I am a divorced mother of 2 in high desert, Ca. I receive virtually no help from my ex, despite court orders. He is about $10,000 behind in child support, and despite numerous days in their office, the D.A.s office is slow to get anything done ("They are working on it") for 2 years now. I have had to quit numerous jobs due to lack of child care, because without child support it costs more than I make. A family friend has been watching my children for an affordable fee, but is going to Switzerland for the summer. I have been put on a waiting list for low income child care, but can't wait any longer. My babysitter is leaving in 5 days, and I don't want to quit another job due to lack of child care. Does anyone know of any resources immediately available state funded or otherwise for mothers in my situation. I am desperate and time is running out.

Desperatemommyof2,
You did not state how old your children are. I have one small idea if they are over 5. Check with you local government and see if they have "camperships" (camp scholarships) for a day camp. The state of Florida and the city I live in sponsor many of these. It may be too late but is worth a try. My daughter has gotten one for the last three years. She has recieved $175 towards camp, based on her grades(A/B) and my income, from the Children's Commission. It is not much but it helped. If my income was lower she would have qualified for much more. If they are over 5ish, day camp would be something different and fun for them.
I wish I could help more. Good Luck.
Carla

Hello, I just want you to know you will get through it. now, lets see here, I agree with the statements made by the others , check to see if you all have Headstart program in your state or area this program is state funded and allows working mothers and fathers,to send their kids, free of charge its not income based so don't worry about that, its kind of a help to working parents, Its not one named school but it may be several differnt schools. Also Check with the Department of Human services to see if they offer the CHild care voucher where you pay a co-payment once per month and its not more than an hundred dollars sometimes depending onincome it may be 5 dollars, Also check with your local housing authority to see if you can get a housing voucher that will cover your rent and allow you to choose where you want to live with in the means they will pay for.

Now that ex husband for instance maybe you should contact the Department of human services about that, give them his ss# and the place he is employeed and home address just any and all information so that it will come out of his check before he gets his check. kind of like a garnishment of ones wages, that way you don't have to worry about him not paying and if he quits his job they will require him to get another in about 30 day or he will go to jail. THis is in MS, I don't quit know about from where you are but I don't forsee them being that much differetn. Stop letting him get away with not paying for the kids. He may not want to see them but he will most definatly pay for them, and I think that they will go back time on him where he would have to not only make payments for the current time but also small payments on the backtime(10,000) as well. I hope these help. Seriously think about going to the Department of Human services You don't want to leave it up to him to decide if he will pay because he won't. Get it taken from him before he gets his check, and you will know that you have it coming, and every time he gets a raise You will too. I recently did this for my kids father and now he seems to think that I am being cruel because his check is a little less now. Your Kids deserve every chance and for him to just skip out on things like that Iwould not be so nice to him. To be honest I wouldnt care if he had any money when I got finished with him.

If you are in California, you should look up the CalWorks program, especially the part involving child care. I'm not sure if it is called the same thing there, but here in San Diego, there is a resource named "Child Development Associates" who subsidize your day care so you can work. After splitting with my sons father, I realized that working wasn't going to happen unless I found a free, or nearly free babysitter. Child Development Associates took care of everything for me. As long as you are working, or actively looking for work, they will subsidize your daycare. You have to research the day care centers yourself, and select who you want to watch your children. If you want a friend or family member to watch them, they will pay them too, as long as the care is not taking place in your home. The fees are on a sliding scale and it's definately something that is affordable, even if you have to pay something. (It was free for me) I think the most they ask you to pay is $5 a day. But that would be if you were making gobs of money. I think the most I ever paid was $1 a day before I finally dropped out of the program. It is kind of a hassle as you have to report your earnings to them every month, and you have to sign a log-in sheet with the day care that is initialed daily by you and the day care provider. If the log-in sheet is not perfectly filled out or every day is not initialed you get a penalty. If you fail to send copies of your checks you get a penalty, and if you miss more than three days of care in a row without calling your social worker, you get a penalty. Its not often you get these penalties, but the reason I mention them is because after three penalties, you are taken off the program, so you must be diligent, but it is well worth it. I hope this helps you through your situation. I do believe if you start today, you can have everything arranged in the five days you said you had until your current provider leaves. Good Luck!

Thank you all for your help.The D.A.s office is working on garnishment, but he has just quit his job in the past when this happens, not to mention the time he spends on disability for one thing or another. I will definitely check into the Calworks program right away, and thanks again for your time as I know how precious it is in this day and age.................Jamie

My children are 6 and 5