To the editor:

After reading your coverage of Rep. Fausto Anguilla's vote on the child care providers issue, it was clear to me that Rep. Anguilla simply does not understand the importance of Starting RIght — Rhode Island's child care assistance program — for Rhode Island families and for our state's economy.

By providing opportunities for quality child care and early learning, Starting RIght is making an essential investment in the future success of our kids and our communities. But more than this, by providing access to consistent child care Starting RIght gives the more than 35,000 parents who use child care in Rhode Island the security in knowing their kids are safe so they can focus on their jobs and provide for their families.

As a registered nurse, I have an erratic work schedule that forces me to rely more and more on child care providers to care for my children. It's tough enough being a working parent, but it gives me reassurance to know that my children are in good, loving hands with their child care provider. And just as parents trust nurses to care for their newborn children at Women & Infants Hospital, I trust child care providers to raise my children while I am at work.

The Starting RIght program is important for our kids, working parents and the economy. And the child care professionals who make the program work everyday deserve a voice to improve the quality of child care. That's why I would like to express my disappointment in Rep. Anguilla in voting against quality child care and to thank representatives Rice, Gallison and Malik and other elected officials who stood up for working families and quality child care for our kids.

Ann Marie Derosiers, RN

Warren