SINGLE MOTHER SAYS DRUGS WRECK ISLAND FAMILIES

Drugs are the reason most Kaua'i single parents, men and women, are single
parents, said a Koloa woman raising a young son alone.

"It is a difficult situation all around for a single parent when the other
parent is involved with drugs," the mother said. "It adds another dimension
of difficulties trying to raise the child or children.

"It is difficult enough economically for the single parent raising the child
or children, but when the other parent is involved with drugs, it is a
catch-22 situation for the single parents who are the primary caretakers,"
said the woman, who didn't want her name used in this story.

"It is too expensive to rely solely on additional childcare, but the stress
level of having the drug-user parent help with child care is tremendous, and
leaves the custodial parent feeling trapped in this economic dilemma," she
said.

Being a single parent even with only one child requires dedication to self
and family, she continued. She survives by working a full-time job, which
provides family medical care.

She still receives rental assistance from the federal government, but no
longer gets food stamps. Her son attends preschool, where he gets partial
tuition assistance.

"What is beneficial to most single parents on the island is the safety net
of having family help with child care. Work hours are all too often not nine
to five," she continued.

"It is difficult, if not just impossible, to find childcare providers
available on evenings and weekends," she says from experience.

"I am greatly thankful for the safety net of the state, and other
social-service programs I have received up to this point. I am still
struggling to be fully self-sufficient," she said.

"I am lucky to have one of the better-paying jobs on Kaua'i at this time,"
but there is danger she may lose the job, which requires some late-night and
weekend hours, due to her inability to find suitable childcare during those
hours.

Work demands are "causing hardship and extreme stress regarding care for my
son during my working hours while he is not in school," she said.

"After reading your article," she said of earlier stories about how another
single mother manages to make ends meet, and the high cost of attaining
economic self-sufficiency, "I felt obligated to relay my own experience and
perspective regarding this difficult, economic and social hardship faced by
many on this island," she explained.

"The amount of pay in the workforce needed by a single parent is a hurdle
that is an extremely high one to reach, especially for women. For men, this
level of pay is an easier goal to reach," she concluded.