Shondra Perry was trying out her third child care, praying she could find a place where her 3-year-old daughter Taylor would be shown love. She’d taken Taylor, who regularly had intense tantrums both in child care settings and at home, out of the first child care center after her daughter’s hair was cut without explanation. Her second provider took Taylor in for three days before telling Perry she couldn’t stay due to behavioral issues.

Then, Perry placed Taylor at Carmen Martin’s home-based Detroit child care, Carmen’s Little Angels. Taylor continued having tantrums, but this time, there was a plan.

Martin and Katie Wisniewski, the state-funded mental health consultants who came regularly to Martin’s child care to help her figure out how to best care for kids like Taylor, approached Per

See Full Page