collaborative problem solving the child center

Collaborative Problem Solving®

6-week parent class.

Help for caregivers raising kids with challenging behaviors

6-WEEK PARENT CLASS

Help for Caregivers Raising Kids with Challenging Behaviors

Having a child with behavior challenges can feel lonely and leave parents and caregivers feeling lost. Traditional rewards and consequences have been ineffective, despite everyone's best efforts.

But there is HOPE!

The Collaborative Problem Solving® approach is an evidence-based method to managing challenging behavior that promotes the understanding that challenging kids lack the skill - not the will - to behave; specifically, skills related to problem-solving, flexibility and frustration tolerance.

Register for this 6 week class for parents to:

• Learn the Collaborative Problem Solving® approach & effective ways to reduce conflict
• Build your child's skills
• Gain confidence in using the CPS approach
• Network and share information about community resources
• Develop new understanding of challenging behavior and learn new ways to help your child
• Rethink conventional approaches to behavioral difficulties and strengthen relationships
• Gain support from other parents

WHEN: 6 Tuesday evenings starting August 20th, 2024:

➡️  August 20, 2024

➡️  August 27, 2024

➡️  September 3, 2024

➡️  September 10, 2024

➡️  September 17, 2024

➡️  September 24, 2024

TIME: 6:30 - 8:30 PM

LOCATION: VIRTUAL - each registrant will be sent a unique Zoom link after registration.

COST*: $75 per person / $100 per couple

Register now - LIMIT 24 spots available

*All current SLC clients will receive a refund of the class fee as a credit towards tuition upon completion of the course

Hosted By: Lauren Ma

Director of growth and operations for stowell learning centers and mom of 2.

Lauren is a Collaborative Problem Solving® Certified parent educator.

She has worked with neurodiverse students for over 18 years at Stowell Learning Center and has a real passion for building their skills to help them thrive in both school and life.

Lauren began her career in education as an elementary public school teacher, but left the classroom after becoming frustrated with the limited solutions for students with learning challenges.

She now oversees all four centers in the Southern California area (Chino, Irvine, Pasadena Thousand Oaks).

She is also a mom to two highly-sensitive and creative girls who keep her constantly learning (and on her toes!)

“When parents and teachers learn to look at behavior as a skills problem

and embrace the CPS approach, it truly changes everything.”

- Jill Stowell

In the video below, Jill Stowell and Lauren Ma discuss Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) and the upcoming 6-Week Parent Class:

• What is Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS)?
• How CPS can help you and your child with challenging behaviors 
• What changes other families have experienced 
• Why you should make the CPS parent class a priority

What is Collaborative Problem Solving®?

Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) is an evidence-based approach developed by Think:Kids, a program based in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. CPS is a big shift when it comes to understanding your child's challenging behaviors and what to do about it.

CPS is proven to:

• Reduce challenging behavior
• Increase compliance
• Improve family relationships
• Help your child build the skills they lack

▶️ Watch our LD Expert Live episode video below featuring Dr. Stuart Ablon, Director of Think:Kids, on the Collaborative Problem Solving® Approach

Your Trainers

We are privileged to work with the following experts who are trained and certified in CPS by Think:Kids :

Mark Beach, M.S.,  is the Parent Education Director at Riverview Center for Growth. He has been using and teaching Collaborative Problem Solving since 2009. He is certified in CPS by Think:Kids, trains staff in crisis intervention strategies, and is a Child and Family Therapist with 30 years of experience working with youth and families in various settings. At home, he is "Dad" to terrific twin teens! Mark's therapeutic and philosophical roots are in Adlerian psychology, Dreikursian Child Guidance, Existential Psychotherapy, Family Systems, and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy. 

