PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, FEBRUARY 11, 2022
of the Week
presented by
TED PLUMB
Where and how do you volunteer?
Traffi c volunteer: Speed surveys, seatbelt
usage counting.
Volunteer Community Service Offi cer:
Responded to parking complaints, graffi ti
abatement, delivery and pickup documents to
and from the DA's offi ce, Sheriff ’s offi ce and
county clerk.
Training: Role playing for Offi cer training.
Property and Evidence: Evidence intake,
Prescription Take Back program (involved
taking accumulated prescription drugs to the
burn plant, evidence inventory, delivered and
picked up evidence from the state crime lab.
How would you get
others to volunteer
in their community?
In the early 1970s my goal was to be a police
offi cer so I started college for this profession.
While going to college I got a full time job
with the city of Gresham at the Waste Water
Treatment Plant that, at the time, paid about
as much as a police offi cer so that’s where I
ended up.
In December 1997 the opportunity came to be
able to volunteer in the law enforcement fi eld.
That’s when I started. The tasks were simple at
fi rst but as I was able to take on more duties I
was able to grow as a volunteer.
My goal each day when I go to work or the
dentist offi ce, doctor's offi ce or where ever, I
try to make everyone else’s day a little brighter.
If I can make someone smile then my goal at
the time is accomplished. If you’re happy, I’m
happy, and I like to be happy and in a good
mood.
As an added bonus, I get to work with the best
folks possible.
What does volunteering do for you?
Volunteering gives me a sense of pride
in helping others. It’s nice to know you’ve
made a diff erence and provides added value
to the citizens. Additionally, you gain an
understanding of how the city works and
where their needs may be.
How would you get others to
volunteer in their community?
I believe a person should look at themselves
and determine what they can do, what kings
of things they would like to do and see what
opportunities there are to learn. There are so
many opportunities to volunteer whether it be
with a business or with the city of Keizer.
Oregon lawmakers looking to make
child care more affordable, available
BY JULIA SHUMWAY
Of Oregon Capital Chronicle
As Portland resident Jasmine
Casanova-Dean spoke to legislators at
a hearing about child care last week,
her 67-year-old grandmother watched
her 2-year-old daughter in another
room.
Casanova-Dean can only aff ord pro-
fessional child care two days a week,
so every other day she’s left to shift her
work schedule, seek help from family
or friends or tell her daughter to be
patient while she fi nishes an important
work meeting.
“My story is the same as countless
other parents struggling to fi nd aff ord-
able child care,” Casanova-Dean said.
“I and so many other parents shouldn’t
have to choose between caring for a
child and working.”
Lawmakers and Gov. Kate Brown are
trying to help, though they acknowl-
edged that the state can’t do enough
to make sure every family that needs
child care can aff ord it.
For Rep. Karin Power, the Milwaukie
Democrat who leads the House Early
Childhood Committee, it’s a personal
issue. She has two young children in
child care.
“It’s really expensive, and it’s really
expensive for everybody,” Power said.
“I’m hearing right now too from fami-
lies who can aff ord care and still can’t
get it because providers have closed.”
Brown called for $100 million in
new spending. The Legislature’s bud-
get writers haven’t yet decided how to
spend the roughly $1.5 billion in extra
state money, but there’s broad support
among Democrats in the majority to
spend at least some on child care.
Child care advocates back a
plan that would cost just under $90 mil-
lion. About half of that sum would go
to grants for new child care providers
and existing facilities that plan to hire
more staff or otherwise expand their
programs.
Supporters pointed to the San
Francisco-based
Low
Income
Investment Fund, which reported
spending $168 million to create 273,000
new child care slots between 1984 and
2020. In total, that $168 million resulted
in $29 billion in monetary benefi ts to
families and communities, according
to the organization.
Oregon would use another $21 mil-
lion for direct payments to child care
workers as incentives to stay in the
death
notice
Patricia A. Grew
April 04, 1934 – Feb. 02, 2022
Patricia Grew of Keizer, Or. passed on Feb.
02, 2022 at the age of 87.
Preschool students play in a Salem-Keizer classroom.
workplace. Child care workers are
paid an average hourly wage of $14.95,
according to the Oregon Employment
Department – slightly more than the
minimum wage but lower than the
starting salaries many retailers and
fast food establishments are off ering
because of staff shortages.
The last $4.3 million would go to
administrative costs associated with
combining two state departments
that dealt with child care. The Early
Learning Division in the Education
Department set learning standards,
while the Human Services Department
handled child care subsidies.
Legislators last year directed that
the two functions be combined into a
single new state department, and leg-
islation under consideration this year
will give extra time to form the new
Early Learning and Care Department.
Pending legislation, introduced
by the House Early Childhood
Committee, also would increase sub-
sidies to move closer to paying the
actual cost of child care needed by
low-income families. Legislative fi scal
analysts haven’t estimated that cost
yet.
While her committee is working on
policy changes, Power said the prob-
lems with child care come down to
money and how society thinks about
the need to care for young children.
Once children are 5, they have
access to free K-12 education. In the
current two-year budget cycle, the state
spent $9.3 billion on K-12 education.
State and local governments pay
teachers and other school staff and
build and maintain school facilities,
but there isn’t similar spending on
child care facilities. As a result, child
care remains unaff ordable for many
families while those providing the care
are among the lowest-paid workers in
Oregon.
“I often think, ‘What if each family
was expected to pay the full cost of
Submitted photo
sending their kid to school?’” Power
said. “I think most people would look
at me like I’m nuts if I said something
like that, because it just isn’t something
that we would expect. Public education
is such a core tenet of our nation, but
we don’t extend it to littler kids.”
Researchers at the University of
Oregon have run two ongoing national
surveys of families with young children
and child care providers throughout
the pandemic. In November, the team
reported that nearly 60% of child care
providers experienced “signifi cant
staff shortages,” compared to just 36%
before the pandemic.
More than 85% of child care cen-
ter directors said they struggled to
recruit and retain qualifi ed workers,
and nearly 40% said they were ready to
leave their jobs or the child care fi eld
entirely within the next year.
“These numbers are likely an under-
estimate, as there have been many
reports showing that a large number
of providers have already left the child
care workforce before we asked these
questions,” the report said.
Jessica Boyd, a child care worker
and mother of two in Eugene, told the
House committee she’s been working
in child care for 10 years. More than
half her monthly income went to pay-
ing for her older son’s child care when
he was young, and she left work for two
years when her younger child, now 8,
was born because she couldn’t aff ord
child care.
Over the past two years, Boyd said,
her child care center has struggled to
hire workers and reduced the number
of children it accepts because there
aren’t enough workers to care for them.
“If it wasn’t for my husband, I
wouldn’t be able to get by on a child
care provider’s wage,” she told commit-
tee members. “I could not be self-suf-
fi cient on my own income. It’s really
discouraging when the people at Taco
Bell are making more than me.”