By Vanessa Mavec
President Barbara R. Snyder announced today that her office will once again fund the two child care assistance programs launched in 2009: temporary and back-up child care and travel support. These two initiatives grew out of the work of the President’s Committee on Child Care Options, which issued its report in the spring of 2009.
“The response to these programs has been overwhelmingly positive,” Snyder said. “I commend the committee for its wisdom in recommending these particular measures, and thank our Office of Human Resources for administering them.”
The emergency child care option is designed to assist parents on those days when they have a professional obligation that they cannot miss yet also need someone to watch their young children (e.g. during snow days, in the event of an illness or other similar events). The university covers referral fees for the service (Erin’s Nannies) for up to two occasions. Meanwhile, parents are responsible for covering their individual caregiver’s actual wages. Participation grew significantly this year, and officials expect even greater utilization as more people become familiar with the program.
Meanwhile, the travel support program provides parents assistance when university obligations require them to be out of town. Funds may be used to pay for children to travel with a parent, or to arrange for care at home while the parent is away.
Assistant Professor Eileen Anderson-Fye, chair of the Faculty Parents of Young Children Group, said the program “has been a godsend, especially because so many people at the university are in situations requiring help with childcare.”
Fye said parents appreciate the financial assistance the university provides, as well as the opportunity to connect with qualified, well-screened child care providers on short notice.
For more information on the emergency child care program, visit http://www.case.edu/finadmin/humres/benefits/childcare.emergency.html. To learn more about the travel support program, visit http://www.case.edu/finadmin/humres/benefits/childcare.travel.html.