Child Care

A week after a high-profile study cast a negative light on child care, researchers - including the study's lead statistician - are sharply questioning whether their controversial work has been misrepresented. As publicly reported last week, the study showed that the more time preschoolers spend in child care, the more likely their teachers were to report behavior problems such as aggression and defiance in kindergarten. But several academics involved in the study feel that its conclusion was overstated and that other important findings never reached the public.

We live in fascinating times. On the one hand, it is OK to detail the most intimate aspects of a woman's reproductive health in congressional testimony and to demand "free" birth control pills from employers and/or the government. It is also OK to label those who object to such public displays of personal choice and state-sponsored free love as leading a "war on women. " On the other hand, it is also OK for those who hew to the same ideology as that above to condemn a woman who chooses to raise her children for a living as someone who "never worked a day in her life.

Kathy Lating-Wise of Havre de Grace and Elizabeth "Libby" Lawson-Lilley of Cub Hill recently released their first book, Letters of Advice for Child Care Providers - a compilation of early elementary child-care questions and advice. The book is a series of queries sent from day-care provider Lating-Wise to pediatric nurse practitioner Lawson-Lilley, who answers questions in a "Dear Abby"-type manner. Chapters such as health, development, socialization and eating habits categorize 100 child-care problem scenarios, conveyed with humor by Lating-Wise.

Side by Side, a faith-based nonprofit organization that works to strengthen public schools in Laurel, will hold its next Family Academy on Thursday, April 19 from 6-8 p.m. at Deerfield Run Elementary, 13000 Laurel Bowie Road (Route 197). Family Academies are free, and are offered to parents whose children attend any of the seven elementary schools in Laurel. At the academies, parents attend workshops while their school-aged children participate in an activity. The evening begins with a free dinner from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Two parent workshops will be held from 6:45 to 8 p.m.: "Preparing for Middle School" and "It's Never Too Early to Plan for College.

Many parents who enjoy traveling pursue one of three strategies when they hit the road: leave the kids with a willing relative, take a nanny along or plan a vacation at a child-friendly resort. But sometimes none of these is an option, so to get at least one dinner out by themselves, Mom and Dad need to find a baby sitter in an unfamiliar locale. For those who find themselves in this situation, the ease of finding child care depends on a number of variables -- as does the range of the services available.

This month, parents across the nation were greeted by a flurry of media coverage on a topic of perennial debate: the long-term effects of sending children to child care. During the past 20 years, parents have been buffeted by contradictory information about the effect of child care on aggressive behavior, attention span and cognitive ability. The new data from the Early Child Care Research Network did little to reduce uncertainty. On one hand, the new findings report that teens who were in high-quality child care as young children scored slightly higher on academic and cognitive assessments and were slightly less likely to "act out" than peers who were in lower-quality child care as young children.

Marguerite Austin-Gorham, a retired child care provider and housekeeper, died of Alzheimer's disease complications Nov. 27 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The East Baltimore resident was 88. Born Marguerite Clark in Baltimore and raised on Edythe Street, she was a 1941 graduate of Dunbar High School. She became a housekeeper and worked for many years at the Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church Rectory at Saratoga and Cathedral streets. She assisted in child care for the Rev. Halsey Moon Cook and for the Rev. William C. McKeachie, who were rectors of the downtown church.

Child care service provider Bright Horizons plans to open a 20,000-square-foot child care center this fall at Tide Point in Locust Point. It will be the 12th facility in Maryland for the Massachusetts-based company and will serve the community-at-large rather than one specific employer, according to spokesperson Bridget Perry. Bright Horizons has negotiated a 10-year lease to occupy the waterfront space formerly occupied by the Board of Child Care in the Cascade Building at Tide Point, the old Procter & Gamble plant soap factory converted to offices by Struever Bros.