Contact Info: [email protected]

Website: https://www.riverviewgrowth.org/

Randi Cooper

Randi Cooper, M.Ed., is a behavior consultant, special educator, and trainer with over 20 years experience working with individuals who experience challenging behaviors. Her background is Special Education as a classroom teacher and behavior specialist. Currently, she is a Behavior Professional Provider/Consultant who provides training and coaching for schools, clinicians, parents, and other agencies in using the most effective strategies and evidence-based approaches. Randi is an expert in Collaborative Problem Solving and is a staff member of Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston as a Clinical Trainer and Consultant. Randi lives in Portland, Oregon, but works with programs across the country. She is passionate about helping others increase confidence, feel empowered, and shift people's thinking of how they view and help those individuals who need some extra support at home, in school, and in life.

https://www.randicooperconsulting.com/

Shannon Pugerude

Shannon has had the privilege of raising three creative, fun and spunky kids and knowing and walking beside so many incredible youth and their families in her career. She has a huge heart for all and believes in the Collaborative Problem Solving® philosophy that “we all do well when we can." Shannon holds a Masters in Child Development and Early Childhood Special Education, , she has taught Special Education ages birth - Grade 8 for 20 years.  She was a co-founder of Wyldwoodz Resource Center, Oregon Family Support Network Regional Director and Certified Peer Support Specialist and Trainer. She offers trainings on various topics surrounding Trauma Informed Care & Resilience building practices and supports for families and professionals, she is a certified trainer for both Think:Kids©️ Collaborative Problem Solving® & Make Parenting a Pleasure Certified Trainer. 

Contact info: [email protected]

Website: https://www.theheromakers.net

Contact info: [email protected]

Maria Sanders

Spanish Language Facilitator and Parent Coach

Maria Sanders es trabajadora social autorizada, entrenadora de padres certificada por PCI® y está certificada en el enfoque de resolución colaborativa de problemas® (CPS) por Think:Kids, un programa con sede en el Departamento de Psiquiatría del Hospital General de Massachusetts. Su trabajo cuenta con el respaldo de Conscious Parenting y Collaborative Problem Solving®. Trabaja con padres que luchan con cualquier desafío de crianza, desde hacer dormir a un niño hasta abordar los conflictos entre padres y adolescentes.

María trabaja individualmente con los padres de forma virtual o en su oficina de Montclair, Nueva Jersey. Ofrece programas para escuelas (públicas e independientes), consultorios de pediatras, organizaciones profesionales y reuniones corporativas.

María comenzó su carrera profesional como trabajadora social escolar trabajando para el Equipo de Estudio Infantil y dirigiendo grupos de habilidades sociales. Además, tiene más de 15 años de experiencia como especialista en intervención temprana y se desempeña como maestra y trabajadora social.

Contact Information: [email protected] 

Website: https://mariasandersparentcoach.com/

Suzanne Travelstead

Suzanne Wilhour, M.A., is a parent, is certified by Think:Kids in Collaborative Problem Solving, and is trained in Addictions Counseling and Co-Occuring Disorders. She facilitates CPS Parent classes at Riverview Center for Growth and coordinates with our other trainers to keep the program running smoothly. Suzanne brings a wealth of lived-experience and expertise into her classes! 

Contact Info: [email protected]

Jan Urton is Family & Youth Program’s Family Support Partner in Yamhill County for the Wraparound Program, and she is a Think:Kids Certified Trainer in Collaborative Problem Solving. Jan is the adoptive parent of 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren.  She also is a retired classroom teacher and former Peace Corps Volunteer, so has experience with a variety of families.   

Contact Info: [email protected]

Tara McCaffrey

Tara is the program Registrar, performing countless behind-the-scenes tasks which keep the program running! Tara handles tracking and assisting with class registrations, materials logistics, data analysis, data reporting, and answering the ongoing torrent of questions.  

Contact Info: [email protected]

Trainer Resource Page

Think:Kids @ MGH

More Collaborative Problem Solving Experts in Oregon

More Collaborative Problem Solving Classes in North America

More Collaborative Problem Solving Experts in North America

Collaborative Problem Solving® in Pediatric Primary Care

SUMMARY – Pediatric primary care providers are increasingly treating pediatric mental health conditions, however, they need more tools to support caregivers with youth who exhibit challenging behaviors. Collaborative Problem Solving® is an approach that provides caregivers with the skills to respond to challenging behaviors to help youth be their best.

