Forum for June 6, 2024: CCBA child care

Published: 06-07-2024 3:44 PM

CCBA is meeting changing child care standards

We are disappointed, but not surprised at Jim Kenyon’s latest opinion piece suggesting that the CCBA is not fulfilling its mission to provide youth programming (“CCBA drops drop-offs”; May 25).

To the contrary, the transition to a licensed after school program will meet today’s expectations for quality after school programming and child safety, which have evolved over the years. Even more exciting, the expanded program will now be available for children from kindergarten through sixth grade.

We are incredibly sad to lose Jim Vanier. We wanted and encouraged Jim to be part of our expanded youth program and to continue his long legacy of working with Lebanon youth. We have tremendous gratitude and respect for all he has done for countless young people and the adults they have become.

We knew that improving the program would require some kind of sliding scale or fee structure to cover the increased costs of care. While this change may surprise some who are familiar with the free model that we have had in place since the late 1980s, the CCBA previously charged dues to both children and adults. Our 1919 Charter dictates in part that the CCBA should follow the line of work of the YMCA. Most YMCA after school programs rely on a mix of dues and philanthropic support to offset the costs of providing quality care.

Most importantly, through the work of Executive Director Kerry Artman, our dedicated staff and our generous benefactors both past and present, the CCBA has put together a thoughtful scholarship plan that ensures that no child will be denied access due to financial hardship.

We look forward to welcoming up to 60 young people to the CCB after school program in September.

Robert E. Moses

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Lebanon

The writer is chairman of the CCBA board of trustees.

We need to be able
to change our minds

We are besieged by disinformation, including inaccurate, slanderous, and dehumanizing statements targeting public officials. These include calling Judge Tanya S. Chutkan “deranged” and a “thug”; Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election official in Georgia, receiving death threats for criticizing Trump’s claims of fraud in the 2020 election; Justice Arthur Engoron, receiving a bomb threat at his home on the day of closing arguments.

Republicans claim that the country is “an apocalyptic wasteland.” Trump tells his followers, “We are a failing nation…We are a nation whose economy is collapsing into a cesspool of ruin….” Nikki Haley announced support for Trump despite her past view that he is not qualified to lead. She declares, too, that “we’ve got an economy in shambles…” Echoing Proud Boys before they stormed the U.S. Capitol, Matt Gaetz tweets: “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President.” Trump adds this message on his social media site, “Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country.”

The country is not even close to being “an apocalyptic wasteland.” For decades, Democrats have been better stewards of the economy. Witness the stock market hitting a record and consumer sentiment showing the largest two-month jump in more than 30 years. The Economist recently announced that the U.S. “is in the midst of an extraordinary startup boom,” and explored “how the country revived its “go-getting spirit.” It is a triumph for the financial policies of President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. In addition, the growth of small businesses under Biden reflects the strongest years of new business application rates on record. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, enables 23 million American households to afford high-speed internet.

Though we may be resistant to change, New York Times columnist David Brooks urges us to recognize that the world is different than it was before. At these moments, the crucial skills are those that allow us to “reorganize our minds; to see with new eyes.”

Bob Scobie

West Lebanon