Megan Flowers is a caretaker/foster parent from Scott City, MO. As a parent/guardian who herself has worked in early care and education through Head Start, Megan knows the importance of quality when it comes to early childhood programs and child care. Her perspective as a foster parent offers a unique look at how the needs of families of foster children are dependent on the children in their care, and thus those needs can change quickly. Check out Megan’s story!
How did you become an advocate for early childhood education?
While working in early childhood education for the past decade, I have had several opportunities to see the holes in the system that leave our families without the resources they need to make informed decisions that have a direct impact on their families. When I became a foster parent, I got to experience the same hardships I had been assisting my families through. As someone who has worked childcare, I couldn’t have imagined how difficult it would be to find not only decent child care, but a child care center that handles state assistance and would accept a foster child with short notice. I know the importance of a sturdy foundation during these formative years and yet we were forced to make hard decisions between saying, “No,” to accepting a child in need and my spouse quitting his job to stay home due to lack of child care for a child that could only be with us temporarily. I never wanted to be put in that situation again so I started speaking up.
Why do you think it’s important to be an advocate as a parent?
Children need someone to be their voice until they are developed enough to find their own voices and opinions. It usually falls on the parent to be that voice for their child, or in my case, be that voice for our foster children. Whether it is parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, foster parents, legislative representatives, etc. Active and informed adults have a duty to do the best we can, collectively, for our children.
Why should Missouri invest more in child care and early education?
Missourians need to understand that the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child,” is not simply a figure of speech. In order to raise children to be responsible, creative, caring adults who will move mountains in their future, we must invest our time, energy, and resources into those mountain movers now to give them the best possible foundation on which to grow.
In one sentence, what does the ideal child care and early education system look like for Missouri families?
An ideal system has plenty of child care options to suit different families’ needs while being affordable and meeting state guidelines for safety and educational abilities, at the same time compensating early child care educators competitively.
What is one thing you’ve learned about advocacy that you’d like to share with others?
Advocating to your representative is multi-tiered. It doesn’t always have to be an in-person sit down one-on-one. Writing an email, sending an invitation to a community event, sending a child’s artwork is a form of advocating for yourself and your child. It’s important to build a relationship with the people who make decisions that affect you and let them know how you are being affected so that they can be better informed moving forward. Continued advocacy is in keeping that relationship going.
Any additional comments?
“One person can not do everything, but we can all do something.”