For Valerie Jones, the birth of her second child, Aalaya, a little over a year ago presented an ongoing challenge. Aalaya was born prematurely and had a number of medical complications that required twice weekly visits to the doctor’s office.
“I had no idea of what to do with my 2-year-old daughter,” said Jones, a single mother from West Philadelphia who had left her job with a law firm near the time of her daughter’s birth. “I needed help; I really needed an outlet.”
Her doctor’s nurse suggested that Jones contact Baring House, one of two homes that make up the Crisis Nursery and Respite Care Centers.
Baring House and Sally Watson House offer free child care to parents, usually single mothers, who need occasional help because of illness, stress or simply because they need a break.
After an initial phone interview, Jones brought her older daughter, Aaqila, to Baring House. She was impressed with the clean, spacious Victorian house filled with toys and books as well as cribs and beds to accommodate overnight stays. “It was exactly what I needed,” she said. Aaqila began attending Baring House from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays while her sister was seeing the doctor.
When Aalaya got older and no longer needed frequent doctor visits, Jones sometimes felt overwhelmed by the stress of parenting and left both children at the facility. The baby took to the staff immediately even though she had never been left with anyone before.
“This has been referred to as the children’s motel,” said Jean Wisniewski, program supervisor for Baring House. “Some of the kids come for a few hours, often on weekends,” she said, “but stays can extend for up to a month if the mother is going into a drug or alcohol rehab.”
The houses have a 30-day limit. Each can hold 15 children during the day and fewer at night. The children range from newborn to age 6. At least two people are on duty at all times. The facilities are licensed by the day-care division of the Department of Welfare and conform to state guidelines.
“Some of our parents call, and they are very stressed,” Wisniewski said. “They are caring for children pretty much on their own, without the help of family or reliable friends. We do try to keep that a priority and help parents who are stressed by taking the children immediately or planning a future respite.”
If circumstances aren’t critical, administrators invite children and parents in for evaluation.
“We do a routine physical,” Wisniewski said. “We also get all the paperwork done so in the event we’re needed, we don’t have to go through all that.”
Baring and Sally Watson are run by Youth Service Inc., a non-profit child-welfare agency. The programs originally received federally funds, but when those were cut back, they had to seek alternative funding from state, local and private sources.
“The funding aspect has been a struggle,” said Adrienne Bishop, director of the crisis nursery program.
Baring and Sally Watson House charge nothing for their services, nor is there any advance screening for financial need.
“As long as you can get here, we will welcome you,” Bishop said.
The locations for both houses were chosen, in part, by accessibility to public transportation and by availability of parking.
Baring House and its sister facility were started in the early 1990s. There was no prototype for this type of facility, said Linda Baker, director of Access for Respite Care and Help, a national resource center for respite and crisis care programs in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“We saw the need and just addressed it,” she said. “We felt this was an added support the family needed so we designed the facilities to address that need.”
Now there are dozens of crisis nurseries across the country.
“We have 79 such programs listed in our database,” Baker said. “We suspect that’s just a small fraction.”
(The only Chicago-area facility on the database is the Women’s Treatment Center, 140 N. Ashland Ave., which has a nursery for women who are in the center’s drug rehab program.)
Baker said the need for such programs is critical and will increase dramatically with welfare reform. In March, new work requirements go into effect for Pennsylvania welfare recipients.
“Crisis-care programs have shown themselves to be effective in preventing child abuse and neglect,” she said.
Laurien Ward, director of Youth Service Inc., agreed.
“What we’re all fearful of is welfare reform in March,” she said. “When we start seeing benefits cut, life will start becoming pretty stressful. All it takes is for the baby-sitter to say, once, that she can’t come.”
Evelyn Hawkins learned that Baring House offers more than just a child-care facility. It also helps train parents.
Hawkins, a nursing assistant, realized after the birth of her son that she had no idea how to care for a baby.
“I was scared,” she admitted. “I didn’t know how to feed him, how to dress him. I had never had a child before, and I was alone.”
A hospital caseworker suggested she call Baring House. Hawkins got in touch with Wisniewski, bringing her son with her to the center.
“She taught me a lot,” Hawkins said. “She taught me everything about bottles and about what to put on a child. She was like a mom to me. It’s like a second home here.”
When her son was about 6 weeks old, Hawkins began bringing him to Baring House “anytime I needed a break or got stressed sometimes,” often on the weekends. Whenever she found herself facing an unknown, she called for advice.
At first, the questions concerned basic child care, but as the baby got older, the questions were more about behavior, both his and hers.
“Should I give him hard food or soft food? Every little thing, I was calling,” Hawkins said. “Jean taught me time out instead of spanking the child. Ever since I learned about time out, I haven’t raised my hand to him.”
“People who don’t have other resources and get stressed out . . . that often results in child abuse, which is the reason people go into foster care,” Ward said. “We try to prevent that. It’s also important for parents to know their kids won’t be taken away, so they can turn to us freely with their questions and concerns.”
