Short Term Child Care Employer Consortium Pays Dividends

Short Term Child Care Employer Consortium Pays Dividends
by Valerie Bryce

A parent gets a dreaded call from their child’s care provider saying that she has the flu and cannot give care the next day. A child has a fever in the night and the parents know that a quiet day at home is needed rather than the hurly-burly of regular day care. All working parents grapple with these stresses and hope that their bosses understand when time off is needed yet again or hope that a relative, friend or neighbour can be convinced to look after their child for the day.

In Ottawa, employees of organizations belonging to the National Capital Region Emergency Child Care Consortium have peace of mind knowing that a call to Short Term Child Care, a program of Andrew Fleck Child Care Services, can solve their dilemma. From the employers point of view, their investment is worth while; they know that supporting their employees’ efforts to manage both work and family commitments contributes to a reduction in stress, and an increase in work loyalty and productivity.

This unique emergency child care service is the only one of its kind in Canada. The Consortium was formed in 1995, reviving a program that had been started in 1987 by Andrew Fleck Child Care Services and run as a joint pilot project by three non-profit child care agencies under the provincial Flexible Services Pilot Project before funding was terminated. Seven organizations are in the Consortium, which is represented by both the private and public sectors — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Eftia, Nepean Hydro, Nortel Networks, Ottawa Carleton District School Board and Carleton County Law Association.

The membership of these seven organizations supports more than 1,100 families and their children. Each organization pays an annual access fee based on its total number of employees. The daily child care fee is fully paid by one organization and partially paid by another. Other employees pay the daily caregiver fee themselves.

Three types of care are available to parents, depending on their needs. Care in the child’s own home is the only choice if the child is mildly ill. A screened and trained caregiver arrives at the home, well-briefed by the placement co-ordinator, and prepared to provide a day of quiet activities.

If there has been a breakdown in regular child care arrangements, parents can take their child either to a licensed home child care setting or to a licensed day care centre. The Short Term Child Care Program facilitates both these options, working in close co-operation with the child care community to deliver its services. Child care is also available 24 hours a day on a best-effort basis and parents can contact the program between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Same day service requests can usually be met.

One operational challenge of the program is seasonal fluctuation in the demand for care. This means maintaining an adequate roster of caregivers available to go into parent’s homes on an on-call basis. Because demand for mildly sick children is one of the prime reasons that employees use the program, a lot of effort is made to boost the team of in-home caregivers as the winter season approaches. Many caregivers have their ECE or equivalent training, or have experience in areas that give them skills to work in a flexible and challenging environment. When possible, the same caregiver returns to homes where they have worked previously so the child can be with a familiar person.

Research has been integral to the development of this employer consortium model of emergency child care service. Reports include Partners Toward Balance: A Study of the Consortium Model and the Set-Up and Operation of Workplace Committees for the Emergency Child Care Service (for the Labour-Management Partnerships Program, Human Resources Development Canada, 1996); Emergency Child Care: Impact, Practice and Innovation – A Canadian Story (for Child Care Visions, Human Resources Canada, 1998) and a Strategic Initiatives Study Research Study (sponsored by the McConnell Family Foundation, 1999) (see Interaction, Spring 1998).

The Short Term Child Care Program has undergone a number of structural changes since its modest beginnings in 1987 and core funding remains one of its biggest challenges, with or without provincial government support. Over the years, a committed board of directors recognizing the need for short term child care services has meant the difference between abandoning and continuing the service.

Now Short Term Child Care is again a program of Andrew Fleck Child Care Services. It is a successful demonstration of the need for a non-mandated service to be flexible and creative in order to survive. At a time when community partnerships are being promoted, Short Term Child Care is a unique example of a non-profit child care agency working in co-operation with business, labour and government, as well as with other non-profit and for-profit child care agencies, to provide a valuable service to the community.

Valerie Bryce is currently a member of the Short Term Child Care Program Advisory Committee and Executive Assistant to the Executive Director of Andrew Fleck Child Care Services. For further information on the program and/or research reports, contact Short Term Child Care, Andrew Fleck Child Care Services, 700 Industrial Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 0Y9. Phone (613) 739-0103; e-mail info@stcc.on.ca; web-site www.stcc.on.ca.