New back-up child and elder care plan offers safety net to faculty, clinicians
The program, launched today, will be offered for three years as a pilot project.
Stanford has introduced a new back-up child care and elder care program designed to help faculty, including clinician educators, quickly find alternative care when regular caregivers are not available.
The university launched the program, known as the Faculty Back-Up Care Advantage Program, on Oct. 1.
The program will be offered for three years as a pilot project under a partnership between Provost John Etchemendy and the School of Medicine. It is available to:
- Faculty who are benefits-eligible with at least a 50 percent FTE position
- Clinical professors, clinical assistant professors and clinical associate professors with at least a 50 percent FTE position
The program covers children and stepchildren, and grandchildren if they are legal dependents. Parents can use the program as a safety net for those days when regular childcare is not available, including sick days for a parent or caregiver, nanny turnover, teacher in-service days and business travel.
The program also covers back-up care for immediate adult relatives, including disabled adult children, parents, in-laws and grandparents living near and far.
"If a faculty member or clinician educator has a parent living in another state, they can also use this program for back-up care," said Teresa Rasco, director of Stanford's WorkLife Office, which is overseeing the program. "That's really the beauty of the program, because more and more people are becoming long-distance caregivers."
The program was designed by Bright Horizons, which manages child care plans for corporations, hospitals, universities and government agencies across the country.
Rasco said Stanford Hospital & Clinics began offering Bright Horizons back-up care to some of its employees about a year ago. Harvard, Cornell and Rice universities also have signed up for the company's back-up care programs.
She said that after registering for the program, Stanford employees can reserve a spot for a child or elderly relative by visiting the Bright Horizons website or by calling and speaking to a member of its staff, who answer the phones 24 hours a day.
"Once you make a reservation for care, Bright Horizons does the footwork of identifying your options within their network of providers," Rasco said. "You choose which option you prefer, and the Bright Horizons staff makes the arrangements and confirms the reservation with you and the provider."
Rasco encouraged eligible faculty and clinicians, who were notified about the new program on Sept. 24, to register their children and loved ones with Bright Horizons.
Under the plan, they will have access to Bright Horizons centers in the Bay Area, including a center located in Palo Alto Square, or other high-quality childcare centers, or can arrange for in-home care by a licensed professional who has been trained to care for children (well or mildly ill), disabled adult children and seniors.
Eligible Stanford employees will pay a co-pay of $15 per child per day for back-up child care at a center, with a maximum charge of $25 per family per day; and $6 an hour for in-home back-up dependent care, with a four-hour minimum.
Bright Horizons centers are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, or meet or exceed state child care licensing requirements. All of its in-home care agencies are credentialed and employ trained caregivers. Employees undergo extensive screening.
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