[Gsc-hca-family] MIT and GSC subsidized back-up childcare for students

[Eric Victor]

Do we know when the program will go live?

-Eric

From: Anna Häggman [mailto:haggman.anna at gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 9:44 AM
To: gsc-hca-family at mit.edu
Cc: gsc-hca-family-chair; OFFICERS Officers
Subject: MIT and GSC subsidized back-up childcare for students


Dear Family Subcommittee members!

We are very happy to let you know that the GSC Family Subcommittee's resolution to create a Family Childcare Fund passed the vote of the General Council this past Wednesday, April 3rd with an overwhelming majority.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (for detailed information see below):

1. GSC has passed the Family Subcommittee's resolution to create a childcare fund for subsidized back-up childcare through Parents in a Pinch.

2. MIT and GSC funding will allow students to use this service at a heavily subsidized rate. Our target rate is $5/hr for up to 8 hours/day with a cap of 10 days/year.

3. The goal launch date for this program is June 1, 2013.


Final rates and other details on program participation will come soon. In the meantime, feel free to email gsc-hca-family-chair at mit.edu<mailto:gsc-hca-family-chair at mit.edu> for questions, comments and suggestions.


We are very excited about this program and would like to thank Dean Christine Ortiz at ODGE, Kathy Simons at the Work-Life Center, the HCA chairs and the GSC executive committee for their continued support and advice.


Best,

Anna, Emily and Marzyeh


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FULL SUMMARY


Goals:

The goal of this benefit is to create a safety net for students with families for times when they need short-term childcare, be it for academic duties or for having a chance to take a break. We hope that this benefit will make it easy for parents to get access to reliable, high quality childcare and remove some of the burden of having to go through a long process of finding a good babysitter. Hopefully, it will help many families achieve a better work-life balance, and reduce some of the stress and anxiety related to balancing work duties with the responsibilities of being a parent.

Our current proposal creates a $37,801 Family Childcare Fund through GSC funding. In addition to the GSC funding, the Institute, specifically, the Provost's office and the Work-Life Center, has recently committed $68,000 to fund the creation of a back-up childcare pilot program for students.

Proposal:


·         Back-up care will be provided by Parents In a Pinch

·         They are a nationwide service provider, and all their babysitters have gone through a thorough screening and training process

·         Parents In a Pinch is currently contracted by the Institute to provide back-up childcare to MIT faculty, staff and post-docs

·         More details on how the service works on MIT Work-Life Center's website (http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/child-care-parenting/backup-child-care)

Costs:


·         The MIT funding will cover all annual membership and daily placement fees.

·         The GSC funds ($24K in the 1st year) will subsidize the hourly rate from $16/hr to a more affordable level of $5/hr - $10/hr.

·         Students can use the service:

o    at the subsidized rate a max of 8 hrs/day, for 10 days/yr.

o    Beyond that, students can use the service with the regular $16/hr fee but do not have to pay any membership fees.

·         This pilot program is heavily subsidized: The current going rate for in-home back-up childcare through an agency is $15-$25/hr + several hundreds of dollars in placement and membership fees.

Target Launch Date: June 1, 2013



Future Plans:

We hope that the Institute will take over the program after the pilot phase, and continue to provide subsidized back-up childcare to students without GSC funding. Please forward this email to everyone you think would benefit from this program. We want it to reach as many student families as possible!

The Family Subcommittee chairs welcome any suggestions, feedback and questions you might have regarding this benefit. You can reach all of us by emailing: gsc-hca-family-chair at mit.edu<mailto:gsc-hca-family-chair at mit.edu>.

Finally, we would like to thank Dean Christine Ortiz at ODGE and Kathy Simons at the Work-Life Center, who have been instrumental in making this happen. We sincerely thank the HCA chairs and the GSC executive committee for their continued support and advice. We are very happy with what we have achieved thus far, and will continue to advocate on your behalf.

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