KIDS COUNT BUSINESS ON BOARD
Community Resources, Inc Partners with KIDS COUNT to Launch Year Two of Its Successful Business on Board with Childcare! Award Program
71 West Virginia Businesses Achieved the Childcare-Friendly Designation in 2009;KIDS COUNT Adds New Criteria, New Award Levels and A New Deadline for 2010
The West Virginia
KIDS COUNT Fund launched year two of its successful Business on Board
with Childcare! award program. The Business on Board with Childcare! designation
signifies a West Virginia employer’s adherence to key national and local
criteria for a childcare-friendly workplace. For 2010, KIDS COUNT has
added a new criterion; increased the points required to achieve the designation;
created three award levels; and extended the deadline for applications.
Applications are available on the KIDS COUNT website at www.wvkidscountfund.org
or from KIDS COUNT’s local partner, Community Resources, Inc., Jennifer
Randolph, jrandolph@cricap.org
or (304) 485-5525. “In March of this year, we honored the 71 West Virginia businesses that earned the Business on Board with Childcare! designation in the program’s first year,” said Clark Hansbarger, president of the KIDS COUNT Board and dean of the Charleston Campus of the West Virginia University School of Medicine. “But we know there are many more West Virginia businesses that deserve recognition for providing a childcare-friendly workplace. In 2010, we want all of those employers to apply for this important business award and be recognized as a Business on Board with Childcare 2010!”
The 2010 Business on Board with Childcare! award criteria have been adapted from a list developed by the Families and Work Institute (www.familiesandwork.org) and KIDS COUNT’s own statewide efforts to get parents, childcare providers and community leaders involved in advocating for better childcare policies. To be eligible for the 2010 Business on Board with Childcare! designation, an employer must comply with any combination of the award criteria that totals at least 20 points. This minimum threshold represents a five-point increase from the 15-point minimum that was required for the 2009 designation. The minimum point change reflects the addition of one new award criterion: participation in KIDS COUNT’s 2010 Take a Flower to Childcare Day celebration, which will be held on Tuesday, October 19, 2010. (Visit http://www.wvkidscountfund.org/take-flower.php for more information.)
To be designated a 2010 Business on Board with Childcare! , West Virginia employers must comply with any combination of the following award criteria totaling at least 20 points:
- On-site childcare (25 points)
- Payment for childcare with vouchers or other subsidies that have direct costs to the company (20 points)
- Flexible spending accounts that help employees pay for childcare with pre-tax dollars (10 points)
- Reimbursement of childcare costs when employees work late (10 points)
- Reimbursement of childcare costs when employees travel for business (10 points)
- Childcare for school-age children on vacation (10 points)
- Backup or emergency care for employees when their regular childcare arrangements fall apart (10 points)
- Sick care for the children of employees; or sick leave for employees with sick children; or employees allowed to bring sick children to work (10 points)
- Participation in their local KIDS COUNT Community or other similar efforts to advocate for better childcare. (5 points)
- Access to information to help locate childcare in the community (Child Care Resource and Referral information) (5 points)
- Financial support of the West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund, including sponsorship of the Business on Board with Childcare! awards (5 points)
- Support of KIDS COUNT’s annual Take a Flower to Childcare Day celebration (5 points)
For more information about how your organization can apply for the 2010 award, go to www.wvkidscountfund.org or contact Jennifer Randolph at jrandolph@cricap.org or (304) 485-5525. KIDS COUNT will accept applications for the 2010 Business on Board with Childcare! award until December 31, 2010, giving employers an extra two months to apply for this year’s award and time to include their participation in Take a Flower to Childcare Day as part of their award application.
Every West Virginia business that achieves KIDS COUNT’s Business on Board with Childcare! 2010 designation will receive a special insignia and a distinctive plaque for public display; recognition on KIDS COUNT’s website and in KIDS COUNT publications, e-mail alerts and press releases; and public recognition at the statewide awards event next spring.
According to Margie Hale, Executive Director, KIDS COUNT, “When KIDS COUNT launched this program last year, its goal was to create a recognition program that was accessible and achievable for all West Virginia businesses, large or small. Our diverse list of 2009 award winners is proof that KIDS COUNT is well on our way to achieving that goal. As the KIDS COUNT lead organization for the Mid-Ohio Valley region, Community Resources, Inc. is committed to making sure every childcare-friendly employer in the area is recognized as a Business on Board with Childcare!”
The program is being funded in part by the Early Care and Education Division of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable Fund. To ensure the long-term viability of Business on Board with Childcare!, KIDS COUNT is seeking additional business sponsors for the program. To learn more about the benefits of becoming a Business on Board with Childcare! sponsor, e-mail KIDS COUNT at margiehale@wvkidscountfund.org or call 1-888-KIDSCOUNT.
About KIDS COUNT:
For more than 20 years, the West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund has been the state’s most trusted source of information about the well-being of children and a leader in the effort to educate parents, policymakers and the public about what young children need to thrive and achieve. KIDS COUNT’s signature project is the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, which tracks key indicators of the health, education, safety and security, and economic conditions of children both on a statewide and county-by-county basis. The Data Book is often the basis of public policy decisions and an important resource for those who seek and award funding from foundations and the private sector.
KIDS COUNT’s recent advocacy work has been focused exclusively on advocating for better early child development programs. In March of 2009, KIDS COUNT launched the Kids First Communities Campaign, a groundbreaking, statewide effort to build grassroots support for new state investments that will improve childcare. This campaign led directly to the successful passage of legislation launching West Virginia’s first childcare quality rating and improvement system. KIDS COUNT, working with its six Kids First Communities (now called KIDS COUNT Communities), are leading the effort to recruit West Virginia businesses for the Business on Board with Childcare! program.
