[Gsc-hca-family] New backup childcare program for students - $5 per hour!

Wed Jul 10 18:24:26 EDT 2013

Hi everyone,

I hope you have already heard the good news: MIT now provides backup
childcare for students at a heavily subsidized rate of $5 per hour. See
below for details. (This is the official announcement that was sent out to
departments yesterday)

If you haven't had a chance to read the latest issue of The Tech, here is
an article we wrote on childcare:
http://tech.mit.edu/V133/N29/childcare.html

I hope many of you will take advantage of this new program!
All the best,
Anna

GSC Family Subcommittee chair

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*Backup Child Care Program for Students available*

Full program description: (
http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/backup-child-care-students)

The MIT Work Life-Center, the Graduate Student Council, and the Office of
the Provost, with the support of the Office of the Dean for Graduate
Education and the Office of the Chancellor, are pleased to announce a new
one-year pilot program to offer affordable quality, subsidized backup child
care to students for the 2013-2014 academic year, starting July 1, 2013 and
running through June 30, 2014.

*Program benefits: *

   - Screened, trained caregivers available on short notice to provide
   childcare, day or evening, 7 days a week
   - Subsidized cost of only *$5 per hour*
   - Parents in a Pinch, Inc. is a nation-wide service provider; in
   addition to local service, a parent may take her or his child halfway
   across the country, and arrange for care coverage while at a conference or
   other commitment
   - MIT students can use the service at the subsidized rate up to 10 times
   annually, for a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 hours each time.

*To use the program: *

   - Students must *pre-register online (
   http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/backup-child-care-students)*
   - After that, the student simply calls Parents in a Pinch (617)
   739-5437, ext. 114 during their business hours to relay his or her
   specific need
   - A caregiver that matches the need will call to confirm the details of
   the job
   - At the end of the specified time period, the parent signs a time
   sheet, and his or her credit card is charged for the co-payment.

The many proponents of this program sincerely hope that MIT students will
take full advantage of the benefits, as this first year of usage will
provide valuable data to student leaders and administrators on whether and
how to continue the program.

For questions about using the new program, feel free to contact the MIT
Work Life Center (http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/welcome) at worklife at mit.edu.
To offer your comments on the pilot concept, please contact the GSC Family
Subcommittee (http://gsc.mit.edu/committees/hca/family/) at
gsc-hca-family-chair at mit.edu.