A Helping Hand: Emergency day care services help families in a crunch

By KATHY GIBBONS
Special to the Record-Eagle

December 04, 2008 12:00 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- When a Cheboygan family had to stay in Traverse City with an infant in neonatal intensive care at Munson Medical Center, they had to leave a young son back home with relatives.

But being apart was hard on all of them. The parents wanted to bring the older child from Cheboygan but couldn't find temporary day care for him -- at least, not until they called the Active Learning Child Care Center here.

"They were staying at Munson Manor and she said she was going to be able to bring her son from Cheboygan who she was really missing, but had a really difficult time trying to find care," said Sheila Anderson, owner of Active Learning, which is located in the lower level of Orchard Creek Health Care Facility on Cherry Bend Road.

Anderson had a slot open and so was able to accept the child on a temporary basis. A variety of other providers around the region also say they accept such short-term placements, but they can still be hard to come by if centers are already full.

"A question we ask (day care providers) and according to our database, a lot of our providers say they do drop-in and temporary care," said Pam Ward, executive director of the Northwest Michigan 4C Council, which counts more than 600 licensed child care providers and preschools in its 12-county service area. "But if they don't have an opening, they can't do it."

Since her experience with the Cheboygan family, Anderson has been promoting her center as a haven for families who need emergency or temporary child care. She also welcomes therapists and counselors to visit with kids and their families when they're there and provides private space for that purpose.

As a result, she's had moms who are staying at the Women's Resource Center Helen's House shelter bring their children to her so they can be free to look for work.

"The word's getting out that I will take them on a temporary basis or emergency," Anderson said.

Of course, the issue of payment often goes hand in hand with the need for temporary or short-term child care. In Grand Traverse County, the average cost for infant care is $3 per hour in a private home and can go as high as $5 per hour in some centers, said Ward. Prices decline a bit as children get older, to about $2.85 in a home for kids between 21/2 and 5, or $3.45 in a center.

People who meet guidelines can get state assistance with child care if they are in school or working. But those who are just getting on their feet or in crisis can fall through the cracks -- though some who are job hunting through the state's Michigan Works! back-to-work program may be eligible for funding, said Mickie Novorolsky, a child advocate who works with moms and kids at Helen's House.

Anderson has made agreements with parents waiting for assistance to receive payment over time, once they get work. In addition, Traverse City's Angel Foundation can sometimes offer funds to help these parents. Executive Director Karin Cooney said the Angel Foundation provides support to faith-based child care providers.

"Both parents have to be working or looking for work or some extenuating circumstances," Cooney said, explaining that families can apply and if approved, receive a portion of their child care costs covered by the foundation.

Meanwhile, a new group is being formed to try and come up with a way of helping low-income parents pay for child care when they find themselves between being eligible for state assistance and needing the care to get on their feet. Ward said representatives from the Intermediate School District, Head Start, the 4C Council, day care providers and others will be involved in that effort.

"It's when they fall through the cracks with Department of Human Services support," she said. "When parents first start with a day care provider and before the DHS subsidy comes through, there's a gap, and sometimes they get caught -- and really, the providers get caught by not being paid.

"It's a way to help," Cooney said.

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