'We Need To Get This Right:' 16 Community Leaders To Reimagine Child Care In Tarrant County

Arlington TX

29 March, 2022

7:21 PM

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By Jacob Sanchez, Fort Worth Report March 29, 2022 Jerletha McDonald knows firsthand the difficulty of finding good child care. Sixteen years ago, her schedule was intense because of the hours she put in at work and in college. She found the only child care center in Arlington open late for her three children. When it closed at 7 p.m., she sent her kids to her mother's home so she could keep chugging away to support her family. But deep down she wanted to raise her children instead of letting others do it for her. That's when she decided to start her career in child care. Today, McDonald is the founder and CEO of Arlington DFW Child Care Professionals. "I've been a parent who had to figure it out, and I figured it out. And now that I know, what I do is implement what I know into what I teach because no one taught me," said McDonald, who trains child care providers. McDonald will bring her knowledge and more than a decade of experience as a child care provider to a new group tasked with changing early childhood education in Tarrant County. She is one of 16 community leaders part of the Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care. Officials announced the appointees during a Fort Worth City Council meeting on March 29. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.