Redmond exploring employee child care
Published: October 29. 2007 4:00AM PST
More than three years ago, employers representing Redmond industrial businesses told Bud Prince that their workers needed affordable child care. Nearly every year since, the manager of Redmond Economic Development heard a similar story.
Now, Redmond officials like Prince are working to create Central Oregon’s first accredited child care facility for employees. The facility could hold as many as 250 children of working parents and would employ nationally accredited child care supervisors who would undergo training and receive competitive benefits designed to reduce turnover.
An employer survey is under way through Wednesday to assess the need for such a program.
“We certainly feel that major employers in Redmond — from industrial to retail to (government) — lots of folks have difficulty finding workers,” Prince said. “Providing more child care opens up the possibility for people who would like to work but can’t (because they are unable to find affordable child care).”
The Redmond center would not hurt existing, quality child care providers because they already can’t keep up with demand, he added.
“We’d be training more people who could go out and start their own (accredited child care) business,” Prince said. “It would not only expand, but upgrade, the quality of child care (in Central Oregon).”
Additionally, it would make high-quality child care affordable for parents who worry about the cost and quality of people supervising their young children, he said.
On average, high-quality, nationally accredited infant care costs $1,000 per month, said Cameron Fischer, employer coordinator for the Tri-County Child Care Initiative through Oregon State University-Cascades Campus.
The initiative is a project to improve the quality, accessibility and affordability of child care.
Fischer has been working for two years to get nationally accredited child care facilities in Central Oregon. An accredited facility must have teachers with a minimum of an associate degree or equivalent to supervise the children. Their assistants must hold a high school or equivalent diploma.
Redmond officials hope to build a 10,000-square-foot facility at an industrial park owned by the city. The development would cost $2 million to build and staff, said Redmond City Councilor George Endicott.
“We’re still looking into it and figuring out if we can do it,” Endicott said. “I guess the next step is figuring out how to pay for it.”
The city is considering using urban renewal funds, applying for federal and philanthropic grants and loans, and partnering with other organizations, said Fischer, who is working with Endicott. She hopes the center can open by fall 2009.
Fischer envisions Redmond having the model center, caring for children ages birth to 5, and then eventually elementary school age.
The center would be available to anyone, regardless of where they live.
Employers would reserve slots for their workers’ children to use on a yearly basis, either paying for them in full or offering discounted rates for employees, Fischer said. The employee costs could be discounted depending on income level, she added.
Given Central Oregon’s low unemployment rates, employers can’t afford to ignore child care issues, Fischer said, because the labor pool is limited.
That’s why infant care is so important, she said. Finding qualified infant-care professionals is difficult and expensive, often leading one parent to stay home instead of work, she added.
“This is not just a family issue and community issue,” Fischer said. “It is an employment issue and an economic development issue.”
Fischer is promoting her employer survey, which will help her decide where to allocate the initiative’s resources throughout Central Oregon.
“A lot of people don’t know that this kind of evolving project is happening,” she said.
The survey will continue until Wednesday, with results analyzed by November.
Anna Sowa can be reached at 383-0304 or at asowa@bendbulletin.com.
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