Baltimore firefighters were investigating the cause of a carbon monoxide leak Friday that prompted the evacuation of 48 people — 36 children and 12 adults — at the Pleasant View Gardens Child Care Center. Fire union officials initially described it as a "mass casualty carbon monoxide incident" and said the victims were being hospitalized, but reports from the scene indicated that those affected were being evaluated outside the building in the 1100 block of E. Fayette St. and no one appeared to be showing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Officials from the Baltimore housing department and a private management company were investigating the cause of a carbon monoxide leak Friday that prompted the evacuation of 48 people — 36 children and 12 adults — at the Pleasant View Gardens Child Care Center. Those affected were evaluated in a building across the street from the child care center in the 1100 block of E. Fayette St. in East Baltimore. Chief Kevin Cartwright, a Fire Department spokesman, said no one showed symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, but five people were taken to an area hospital for evaluation.

'Soup and Study' The Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 7606 Quarterfield Road in Glen Burnie,  will host "Lenten Soup and Study" on Wednesdays through March 28. Start time is 6 p.m. with a meal of soup, bread and dessert followed by the study video "EarthBound: Created + Called: to Care for Creation. " Evening concludes with a brief service ending at 8 p.m. Information: 410-766-8778. Parenting expert to speak Dr. Mary Manz Simon will present a free parenting seminar, "Catch a Child Being Good," at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at Galilee Lutheran Church, 4652 Mountain Road in Pasadena.

A family of three in Baltimore County needs about $62,000 just to make ends meet, a new report shows. And, without government assistance, minimum wage barely gets them a quarter of the way there. In Baltimore City, that same family of an adult with a preschooler and a school-age child needs nearly $50,000, the report said, for a bare-bones budget. The 2012 Self-Sufficiency Standard, scheduled to be released in Annapolis on Thursday morning, calculates the cost of living for Maryland families based on prices of such necessities as housing, food, transportation and child care.

Bridget K. Healy, a second-year George Mason University student who had also been a member of the Special Olympics team at the university, died Thursday of a pulmonary thromboembolism at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Towson resident was 24. "Bridget Healy was a wonderful young lady and one of the sweetest young adults I've ever had the pleasure of coaching during my 29 years as a Special Olympics coach," said Leo Alonso, who coaches in the Special Olympics program at George Mason in Fairfax, Va. "I coach 43 kids, and Bridget was a big part of our team.

Child fair rescheduled "Children on Board," Howard County's annual Preschool/Child Care Information Fair sponsored by the Office of Children's Services, has been rescheduled and will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at Ten Oaks Ballroom, 5000 Signal Bell Lane in Clarksville. The event will provide parents, guardians, grandparents and child-care personnel with information on child care and preschool programs. Representatives from community service organizations will also attend.

Our Savior Lutheran Church, 13611 Laurel Bowie Road, is hosting its annual Christmas Concert Sunday, Dec. 18 at both 3 and 7 p.m. because of full houses in past years. Program includes carols and anthems performed by choir, brass, strings, handbells and praise team. Child care provided. Attendees urged to bring nonperishable food items to be given to the Elizabeth House food kitchen. 301-776-7670.

MARYLAND'S network of child care resource centers is in danger of collapse, but legislators can keep this critical program going by reversing the most recent cuts in its funding. The regional resource centers connect parents to quality child care providers, train providers and help them open and expand their businesses. Each center has local expertise, such as working knowledge of city bus routes and the strengths of each caregiver, to help parents make smart decisions. When the network's budget was slashed from $5.8 million in fiscal year 2003 to $3.8 million in 2004, it closed one center and dropped most of its work helping providers obtain licenses and open much-needed slots for kids.

Maryland is among the top 10 states for child-care programs for the second year in a row, according to Working Mother magazine.The state joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin in the honor.Maryland made the ranks by maintaining availability, safety, quality and commitment in both private and public child-care programs, Working Mother spokesperson Christina Duffney said yesterday."No state has ever received five stars," Duffney said.