Parents fear daughter who was doing well at Webb center will slip

Allison Wright is still learning to talk and hold a spoon or crayon like other 2-year-olds, but she has become a bright-eyed and animated child who responds affectionately to people outside her immediate family.

Her parents, Terrance and Shantoya Wright, worry that their daughter's progress will be derailed when the Charles Webb Center closes because of state budget cuts. With only five weeks notice, the Wrights and other parents of about 30 kids at the center learned that it would shut down at the end of this month. In addition to their fears about how it would affect their kids, many parents said the situation would result in financial hardship because a parent would be forced to quit work to stay home to care for a child. Then the deadline was moved to the end of January.

That leaves the Wrights struggling to find a way to plug the gap between February and August when programs for 3-year-olds become available at Murray-LaSaine and Angel Oak elementary schools. Allison's birthday is July 30. "At Charles Webb, she was doing so good. They did a wonderful job," her mother said.

She said the Rockville family would likely make do by shuffling schedules so a parent can be at home with Allison. "One of us will work days and one of us will work nights," she said.

Wright said she earns $8.10 per hour as a hotel housekeeper. Her husband, Terrance, struggles with back and neck problems but works part-time as a delivery driver. He had back surgery for three ruptured discs, and a related neck surgery.

The family receives free child care at the Webb Center until 3 p.m. on weekdays. After that time, the center charges $10 per hour. Shantoya Wright worries about finding the same nurturing environment for her daughter elsewhere. She is afraid her daughter will take a step backwards when she loses the familiar surroundings and loving staff at the center. "It probably will be a setback for her," Shantoya Wright said.

Allison, born three months premature, spent months in the hospital where she was treated for lung and heart problems. Doctors gave her a 50/50 chance of living. When she was well enough to go home, a relative looked after Allison during the day. But the aunt became ill and could no longer care for the toddler. That led the Wrights to enroll Allison, their third child, at the Webb Center about a year ago. Little did the Wrights imagine the center that has proved to be a lifeline for them and Allison would be in peril. "They made us feel comfortable," she said.

The Webb Center staff coaxed Allison to eat so she would not require another feeding tube. They can tell when she needs her inhaler treatment for asthma. "Most day-care centers don't have a nurse or have people who can deal with that," her mother said.

The state Department of Disabilities and Special Needs cut $150,000 for the Webb Center, a move it said was difficult but necessary because the General Assembly mandated an 11.2 percent or $21.5 million agency budget cut. Statewide, four other child care centers for developmentally disabled kids will also close because of budget cuts. The department has said that it cut funds for the Webb Center and the other facilities to preserve critically needed residential programs for the disabled and mentally retarded such as the Coastal Center in Ladson.

Allison receives speech and occupational therapy at the Webb Center. "She just started to talk. She'll say words but mostly with encouragement. She never says a lot on her own but she'll play," said Renee Riley, a staff team leader at the center. She knows Allison as a child who loves music and dancing. Riley has been at the center for 16 years. In that time, she has seen kids accomplish the improbable. The experts warned that Allison might never talk. "But she does. I cry when kids do stuff like that because I had my heart in that. They learn like normal kids but just at a slower pace," she said.

Reach Prentiss Findlay at pfindlay@postandcourier.com or 937-5711.