Project Details

Collaborative Problem Solving® is an evidence-based approach that provides caregivers with the skills to respond to challenging behavior. It promotes the understanding that children and youth with behavioral challenges lack the skill—not the will—to behave; specifically, skills related to problem-solving, flexibility, and frustration tolerance. The Collaborative Problem Solving® approach has been effectively used across child-serving systems to build empathy, teach youth the skills they lack, and improve relationships.

Now, The Meadows Institute is partnering with Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital to increase access to this important approach by making it accessible to caregivers through their child’s pediatrician.

Research has shown that Collaborative Problem Solving reduces challenging behavior, stress levels, and punitive responses and teaches children the skills they lack while improving relationships with adults in their lives.

Through this initiative, pediatric primary care providers, behavioral health clinicians, and caregivers across North Texas will receive training in Collaborative Problem Solving. Future training opportunities will be shared here.

Upcoming Trainings

Please check back for upcoming trainings.

Past Trainings

February 27, 28, & 29, 2024 This training introduces the basic principles of Collaborative Problem Solving, an innovative, trauma informed, and evidence based approach to understanding and helping kids with challenging behavior. Participants learn a more empathic and accurate understanding of what causes challenging behavior and are exposed to an overview of the three key components of the Collaborative Problem Solving® approach.

View Event Details

September 28 & 29, 2023 This training introduces the basic principles of Collaborative Problem Solving, an innovative, trauma informed, and evidence based approach to understanding and helping kids with challenging behavior. Participants learn a more empathic and accurate understanding of what causes challenging behavior and are exposed to an overview of the three key components of the Collaborative Problem Solving® approach.

Get in touch to learn more about our services and how we can help your community.

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• Join Our Mailing List
• Make a Referral

Improving Conflict Management with Collaborative Problem Solving

August 17, 2017

Elizabeth Buchholz’s enthusiasm for Collaborative Problem Solving is contagious. She has seen it make a difference in the lives of the children at UMFS, and she is always happy to share her expertise and train others.

Collaborative Problem Solving teaches both adults and children to handle conflicts differently. It requires a shift in belief from thinking that kids do well if they want to, to thinking that kids do well if they can. By using Collaborative Problem Solving techniques, we equip kids to be able to do better, and over time it helps train their brains to solve problems effectively. When a conflict arises, counselors work with kids to talk through the issue and get to the heart of the needs on both sides. By engaging this way, children are able to understand the problem better and they’re encouraged to solve it collaboratively.

Collaborative Problem Solving has multiple benefits. It teaches kids flexibility, frustration tolerance, and social thinking skills. It also helps them build empathy so they can understand problems from another person’s perspective. The Collaborative Problem Solving model has been used successfully in the UMFS Child & Family Healing Center. Over time, kids are able to successfully solve problems on their own, without becoming frustrated and escalating their behavior.

UMFS Child & Family Healing Center Program Services Administrator Elizabeth Buchholz has enjoyed seeing the model used successfully with the children. She has expanded her focus to train other groups as well. This summer she started training parents and foster parents of the children in the Child & Family Healing Center. The feedback has been very positive. One mother shared her frustration using the traditional system of imposing punishments and consequences when her child acted up. That did not work, and the situation often escalated. She knew she needed a new approach. She drives over three hours each week to attend the Collaborative Problem Solving training because she feels it can really help her son. Another family is so encouraged by the model that they invited all of their son’s grandparents to attend the training so the whole family can be consistent and supportive.

Elizabeth is happy to see more people benefitting from the Collaborative Problem Solving training. If you would like to join a class, please contact Elizabeth Buchholz at [email protected] .

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Collaborative Problem Solving for Parents: A Step-by-Step Guide to Addressing Family Issues

Idaho Youth Ranch

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Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is an evidence-based approach that focuses on understanding and addressing the root causes of challenging behavior in children and adolescents. Developed by Dr. Ross Greene, CPS aims to foster empathy, communication, and collaboration between parents and their children to find effective and lasting solutions for family issues This resource guide provides an overview of the CPS model, outlines the key principles and steps involved, and offers practical tips and strategies for parents. Additionally, it includes three real-life family situations to demonstrate how to apply CPS in various contexts.  

