(11/1/97 Baltimore AFRO-American Newspaper)
by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
Everyday in Baltimore, parents are making the preparations to get to work. Those preparations include, for most working families, putting their children in the care of others. Before these parents leave home each morning, they are worrying about the logistics of the care their children will receive. Some are even worrying about the safety or quality of that care.
As a parent, I understand the anxiety of trusting the well being and safety of your child to another person, especially to someone other than a family member. Many parents feel guilty because they believe that their children would get a better quality of care if they could afford to pay more. Others, especially single parents, are concerned that they may not be able to make the next month’s payment. The cost of child care is often so high that some parents are prevented from working outside of the home.
Last week, the President and Mrs. Clinton hosted a White House Conference on Child Care. This timely event highlights the Clintons’ understanding of the importance of children and a parent’s need to protect them during those early, tender years. With 45 percent of our children under the age of twelve months old regularly in day care, the issue of quality has tremendous bearing not just on individual lives, but on the future of our nation.
The demand for quality child care is growing, hastened on by 40 years of dramatic changes in the American work force and in the American family’s life. Reports indicate that half of all mothers with children under twelve months old are working outside the home. Not only are more parents working, they are working longer hours that include various shift changes.
As an United States Congressman, I am committed to promoting national policies that will allow everyone an opportunity to an education, a job with a livable wage, a decent home, and a safe and clean place where their children can be properly cared for. We need to free working parents from worries about the daytime care of their children. We must ensure that quality child care is accessible and affordable for every parent no matter what their income might be. Too many families across the nation have been touched by the tragedies of poor quality facilities and unqualified center staff. Increasing access to child care facilities should not jeopardize children’s health, safety or development.
To further working parents ability to care for their families, I support the expansion of the Family and Medical Leave law so that parents can take some time off for their children’s medical appointments. I also support flex-time laws that will allow workers to choose between receiving overtime pay and compensatory time off to be with their families.
Day care centers must be encouraged to charge fees based on a family’s ability to pay and offer scholarships to families who cannot afford the standard rate. The importance of affordable child care can never be overstated.
We must also understand that child care does not end with infant care. The development of "latch key kids," those children between the ages of five and 14 who are left to care for themselves while parents are off to work, is related to the inability of parents to pay for after-school day care. As a parent, I pray those children are indeed responsible enough to stay at home alone. However, I worry that as time goes on these children may be at greater risk of exposure to drugs, tobacco, and early sexual encounters because there is no one at home to supervise their activities. We can not leave our children to raise themselves. Our schools and local governments should be encouraged to develop after school programs which enrich children’s minds until their parents arrive home from work.
I joined my colleagues in the Congress in supporting the expanded earned income tax credit to help ensure that parents who work don’t have to raise their children in poverty. I have fought for full funding of Head Start and Healthy Start, and championed expanded loans and Pell Grants for students, including the HOPE Scholarship and other tax credits. I have supported continued funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to protect quality educational television programming like "Sesame Street" and "The Puzzle Place."
The well being of our children should be at the top of our nation’s social agenda. We must realize that all children are in fact -- our children. When we look into the eyes of our young, we should see a reflection of ourselves and know that we are looking at our futures. If we do all we are mandated to do, that future will not only be bright, it will be glorious.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.