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Tragedy highlights need for affordable child care

From left, Elaine Spaull, Center for Youth executive director, and Faith Davignon, the center's assistant director of counseling and runaway youth services.
Beth Adams/WXXI News
From left, Elaine Spaull, Center for Youth executive director, and Faith Davignon, the center's assistant director of counseling and runaway youth services.

The tragic deathof a toddler this week is sparking conversations about access to child care.

On Monday, a 3-year-old boy was taken by his mother to the Tim Hortons coffee shop where she works because no one else was available to care for the child, according to Rochester police.

The boy died after falling into a grease trap behind the restaurant.

Elaine Spaull, executive director at the Center for Youth, says the tragedy should have the community talking not only about affordable, accessible child care, but also about pay equity, underemployment, and long-term solutions for struggling families.

Click on the LISTEN link above to hear a conversation with Spaull and Faith Davignon, the Center for Youth’s assistant director of counseling and runaway youth services.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.