Understanding the Collaborative Problem Solving Model 

1. The CPS Philosophy

CPS is grounded in the belief that children do well if they can. The approach posits that challenging behavior is not due to a lack of motivation, attention-seeking, or manipulation but rather a result of lagging skills and unsolved problems. By understanding and addressing these underlying factors, parents can develop more effective, compassionate, and sustainable solutions.  

2. Key Principles of CPS

Empathy: The foundation of the CPS model is empathic understanding, which involves recognizing and validating the feelings and perspectives of all family members.  

Collaboration: CPS emphasizes the importance of working together, rather than relying on unilateral decision-making or power-based approaches.  

Skill-building: The CPS approach focuses on identifying and addressing lagging skills, such as emotion regulation, problem-solving, and communication, to promote lasting change.  

Implementing the Collaborative Problem Solving Process 

1. Identifying Lagging Skills

The first step in the CPS process is to identify the specific skills that your child may be struggling with. This can be done through a combination of observation, communication, and reflection. Some common lagging skills include:  

Emotional regulation  

Flexibility  

Impulse control  

Problem-solving  

Communication

Once lagging skills have been identified, the next step is to determine the specific situations or problems that are causing difficulties for your child and family. Unsolved problems are often characterized by predictability and can be uncovered through discussions with your child.  

The Three Steps of Collaborative Problem Solving

The CPS process involves three primary steps, which can be adapted and tailored to the unique needs and circumstances of each family.  

Step 1: Empathy

Begin by gathering information and understanding your child’s perspective on the problem. This step involves active listening, validating emotions, and demonstrating genuine curiosity.  

Step 2: Define Adult Concerns 

Clearly articulate your concerns and needs regarding the situation. This step promotes mutual understanding and acknowledges the importance of addressing both your child’s and your concerns.  

Step 3: Invitation to Collaborate 

Invite your child to brainstorm possible solutions together. Encourage them to consider a range of ideas and evaluate each option based on its feasibility and effectiveness in addressing both your child’s and your concerns.  

Real-Life Examples of Collaborative Problem Solving 

Example 1: Homework Struggles 

Lagging Skills : time management, sustained attention, and frustration tolerance  

Unsolved Problem : difficulty completing homework independently and on time

Step 1: Empathy 

Ask your child about their perspective on the homework situation, and listen to their concerns and frustrations.  

Share your concerns about the importance of completing homework to support their learning and academic success.  

Brainstorm possible solutions together, such as creating a homework schedule, breaking tasks into smaller steps, and providing support as needed.  

Example 2: Sibling Conflicts 

Lagging Skills : emotion regulation, perspective-taking, and conflict resolution  

Unsolved Problem : frequent arguments and conflicts between siblings  

Talk to each child individually to understand their feelings and perspectives on the conflicts.  

Share your concerns about the impact of the conflicts on the family environment and the importance of fostering healthy sibling relationships.  

Involve both siblings in brainstorming possible solutions, such as setting ground rules for communication, establishing a conflict resolution process, and practicing empathy and active listening.  

Example 3: Bedtime Resistance 

Lagging Skills: transitions, self-soothing, and sleep hygiene 

Unsolved Problem : difficulty settling down and falling asleep at bedtime 

Ask your child about their feelings and thoughts related to bedtime, and listen to any fears or concerns they may have.  

Share your concerns about the importance of a consistent bedtime routine for their health, well-being, and overall development. 

Work together to develop a bedtime routine that addresses both your child’s and your concerns, such as establishing a calming pre-bedtime activity, creating a comfortable sleep environment, and gradually adjusting the bedtime schedule.  

