For policies and programs to be effective, it is essential to listen to the voices, perspectives, and language of people whose lives are most impacted by them. To capture those perspectives, Ascend, working with Lake Research Partners, conducted 12 online focus groups of parents across race, ethnicity, and geography in fall 2020 to ask parents with young children how they were experiencing this unique moment in our history and language that could describe families’ hopes, goals, dreams, and challenges.