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Focus on FSS: Helping children grow

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashlin Federick
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
A common concern for parents is where to send their children for daycare while they work. The Air Force offers child care to alleviate the stress of this decision.

The Child Development Center and Youth Center give children on Dover Air Force Base, a safe place to learn and grow. The CDC can accommodate 240 children and currently has an enrollment of approximately 220 children, ranging from six weeks to five years old. The CDC also has six playgrounds.

Patti Porter, Child Development Center director, said the CDC is a place for parents to drop their child off each day and not have to worry about them.

"I enjoy my job," said Porter. "The parents are great and the children are wonderful. We have a lot of parent involvement."

Rosa Sein-Lopez, Child Development Center childcare provider, said a lot of the parents may think they just babysit, but caregivers help children through challenges like potty training and playing well with others.

"It takes a lot of passion to work with children," said Lopez. "You kind of have to be the other parent. I am a mom and I teach and engage with the kids as is if I am their parent. I treat the kids the way I want my child to be treated."

Ana Lebron, Child Development Center preschool teacher, said she thinks the caregivers at the CDC play a very big role in the children's lives. She said they spend most of their day with them and they are like their second family.

"I love working with the parents and the children," said Lebron. "It is interesting because I remember seeing them when they were little and now they are back bringing their own children. It is nice to see them grow throughout the years and come back."

Children of active duty members, civilians and contractors assigned to Dover AFB are allowed to enroll at the CDC. There are priorities in place for selection. Dual, single military and single Department of Defense civilians have first priority. Military with a working spouse and military with a full-time student spouse are the second priority.

The difference between the CDC and the Youth Center is the Youth Center has school aged children who are more independent.

The caregivers do a lot of volunteer work with the children who attend the Youth Center. The children volunteer, feeding and taking care of the animals at the No-Kill Shelter in Georgetown, Del., twice a week. There is also a youth employment program which allows children in high school to make $6 an hour. Four dollars goes into a college fund and $2 goes back to the Youth Center. When children graduate, the money they have accumulated goes to the college of their choosing and they are able use it for anything they want.

"It is a good incentive for kids to want to do volunteer work," said Roxanne Lee, Youth Center director of youth programs.

Lee said that the Youth Center is a great resource for the military community.

"The Youth Center gives the kids a safe place to be," said Lee. "It gives them an opportunity to come after school to do their homework and help each other. It is basically like a family. We know the majority of the parents because we have had some of these kids from kindergarten to college."

The Youth Center has approximately 400 children enrolled who range from ages five to 18-years-old. They have a school aged program with approximately 133 children who are under the age of 12. They also have a membership program for children nine to 18-years-old.

The Youth Center has seven classrooms that host activities such as cooking, science, history and many others. The caregivers teach the children life skills such as ironing and cooking.

Both the CDC and the Youth Center are facilities where parents can drop their children off, go focus on the mission and know that their children are receiving quality care with a great staff.