Collaborative Problem Solving offers a compassionate and effective approach to addressing challenging behaviors and family issues. By understanding the underlying causes of these difficulties and engaging in a collaborative, empathic problem-solving process, parents can help their children develop lasting solutions and strengthen their relationships. By following the principles and steps outlined in this resource guide and adapting your approach to meet the unique needs of your family, you can support your children in achieving positive, sustainable change.  

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To help the economy, an Alabama county is betting on home-based child care

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Lakethia Clark has spent most of her adult life taking care of children, first at a church day care and later in a child care center. She loves children, but after 15 years, she was getting paid too little and looking after too many kids.

So like many child care workers, she quit. Clark became a housekeeper at a hospital, which paid better, but she missed her old profession.

"It kind of broke my heart," she says. "I miss my babies."

She had long thought about starting her own child care business but always found the licensing process and the startup costs daunting.

Today, however, Clark is getting ready to return to a line of work she loves — on her own terms. She's starting her own small business, caring for as many as six children. And she's doing it right in her own home.

For months, she has been working hard to turn her three-bedroom ranch house and her tree-lined backyard into a children's wonderland.

Clark is among the first participants in a program called 3by3. It's the brainchild of Holly Glasgow, a longtime child development educator at Shelton State Community College.

Her vision for the program: dramatically growing the number of small, home-based child care businesses, formally known as family child care homes. It's a program that could prove important for Alabama, by providing more child care options to help boost the state's workforce.

Home-based child care is not new, but Glasgow's exhaustive efforts to provide wrap-around training and guidance, elevating the often invisible child care workforce, have drawn attention and even visitors from states including Colorado and California.

To go to work, parents need child care

The initiative is one of many being piloted around the U.S. as federal and state governments, along with the business community, have come to recognize child care as essential to economic growth.

It's an especially pressing issue in Alabama, a state with one of the country's lowest labor force participation rates.

To get her program going, Glasgow got creative, "blending and braiding" funding from a number of sources, including the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which aims to help job seekers move into high-quality careers.

Other funders include the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama as well as the Women's Foundation of Alabama, a philanthropic organization focused on accelerating economic opportunity for women.

"It's an interesting narrative shift, that child care isn't just on the mom," says Lillian Brand, vice president of external affairs at the Women’s Foundation of Alabama. "It's really on the entire economy in order to keep us all moving forward."

Child care needs are severely unmet

The need for more child care is evident in the numbers. Glasgow estimates Tuscaloosa County has over 12,000 children under age 5 but just over 3,000 child care spots.

Some of those spots are at the community-based pre-K center on the campus of Shelton State, which Glasgow oversees.

While a couple of kids paint pictures at an arts and crafts station, others check in on caterpillars on their journey of metamorphosis. Across the room, more children take turns playing customer and shopkeeper in a make-believe flower shop.

"Happy, healthy, safe is our goal," says Glasgow.

She would love for every young child in Alabama to have a spot at a center like this one. But she knows that's impossible. The main impediment is cost.

When an Alabama nonprofit foundation approached her with a fundraising proposal and asked how many child care centers could be built with $10 million, she told them: less than one.

"They were floored," she says.

So instead, Glasgow is focusing her efforts on family child care homes. She believes these small businesses can achieve the same level of quality as larger centers but at a much lower cost and in a way that may better suit Tuscaloosa's working parents.

A diversity of child care needs

Among the top employers in this region are hospitals and manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz and the food company Smucker's, which has been recruiting workers for a brand-new plant not far away.

Glasgow points out that these employers need workers around the clock, but few child care providers offer care in the evenings, on weekends and overnight.

Family child care homes, which are typically run by women who care for their own children and a handful of others, can be more flexible with their hours. They can also provide a more homelike environment, which many parents who work overnight shifts prefer, Glasgow says.

"Your kids still go to bed in a bedroom," she says. "They still have breakfast at the kitchen table."

"Can't wait"

The first cohort of 3by3 participants wrapped up their coursework this spring. This included five intensive weeks of classes on child development, health and safety, and how to run a small business.

On top of that, there are the home visits.

On a recent sunny morning, Glasgow headed to Clark's home on a corner lot to help her reimagine her living quarters as play and learning spaces and to ensure that everything is up to code.

