Q&A With...Sherry Linton

You may know who these people are, running into them at meetings and conferences, but do you know anything about their backgrounds or how they got into their field? The CT Early Childhood Alliance is introducing a new column to its monthly newsletter, interviewing people who hold positions in different aspects of the early care and education world. If you know of anyone who should be profiled, please contact Jessica at ciparelli.ceca@gmail.com. 

Q & A With Sherry Linton

CT Association for Human Services Early Care and Education Policy Analyst  

Q:What initially drew you to the field of early care and education?

A: I worked as a classroom assistant at Trinity Community Child Care Center (TC4) at Trinity College, while attending school there. I was fascinated by the children, and some of them had extensive vocabularies at age 3 and others didn't. I saw the direct correlation between income and learning patterns.

Q: What types of jobs have you had within the field?

A: I was a director of an Early Head Start home and center-based program in Manchester/Vernon. I supervised home visitors and advocates in center-based care and [supervised] consultants in health, behavioral health and nutrition. I did this for seven years.

Prior to that [position], I worked with MAXIMUS, which was contracted for the child care assistance program, now called Care 4 Kids. (Formerly known as CCAP). I was a child care assistant application processor, then a supervisor. I did that for four years and that gave me a good insight into the Care 4 Kids program and application process.

Those two jobs (with MAXIMUS and Early Head Start) took my understanding of child care to another level. I understood what you put in is what you get out. CCAP was a lesson in understanding how vital it is to allow parents to work and have their children in a safe place.

Why I moved away from direct-service (ie, Head Start) and more toward policy is because reality became heartbreaking. I still wanted to address early care and education issues without seeing it [the heartbreaking situations] every day. I feel a greater impact in this role because it affects a larger group of people. I truly believe that education is the primary catalyst for shifting the cycle of poverty. When a child gets a good early education, when he grows up, his children will do the same.

Q: You now work for the CT Association for Human Services as an Early Care and Education Policy Analyst. What exactly does that mean?

A: I have to have a keen sense of state policy and regulations in early care so I can be the point to interpret if there are changes [to policy or regulations]. I convene the Early Care Providers to speak to individual and common issues [they have], and I oversee coordination of ConnLeap Parent/Provider Leadership Advocacy Course, which focuses on early care and education.

Q: Who do you interact with most in your job – Providers? Legislators? Advocates?

A: Providers and advocates. I attend early care and policy planning meetings and other meetings at least three times a week.

Q: In your travels, what kinds of issues are you confronted with by the people you come in contact with?

A: For providers, it's funding and inadequate funding. Funding has yet to catch up with the actual cost of child care. People are trying to keep their heads above water. For advocates, it's having a coordinated system, not dependent on a funding stream.

Q: What would you call the biggest legislative success of this session? Biggest failure?

A: It's not a failure, but the development of an early care system. We are still lacking of a system and there is still duplication and we seem to create and re-create. We're taking baby steps forward, though, but sometimes it seems it's one step forward, two steps back.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

A: In this role, I'm hoping to have a deeper connection with Discovery [groups]. I really want to be an active participant, ensuring that CAHS is seen as the liaison for policy discussion or be a part of policy and planning.