The Children's Place Assocation

I had my kids here for a few years and in the beginning we did love this place. We were able to stay with our son in class and observe what was going on, he learned a lot and loved his teachers but once Covid hit everything went down the drain. My baby also began to go to this center and I was not okay with the fact that we were no longer able to come in to see the kids, check on them or anything(“due to the safety reasons”) I would have felt better if they would have implemented some sort of app like other daycares that allows you to join into the class and see what’s going on. When I initially inquired about this they said I could call and they’ll take a computer in to let me see what’s going on which is not the same as popping up or randomly popping in to see what’s going on. Then when I inquired again they said they couldn’t do that anymore because of the privacy of the other kids and brought the phone to my kids and allowed me to say hi. The whole masking kids thing I was totally against and had to get a signature from my doctor so they could wear a shield. Literally the day my baby turned two it was “Good morning, Happy Birthday let’s put on your mask” when she was there the day prior with no mask, when the box of masks clearly states “does not prevent infection from disease or viruses”, and when we know kids were rarely even affected from Covid.I even had a meeting with the staff and brought them over 60 pages of scientific evidence that masks do not work and the negative effects that they do have on kids and it essentially came down to they understand but they don’t want to lose funding. I could no longer allow my kids to be apart of an organization who truly didn’t have the kids best interest in hand funding was most important to them. When many other centers were giving parents a choice whether to mask or not they continued not to. It was also always something with me wanting my kids to eat or not eat certain things. As the parent I know what’s best for my kids, giving kids milk more than water drove me crazy. And again I wasn’t able to pop up and monitor to see if they were really giving my kids what I was bringing. It was hard for me to take my baby out especially. She loved her teacher Ms. Liz and Liz loved her but my values/beliefs were more important to me in the end. This place used to be great but it changed DRASTICALLY after Covid.

Children's Place Association is a wonderful heart-based organization that helps many of Chicago's most vulnerable kids and families. The staff are all amazing, mission-driven, down-to-earth, supportive, creative, friendly, collaborative individuals. The volunteers are some of the most committed and bright I've had the pleasure of interacting with. I feel proud to work at Children's Place Association and contribute to the meaningful work, positive and impactful work they do!

I have worked with Children's Place Association for five months and have already seen firsthand that this organization does incredible work both in Chicago and in countries around the world through its subsidiary, Children's Place International. The organization cares deeply about the children and families in its programs, utilizing the best standards of care and best practices in child & youth development. CPA is also dedicated to social justice and community-led development. From an employee perspective, the organization invests in its staff and works with really passionate, intelligent, and caring individuals who want to make a positive impact as well as grow in their own professions. 5/5 would recommend Children's Place Association for clients, prospective employees, community partners, volunteers, and funders.

I joined Children's Place Association just prior to the pandemic. Throughout this time, employees have continued to work and provide services to our many clients.

I am in the Human Resources department and couldn't be prouder to service outstanding employees and leadership!

I have the pleasure of collaborating with this organization and have found the staff friendly, dedicated, and hard-working in efforts to help Chicago's most vulnerable children. They've been doing this work for 30-years, and it's inspiring to see how they not only keep showing up to help those in need, they make adjustments as needs change.