Glasgow works quickly, whipping out a laser measuring tool as she sketches a floor plan.

"Miss Holly ... that lady is awesome," says a smiling Clark.

Clark lays out her vision for her formal living room: one sofa moved to the side, another one taken out to make room for children's tables, a couple of carpets, and shelves for toys and books.

"I can't wait to put stuff on the walls," she says.

Glasgow has $5,000 to $10,000 to spend on furniture and supplies for each new family child care home. Paths for Success, the nonprofit foundation that originally approached Glasgow about building child care centers, provides the health and safety materials, including fire extinguishers, hardwired smoke detectors, flashlights, and cribs and cots.

It's the assist Clark needed to get her business off the ground. Before now, she says, her finances always got in the way.

Although she had worked in child care for years, Clark's hourly wage never topped $13.50 an hour. For a while, she worked a second job at Taco Casa to save enough money for the down payment on her house.

Now, she is looking forward to becoming a small-business owner. There are tax benefits, including being able to deduct part of her mortgage as a business expense. She may qualify for a new Alabama tax credit for child care providers.

Best of all, she'll get to be her own boss.

Looking out over her spacious, shady backyard, she imagines children covering her wooden fence with chalk drawings, something she loved watching kids do at her last child care job.

"The owners of the day care used to get so mad," she says, laughing. "It's just artwork! It's going to disappear."

Already, parents she knew from her old job have been calling her, hoping to send her their younger kids.

"They know what type of worker I was," she says. "They know I always put the kids first."

With all her paperwork submitted, Clark is hoping to get final clearance this summer, in time to welcome kids into her home.

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To help the economy, an Alabama county is betting on home-based child care

MEETING CHILD CARE NEEDS IN TUSCALOOSA

Lakethia Clark stands in her son's bedroom in her home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Clark will soon open her own home-based child care business. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Lakethia Clark has spent most of her adult life taking care of children, first at a church day care and later in a child care center. She loves children, but after 15 years, she was getting paid too little and looking after too many kids.

So like many child care workers, she quit. Clark became a housekeeper at a hospital, which paid better, but she missed her old profession.

"It kind of broke my heart," she says. "I miss my babies."

She had long thought about starting her own child care business but always found the licensing process and the startup costs daunting.

Today, however, Clark is getting ready to return to a line of work she loves — on her own terms. She's starting her own small business, caring for as many as six children. And she's doing it right in her own home.

For months, she has been working hard to turn her three-bedroom ranch house and her tree-lined backyard into a children's wonderland.

How have rising prices affected you? What questions do you have about inflation?

Clark is among the first participants in a program called 3by3. It's the brainchild of Holly Glasgow, a longtime child development educator at Shelton State Community College.

Her vision for the program: dramatically growing the number of small, home-based child care businesses, formally known as family child care homes. It's a program that could prove important for Alabama, by providing more child care options to help boost the state's workforce.

Home-based child care is not new, but Glasgow's exhaustive efforts to provide wrap-around training and guidance, elevating the often invisible child care workforce, have drawn attention and even visitors from states including Colorado and California.

To go to work, parents need child care

The initiative is one of many being piloted around the U.S. as federal and state governments, along with the business community, have come to recognize child care as essential to economic growth.

Clark has a collection of books in her son's room and will add more once she begins caring for kids out of her home. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

It's an especially pressing issue in Alabama, a state with one of the country's lowest labor force participation rates.

To get her program going, Glasgow got creative, "blending and braiding" funding from a number of sources, including the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which aims to help job seekers move into high-quality careers.

Other funders include the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama as well as the Women's Foundation of Alabama, a philanthropic organization focused on accelerating economic opportunity for women.

"It's an interesting narrative shift, that child care isn't just on the mom," says Lillian Brand, vice president of external affairs at the Women’s Foundation of Alabama. "It's really on the entire economy in order to keep us all moving forward."

An Alabama manufacturer shows how to retain working moms: child care

Child care needs are severely unmet.

