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Why We Think Babies

It’s time to make the potential of every baby a national priority. See what families across the country say they need to thrive and share your story. What would you want our elected leaders to know about raising babies and toddlers today or the challenges of providing families with young children the support they need?

Share Your Story
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Francesco Luparello (CA)
  • Early Head Start

“Early Head Start supported our whole family as we adjusted to life with our adopted son.”

– Francesco Luparello (CA)

Francesco and Rick adopted their son, Christopher, after caring for him as foster parents. As first-time parents, they found it challenging to manage the needs of an infant with profound special needs, family visits, and a heavy schedule of doctor appointments. Thankfully, their family had access to weekly, in-home early intervention services and the support of an Early Head Start home visitor, ensuring that Christopher achieved key developmental milestones. Francesco and Rick are grateful for these early services that gave Christopher the opportunity to develop and thrive, overcoming many of the extreme barriers he faced at birth that may have resulted in lifelong challenges.

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Taria Wolfe (NE)
  • Child Care

“Affordable child care programs are important for working single mothers. “

– Taria Wolfe (NE)

As a single mother, Taria depends on high quality, affordable child care programs for her young children as she works to support their family. However, child care is hard to find in their rural area, and at one point, she was faced with traveling 30+ miles to find a quality child care center. In the end, a spot opened up at a small, local child care center. Taria counts herself lucky to find affordable, quality child care that was workable for her family. But working families like hers should not have to rely on luck to find and access the child care they and their babies need.

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Laura Wagner (ID)
  • Family Support

“Being a parent today is stressful, and parents need someone in their corner that can help and connect them with resources.”

– Laura Wagner (ID)

Laura is a single mom raising her son, Christopher, who has developmental delays. One of the biggest challenges for her was being far away from her family and support system. Laura doesn’t know what she would have done without the early childhood specialist who visited in her home, and the community of families she connected with through her home visiting program. They helped Laura navigate developmental evaluations, get connected with community resources, and advocate for her son’s medical needs. Today, Christopher no longer needs special services.

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