Finding childcare for your child is never easy for parents. A difficulty increased tenfold if the child to be cared for suffers from a disability, whatever it is. Also, the opening this Monday of the first inclusive home of childminders (MAM) of the Oise in Nogent-sur-Oise is experienced as an event and a relief for families facing disability.
"This MAM was the dream," confirms the mother of a three-year-old girl. We live in the Chambly area but I am willing to drive half an hour to bring my daughter, three days a week, the rest of the time is devoted to care and medical appointments. Until now, we left her with a childminder, who took good care of her, but we had to find a solution this year. She was supposed to go to a nursery under the authority of a medical-educational institute (IME) but it did not happen. It was an occupational therapist who told me about the association that was opening this MAM. We were on the waiting list and finally a place became available. »
In 95% of families, one parent stops working
A real breath of fresh air for these families where a child's disability transforms daily life and conditions personal and professional life. "I was an employee and I opted for a liberal profession to be able to devote time to my daughter, but if the MAM had not opened, I had no immediate solution, continues the mother. Finding childcare for a child with a disability is extremely difficult and time-consuming. I find that the MAM system is even better than a nursery, each child has a childminder referent while enjoying community life, it's a good compromise. »
The inauguration, on September 29, allowed the first visitors to discover the facilities of the structure. LP/H.S.
The Mam'Eo project has been conceived and carried at arm's length for several years by three women sensitized to this issue. "All three of us worked in a medical-educational institute for children and adolescents with disabilities," explain Harmony Wagne, Nathalie Nomdedeu and Gaëlle Borgiasz. We were caring for children between the ages of 6 and 20, and 95% of families told us that before the age of 6, one or the other parent had to stop working to care for their child with a disability. We wondered what we could do to make it easier for them. We made a needs study, we went to question the professionals of the sector and it is the format of a MAM that appeared to be the most suitable. »
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The Mam'Eo association, which will give its name to the structure, was born at the end of 2018 and the search for a local ended in 2019, when the solution of grouping three apartments on the ground floor of the building located at 25 Avenue Saint-Exupéry, in Nogent, emerged.
A project that will be like many others delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and also the time to find an appropriate rehousing solution for tenants who had agreed to leave their housing. It was only at the end of 2022 that the work could begin, before the passage of the maternal child protection (PMI) which validated the structure in September.
Soon twelve places
"Some families have been waiting for us since 2018," recalls the three young women who naturally followed the training of childminders, in addition to their previous diplomas. We currently have nine places, hoping to reach twelve fairly soon. The structure mixes children with physical disabilities or cognitive disorders with other children without disabilities. As long as the child is fit for the community, we can accommodate him. Within a year, we also hope to be able to recruit a 4th person to support us. »
The MAM is therefore located in Nogent-sur-Oise, but some families from Précy-sur-Oise, Senlis, Neuilly-sous-Clermont or even Beauvais will entrust the custody of their children there. "This is the first inclusive MAM in the department and it is a real asset for the whole territory," says the deputy (LR) of the constituency, Maxime Minot, who came to inaugurate the place.
"We were already very keen to host a MAM, and the fact that it is more inclusive is even better," agrees the mayor of Nogent, Jean-François Dardenne. For families of children with disabilities, finding childcare quickly becomes complex. »
