Naomi Clark

I am writing to share our personal experience and to respectfully express concern regarding HB 1803 and its potential impact on vulnerable children and the families who care for them. My husband and I currently have guardianship of a child who was born to two parents struggling with addiction and who have essentially abandoned him. At the request of DCYF and with the encouragement of his mother, we agreed to take him into our home in order to keep him out of the foster care system. This decision was made out of care for his well-being and stability, but it also came with significant responsibility. We are both his guardians and his teachers. The only way we have been able to continue providing him with a safe, consistent, and faith-based education at Tri-City Christian Academy is by responsibly using both the Education Tax Credit (ETC) scholarship and Education Freedom Account (EFA) funds. The ETC helps cover tuition, while EFA funds are used strictly for educational materials and learning supports. These programs are not being used redundantly or wastefully. Rather, they work together to make it possible for us to meet this child’s educational needs without placing further burden on the state or forcing him into a system everyone hoped to avoid. A restriction that prevents families from accessing both ETC and EFA support in the same year would directly jeopardize our ability to continue providing this child with the stability and education he deserves. More broadly, it risks harming families who step forward in crisis situations to care for children when biological parents cannot. We respectfully urge you to consider the real-life consequences of HB 1803 for families like ours who are doing everything possible to support vulnerable children while acting in the best interest of the state. Thank you for your time, service, and thoughtful consideration. Naomi L. Clark