Kansas City parents and legislators meet to address child care issues

Dozens of parents from the Kansas City region recently met with legislators to discuss child care issues within their communities.

The evening with legislators was one of many scheduled by Kids Win Missouri throughout the state. Mid-America Regional Council hosted the Nov. 13 meeting for parents and providers. Missouri Representative Aaron Crossley and Independence Third District Councilmember Heather Wiley were in attendance.

The Community Café meeting is structured similarly to Head Start’s successful Parent Cafés. Parent Cafés are based on the Strengthening Families Five Protective Factors Framework from the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds. The five protective factors are approaches to learning, social and emotional development, language and literacy, cognition, and physical development.

Pre-selected questions about raising strong families were asked at each table. Individuals at each table shared their experiences.

Lynette Fowler, MARC Head Start family and community engagement manager, said there are often “ah-ha” moments of realization at Parent Café meetings. “You can’t train someone to be a parent, but you can mentor people where they are,” Fowler said.

The meeting facilitators asked everyone to share one word to describe the evening of conversation. The following word cloud is a compilation of those words.