American Fork mom advocates for better child care options in Utah

After American Fork’s Amy Upchurch had her first son, Oliver, she realized that working exterior the house helped her really feel extra fulfilled as a person.

Upchurch realized that, along with the monetary advantages of bringing in a second earnings, rejoining the workforce helped her be extra current as a mom.

“I had each intention to be a stay-at-home-mom once I first had my son Oliver, however after a few 12 months of being residence with him, I made a decision I actually needed to return to work as a result of I felt like I had expertise, and issues that I needed to proceed engaged on,” Upchurch stated. “I needed to contribute again to society, and add to our household funds greater than something.”

As a first-generation faculty graduate, Upchurch now works within the nonprofit sector. Nevertheless, when the time got here for Upchurch and her husband to start searching for little one care, they have been disenchanted by the dearth of choices — and the excessive price of what was out there.

“I used to be very stunned by how tough it was. Many of the locations I used to be calling that had availability had outrageous tuition costs for what I used to be gonna be getting paid going again into the workforce,” Upchurch stated. “Those that have been inexpensive, a number of these have been in-home amenities … they usually had waitlists, all of them have been full.”

After contacting 12 completely different little one care suppliers, Upchurch solely ended up discovering one which had a gap for Oliver at a price her household may afford.

“We lucked out as a result of she’s been an important assist to our household, however it was slim pickings, and I used to be very shocked,” Upchurch stated.

After sharing her expertise with mates and coworkers, Upchurch shortly realized that she wasn’t alone within the battle to seek out little one care in Utah County.

“I discovered that I wasn’t the one mum or dad battling this … they have been all struggling to seek out little one care that was fairly priced for what they have been making, or inside a good distance,” she stated.

That’s when Upchurch grew to become concerned with ZERO TO THREE, a nationwide group devoted to selling the well-being of infants and toddlers by offering sources, instruments and responsive insurance policies to oldsters, professionals and policymakers.

On Could 17, Upchurch had the chance to just about meet with staffers for U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney and U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens. She advised them her story and shared the significance of investing in little one care inexpensive choices.

Upchurch is Utah’s consultant in ZERO TO THREE’s sixth annual Strolling Thunder advocacy day, which is devoted to giving households throughout the nation the chance to share their experiences elevating younger youngsters.

Upchurch mentioned potential packages and coverage modifications that will profit mother and father of younger youngsters, together with making little one care extra inexpensive for Utah households, and giving them entry to extra little one care choices.

“It was two, 15-minute cellphone calls with their (Romney and Owens) employees members, they usually have been extraordinarily well mannered and pleasant, they usually heard me out on my story, they heard me out on coverage modifications that I really feel like myself and different mother and father would profit from within the state,” she stated. “That was a really optimistic expertise.”

Upchurch’s largest hope is that the staffers don’t overlook their dialog, that they meet with their bosses and that the motion towards extra little one care choices for Utah residents solely continues to realize momentum.

“I’d simply hate for it to be a one-time deal, I actually encourage the senator and the consultant to proceed desirous about this and proceed pushing for these issues,” she stated. “This actually does contribute to our financial system by permitting extra mother and father to be within the workforce.”

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