enrolled at the downtown Head Start (one family has two kids), three are from the North Side, three travel from the South Hill area, four are from the area classified as “west,” and five are from East Central and the Valley.
Like other Early Head Start sites, the Crosswalk location has a waiting list. Of the 11 on the list, only one is a Crosswalk parent, according to Tucker. (Some of the Crosswalk advocates dispute this, saying there are three Crosswalk moms on the waiting list of nine.)
But the numbers alone don’t tell the entire story, say Jensen and others who would like to see Early Head Start stay at Crosswalk.
Most of the Crosswalk moms can’t apply for child care until September, she said, which is when their classes begin. But the slots are often full at that time, forcing them to seek child care elsewhere or not at all.
The move wouldn’t just be a mistake, it would be “morally unacceptable,” said Kent Hoffman, a local psychotherapist and one of the originators of the Circle of Security, which has helped parents better understand the needs of their children.
Hoffman has spent more than a decade volunteering at Crosswalk by helping teen moms and dads as they develop attachments and bond with their children.
“While I believe an argument can be made regarding ‘saving tax dollars,’ I don’t believe this argument makes sense when we’re discussing many of the high-risk parents and children impacted by Early Head Start at Crosswalk,” he wrote in an e-mail to administrators.
“… Here’s my bottom line: When it comes to need, not all children are created equal. Some need modest help, some need even more. And then some require intense intervention.
“The parents and children who have benefited from the remarkable gift provided at Crosswalk EHS often fall into the third category. If Crosswalk EHS leaves downtown, where will they turn?”
The moms who benefit the most from this program don’t always translate into statistics that look good on paper and are in compliance with national standards, Hoffman said.
But these women and children are among the most fragile in the community, he said, and the support they’ve received at Early Head Start has transformed their lives.
“Who can put a price tag on that kind of change?” Hoffman asked. “Even one mother a year experiencing a transformation in knowing she is loved and freshly able to love her child in a new way would, in my estimation, be worth all the money spent on all the families in the program.”
For Stephanie Cooper, who was 16 when she got pregnant with her oldest child, the combination of Crosswalk and Early Head Start made all the difference.
Cooper, who described herself as “an out-of-control teen,” graduated from high school in 2006. She’s 22 now, receives a steady income from her job at the Coeur d’Alene Casino and is making plans to go to college.
Her eldest, 5-year-old Alex, is a kindergartener at Opportunity Elementary while her other son, 3-year-old Jordon, is a preschooler at East Central’s Head Start.
“They gave me confidence and made me realize I wasn’t alone,” said Cooper, who enrolled both her sons at Early Head Start at Crosswalk while finishing her graduation requirements. “They gave me skills. They taught me how to listen and how to love my children.”
Although her kids have graduated from Early Head Start, Cooper returns to Crosswalk on a regular basis to visit her sons’ teachers and stay in touch with other moms.
In the same way that she and her sons were sustained by the care and support of the Early Head Start teachers, Cooper provides reassurance to Capps and other mothers.
“Good job, Mama,” she tells them. “You can do it. You are not alone.”
Virginia de Leon is a Spokane-based freelance writer. Reach her at virginia_de_leon@yahoo. com. You can also comment on this story and other topics pertaining to parenting and families on The Spokesman-Review’s parents’ blog: www. spokesmanreview.com/ blogs/parents.
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smarg on February 15 at 3:58 p.m.
Is there no shame in being a social parasite? Taxpayers are paying for this young girl’s lifestyle. I want to vomit.
Spokane_Citizen on February 15 at 9:05 p.m.
Cooper….hold your head up and move forward with your life…there will always be the TJ’s of the world to try to drag you down, but remember that they are of no real significance….
Steph22 on February 15 at 10:05 p.m.
This is very important to me. If it wasnt for them i wouldnt have finished school. Young girls make mistakes but we learn and me and other young moms and its not just not about the moms its about the dads. They are not draging me down. Im fighting for the young moms that other wise wouldnt be finishing school. do more reserch on Crosswalk. thanks.
Sullydasarock on February 16 at 11:54 a.m.
