It started around three years ago. Members of our Women’s Leadership group and others at United Way were concerned about how low income families were coping with child care over the summer months. Often, parents were unable to afford full time child care and either had to let their young ones go home by themselves or quit their jobs or work less hours.  At the same time United Way had becoming increasingly interested in helping low income families become more financially knowledgable and stable.

An innovative idea bubbled up: provide “scholarships” to families allowing free child care over the summer if the parents participated in financial education learning sessions. Honestly, the idea had its critics, but Women’s Leadership forged ahead and in 2005 we piloted the first Summer Care initiative, partnering with (and funding) a variety or child care organizations in both counties.

We were pleased with the pilot — and more importantly so were the families — which led us to extend the pilot in 2006, but this time we worked with USF to evaluate the initiative.  That evaluation was completed a month or so ago and the results constitute a strong affirmation of both aspects of Summer Care: innovative child care AND financial education. You can view the evaluation summary on our Web site. You can download the evaluation there as well. 

In a matter of days, United Way will announce the launch of the 2007 Summer Care initiative and our partners on the ground. Stay tuned.