The need for more child care is evident in the numbers. Glasgow estimates Tuscaloosa County has over 12,000 children under age 5 but just over 3,000 child care spots.

Some of those spots are at the community-based pre-K center on the campus of Shelton State, which Glasgow oversees.

While a couple of kids paint pictures at an arts and crafts station, others check in on caterpillars on their journey of metamorphosis. Across the room, more children take turns playing customer and shopkeeper in a make-believe flower shop.

"Happy, healthy, safe is our goal," says Glasgow.

Holly Glasgow talks to children in the pre-K program she directs on the campus of Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa. Given the high cost of building child care centers like this one, Glasgow is focused on developing another model of child care — family child care homes. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

She would love for every young child in Alabama to have a spot at a center like this one. But she knows that's impossible. The main impediment is cost.

When an Alabama nonprofit foundation approached her with a fundraising proposal and asked how many child care centers could be built with $10 million, she told them: less than one.

"They were floored," she says.

So instead, Glasgow is focusing her efforts on family child care homes. She believes these small businesses can achieve the same level of quality as larger centers but at a much lower cost and in a way that may better suit Tuscaloosa's working parents.

A diversity of child care needs

Among the top employers in this region are hospitals and manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz and the food company Smucker's, which has been recruiting workers for a brand-new plant not far away.

Glasgow points out that these employers need workers around the clock, but few child care providers offer care in the evenings, on weekends and overnight.

$400-a-month pandemic bonuses were life-changing for child care workers. That's over

Family child care homes, which are typically run by women who care for their own children and a handful of others, can be more flexible with their hours. They can also provide a more homelike environment, which many parents who work overnight shifts prefer, Glasgow says.

"Your kids still go to bed in a bedroom," she says. "They still have breakfast at the kitchen table."

"Can't wait"

The first cohort of 3by3 participants wrapped up their coursework this spring. This included five intensive weeks of classes on child development, health and safety, and how to run a small business.

On top of that, there are the home visits.

Glasgow visits the home of Lakethia Clark to help her reconfigure her living quarters into play areas for children. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

On a recent sunny morning, Glasgow headed to Clark's home on a corner lot to help her reimagine her living quarters as play and learning spaces and to ensure that everything is up to code.

Glasgow works quickly, whipping out a laser measuring tool as she sketches a floor plan.

"Miss Holly ... that lady is awesome," says a smiling Clark.

Clark lays out her vision for her formal living room: one sofa moved to the side, another one taken out to make room for children's tables, a couple of carpets, and shelves for toys and books.

"I can't wait to put stuff on the walls," she says.

Clark jumped at the opportunity to open her own home-based child care business. She expects to receive her license sometime this summer. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

Glasgow has $5,000 to $10,000 to spend on furniture and supplies for each new family child care home. Paths for Success, the nonprofit foundation that originally approached Glasgow about building child care centers, provides the health and safety materials, including fire extinguishers, hardwired smoke detectors, flashlights, and cribs and cots.

It's the assist Clark needed to get her business off the ground. Before now, she says, her finances always got in the way.

Although she had worked in child care for years, Clark's hourly wage never topped $13.50 an hour. For a while, she worked a second job at Taco Casa to save enough money for the down payment on her house.

Now, she is looking forward to becoming a small-business owner. There are tax benefits, including being able to deduct part of her mortgage as a business expense. She may qualify for a new Alabama tax credit for child care providers.

Best of all, she'll get to be her own boss.

Glasgow works with Clark to reimagine Clark's living room as a play and learning space. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

Looking out over her spacious, shady backyard, she imagines children covering her wooden fence with chalk drawings, something she loved watching kids do at her last child care job.

"The owners of the day care used to get so mad," she says, laughing. "It's just artwork! It's going to disappear."

Already, parents she knew from her old job have been calling her, hoping to send her their younger kids.

"They know what type of worker I was," she says. "They know I always put the kids first."

With all her paperwork submitted, Clark is hoping to get final clearance this summer, in time to welcome kids into her home.

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State Housing Inspectorate of the Moscow Region

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