This morning I had my meeting at the Head Start office. I was very excited to get things lined up for Zak to get to go to preschool once he turns 3. As we started to fill out the paperwork it became apparent that things were not going to work out as I had hoped.
The first hurdle is the income maximum allowed for the full-time program which is located about 4 minutes from our house. This program is right behind the school that Ryder will be attending next year so it would be perfect! The income max for a family of 4 is only $22,000! I am not going to say exactly how much Ben makes, but it is more than that. We live paycheck to paycheck just hoping to be able to afford our monthly bills so I have no clue how a family of 4 would function at an income lower than $22,000. I do realize there are plenty of families out there that have it much worse than we do. It is just frustrating when we are looking for programs for the boys to participate in and we can't afford them but we also don't qualify for the free programs. The woman said she is going to put our paperwork through just to see what they say. I am hoping for some miracle to happen and Zak get accepted.
The next problem would be if we do not get accepted because of income issue. Zak could go to the half-day program which is located about 20 minutes away from our house. Normally this would not be an issue at all, but for us it is. There is no possible way that I would be able to get Zak to and from his preschool AND get Ryder to and from his preschool (I have to be home to put him on the bus and get him off the bus) because the times are almost identical.
The final dilemma has to do with a dentist. In order to attend any of the Head Start programs the kids all have to see a pediatrician to have a physical exam and paperwork filled out along with seeing a dentist for a cleaning and a paper filled out. I told the woman that the boys have never seen a dentist because we don't have dental insurance since we just can't afford it. She gave me information about the Harford County children's dental clinic and said I should be able to take him there to get the exam and paperwork done. But when I talked to somebody at the clinic they said Zak couldn't go to the clinic since he has medical insurance. This dental clinic is only for children who receive medical assistance from the state or who have no medical insurance at all. Even though Zak has no dental insurance he is unable to visit the free dental clinic because he has medical insurance! This is so frustrating. We pay monthly for low-income health insurance so the boys and I can go to the doctor and get medications, but we can't see a dentist because we can't afford it and don't qualify for the clinic which leads to Zak not being allowed to attend Head Start! We are going to take the paper with us to FL because we had planned to take the boys to the dentist that Grandma Mary works for. This appointment was going to be free and only be a 'happy visit" which means the boys just get to see the office and equipment. My mom said that if Zak cooperates then we might be able to get him actually seen by the dentist and hopefully fill out the paper, but there is still no guarantee....
So I am disappointed because it looks like Zak's chance of going to preschool next year is very slim at this point...
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