Are the low income kids and parents in the East Central neighborhood less deserving of Head Start services? Why can’t Kent Hoffman volunteer his services there? Sounds like there is more of a need in that neighborhood. If it’s so important for some people at Crosswalk, maybe they can figure out a way to take the very few mothers to the East Central location just a couple of miles away. Or here’s a thought, maybe this is a chance for another organization to step in and open child care in the place that Head Start is leaving. That way there is child care at both locations and everyone wins. Why fight it? Find a solution that works for both locations.
I don’t see them moving as a bad thing. I mean come on. Kids are in need at both places. Let Head Start do what they think is best and in the meantime, see if someone else can fill the small need at Crosswalk.
Southpaw on February 20 at 9:52 a.m.
Mr. Hoffman’s quote, “Who can put a price tag on that kind of change?………Even one mother a year experiencing a transformation in knowing she is loved and freshly able to love her child in a new way would, in my estimation, be worth all the money spent on all the families in the program.” is certainly a moving one, but upon second look it is quite problematic. As a previous poster has noted, could not the “one mother” Hoffman so sentimentally refers to be found at East Central? Do those mothers not matter? Additionally, we always have to weigh dilemmas like this when choosing to allocate resources, with the answer hopefully coming down to “how can we do the most good for the most people?” So while it is important to help that one mother Mr. Hoffman refers to, perhaps by using our resources in a more efficient manner - which is what this move is about - we can help even more mothers transform themselves. Finally, Mr. Hoffman plays it a bit dirty in framing the question in moral terms, implying that those on the other side of the issue are behaving immorally. I’m not sure about his basis for claiming such moral authority, and I’m wary of people who so readily do so. While we need to engage our hearts while considering issues like this, we need to keep our heads intact as well.
Steph22 on February 23 at 7:51 p.m.
all mothers matter to kent But his focaus is the at risk moms. He has siad that he can not go to another site he has a group at crosswalk at 2oclock as well for girls at the alex house and a and b. he is a very busy man. his heart is with the at risk teens. downtown. Please dont put him down he is a good man. when you have worked at a place for 15-20 years youd fell the same way. he is willing to teach teachers how the circle works if it moves. Please stop sayn bad stuff about kent.
Steph22 on February 23 at 7:55 p.m.
There is not enough room at the east central head start. It is barley big enough for the kids they help now. they have a door that opens p to two rooms. that would have to be fixed, along with other things. there are bullet holes in a window were they want to but these 6week-3 year olds. they would have to spend more money fixing and getting it ready then it would be to stay were they are.
smeadly on February 24 at 7:52 p.m.
Oh dear. I came across this while searching for something else, but I have to comment. Steph22 I’m not sure your statements are entirely true about the space, but I’ll let others verify if anyone else is reading this and still cares. As for the bullet holes, honestly, you’re just as likely to get shot or stabbed downtown, and are you sure that’s what they are?
Regardless, there are children in the east central neighborhood who deserve a better life, and part of the way they are going to get that better life is by having Head Start available to them in their neighborhood from the time they are babies. Don’t you agree that the moms in the east central neighborhood deserve to hear, “Good job, Mama.” and that they aren’t alone too?
I personally agree with the person who suggested that Head Start should be able to move on to east central and that Crosswalk should find someone else to move into the space. Well stated Sullydasarock, “That way there is child care at both locations and everyone wins.”
Steph22, instead of fighting so desperately to keep Head Start, why not work just as hard to find another group to take over? That seems like a much more productive use of time and energy. It’s certainly more positive. Change can often be a good thing and it can bring unexpected blessings. You seem very passionate about your cause. That’s good, but I don’t think you’re seeing the big picture. Open your mind and see what other possibilities might be waiting to help the moms at Crosswalk. You might be surprised.
Let the moms and babies in East Central have a chance to hear, “Good job, Mama.”
Steph22 on March 04 at 6:28 p.m.
Okay then why cant we add a head start to east central and keep cross walk they got money to expand not to move a site. Thats what i want people to think about. Thats wht we got the money for