FEATURES
By Eileen Ogintz and Eileen Ogintz,LOS ANGELES TIMES SYNDICATE | February 11, 1996
Every family needs an Aunt Barbara.Barbara Willer took vacation time to baby-sit her nephews -- flying from Washington, D.C., to Michigan to do it -- so their parents could get away on vacation.The boys always have so much fun with Aunt Barbara they didn't mind Mom and Dad leaving them behind. And their parents left confident the kids couldn't have been in better hands. Not only is Ms. Willer a devoted aunt, but she's a child development expert with a doctorate in the field."Parents shouldn't feel guilty when they take a trip without their kids," says Ms. Willer, who works for the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
NEWS
By Julie Bykowicz | julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com | March 22, 2010
Some child support payments in Maryland could soon go up - a change that state Human Resources Secretary Brenda Donald called "long overdue." For the first time in two decades, lawmakers are poised to revise the guidelines that courts use to set child support when divorcing or unmarried parents cannot agree on an amount. Those guidelines are based on household expense data from the 1970s, and although they accommodate rising incomes, advocates say they don't account for the escalating costs of raising a child.
NEWS
By Joe Burris, The Baltimore Sun | March 10, 2011
It's been almost 13 years since Brandi Care Hicks tried to end her life, and the spiraling depression that engulfed it, by jumping from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. As she told parents of Arundel High School students about her near-tragedy Tuesday night, the Severna Park resident visibly choked up once — when speaking about the joys she would have missed had she lost her life that day. Hicks, 29, spoke about her ordeal during "Mind, Body and Soul: A Mental Health Awareness Evening," which focused on identifying stressors in teens' lives.
FEATURES
By Elaine Tassy and Elaine Tassy,SUN STAFF | June 28, 1998
Every weeknight, Cheryl Sibiski, a Rosedale widow who works nights as a Baltimore Post Office mail sorter, drops off her 8-year-old son, Joey, at Marshella Merritt's nearby house around 8:30.Joey plays Atari Jaguar in an upstairs bedroom, and then Merritt tucks him into bed. "I ask him if he wants a hug," she said, "and tell him Mom will be there for him in the morning." And then he's off to sleep.It's not a slumber party, but overnight child care -- a niche service about a dozen women in the Baltimore area provide for other people's children, giving them a place to sleep, bathe, play and snack while their parents work nights.
NEWS
By Vicki Wellford | January 30, 1991
Last year in Maryland, 6,440 children under 18 years old were homeless. To help meet the needs of this growing problem, Sarah's House wasopened four years ago.Located in Fort Meade, Sarah's House consists of five World War II barracks renovated for emergency shelter andtransitional housing.Sarah's House is a joint venture between Anne Arundel County, theArmy and the Associated Catholic Charities. Although supported by local, state and federal money, private donations are greatly needed. Items such as infant and children's clothes, diapers, baby bottles, shampoo, deodorant, soap, towels, wash cloths and cleaning supplies, aswell as money, are being accepted.
NEWS
April 12, 2010
Your editorial, "Invisible lives" (April 11), is a perfect example of the circular logic that further dooms the unfortunate children you want to help. The article describes the various abnormal, frightened and selfish behaviors of characters in the Lamont Davis trial and very properly identifies those as self-defeating, self-inflicted wounds. In my opinion you go off track when you express frustration that "most Americans refuse to take any responsibility for" the actions of this "frustrated and despairing underclass."