I am 22 years old. I have 3 children, one is four, two (twins) are three. I love my boys! Their father hasn’t seen them, or even made a phone call to check on them for a little over a year now. But thats okay. We’re better off without him.

I am hardworking and was lucky to find a company that is flexible with my living situation.. although I work M-F 8:30 to 5:00 I am able to take some paid time off to take my kids to appointments etc… Recently I have decided to go back to school in order to obtain an Associates Degree of Applied Science in Accounting. I feel like obtaining a degree will help me better my life and the life of my children.. as well as get off of state assistance. I was able to coordinate the classes will to be after work, a few days out of the week. I am fortunate enough to still get assistance from the State of WA for Childcare. I pay a pretty hefty co-pay, but its better than paying full price. If I had to pay full price, I wouldn’t even be able to pay for my rent/food/bills/etc… Anyway, I was hoping that the state would be able to help me pay for childcare while I was in school. FASFA only covers your school if you are going for a degree, not a certificate. Well, I just spoke to someone at DSHS after being on hold for 1 hour, and they told me that I will need to lower my standards to a certificate program.. otherwise, they will not be able to help me with my childcare while in school.

Does that make sense to anyone? They would rather I go for a certificate rather than a degree… hm. I’m pretty sure potential employers (who will be able to pay their employees more) would rather hire a person with a degree, rather than a certificate. And if I go for just a certificate, I won’t be able to get assistance through FASFA for my schooling. That just doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know.

Am I crazy for thinking that? I would be completely off of state assistance if I could get a better/higher paying job. I don’t know. For me, it seems like the state is willing to help — but only to an extent. It upsets me because I know if I were to do drugs or sit on a couch and let my kids run around all scrubby. The state would 1) pay for my housing (or have an easier chance of getting housing 2) hand me cash 3) give me food stamps 4) it’d be easier for me to get assistance with paying my bills 5) they’d give me hygeine products.. the list could go on. But, thats not what I want to out of life for me and my kids. Is there anything I can do to get childcare covered for my boys while is school? Could the lady have been wrong?