Our Blogs

Picture

Roshona’s Story: Make the Child Care for Child Care Educators Program Permanent to Help Early Educators Statewide

My name is Roshona Perry, and I am a teacher at Joyful Noise Inc. in West Warwick.

I work as an early childhood educator because I want to be a massive part of our future. I love what I do and that I have such a critical part in the future of our children and the next generation. My students are like my children, and I want to do what is best for each and every one of them.

I am a mom to a smart, outgoing 1-year-old. I recently had the opportunity to allow my son to attend child care because of the Rhode Island Child Care for Child Care educators program enacted in 2023 and extended in 2024. Before the program, my son was staying with a family member because I could not afford the cost of child care myself. I am lucky enough to have some help, but I always hit a crossroads when one of my helpers was sick or couldn’t take him. That caused me to call out of work and miss out on pay or use sick time.

With the Child Care for Child Care Educators program, I got to send my son to the early learning center where I work and where he has FLOURISHED. I would be DEVASTATED if my son couldn’t attend the center anymore if this program ends in July 2025 as currently scheduled in state law. The price for care is so high that I would be working just to be able to send my son to child care, leaving me with little to nothing to pay my bills and afford groceries and other things my son needs.

The programs have helped me greatly, and I’m sure they have helped others. If I couldn’t send my son to child care, I don’t know if I could stay at my job, and we need all the child care workers we can get. This is for the future. Think about the future when you make the decisions for the next step.