University launches childcare program for student-parents

Parenthood at Penn may become slightly easier for full-time students.

Last month, the University launched the 2012 Emergency Backup Childcare program, which will run through Dec. 19. The program is offered to all full-time undergraduate and graduate students at Penn.

The program operates through a partnership with national childcare provider Parents in a Pinch, Inc. to provide in-home backup care during unexpected or emergency situations.

Penn already offers a similar childcare program to faculty and staff.

The cost for each student parent is $5 per hour for up to two children, with $1 per hour for each additional child. Penn subsidizes the rest of the costs.

Nursing graduate student Dacey Stratton, who has a 4-year-old daughter, was pleased to hear about the launch, but wished it had been available earlier.

“I think it’s a really good price for something that’s not regularly scheduled or standardized, especially if you’re doing this overnight,” she said. “If you go on Craigslist there will be people advertising for $15 an hour, which is way too high.”

“When your babysitter cancels or you have an exam then having this program is enormous,” added Anita Mastroieni, director of the Family Resource Center, which created the new program with funding assistance from the Provost’s Office and other University entities.

Over the past year, the Family Resource Center has collaborated with the Women’s Center to make life easier for student parents, Mastroieni said. These efforts have included increasing the number of nursing rooms and baby-changing stations around campus.

“Faculty and staff backup care is part of our whole Worklife initiative,” said Marilyn Kraut, human resources director for Penn’s Quality of Worklife Programs. “The whole goal was to create a constructive, productive and positive work experience for faculty and staff at Penn.”

While many have applauded the launch of the new childcare initiative, some part-time students — for whom the subsidized plan is not available — have expressed displeasure.

Nursing graduate student Christina Jacobson, who is a part-time student, said she has missed classes and has been forced to shift her schedule drastically every time her son has fallen ill.

Jacobson was a full-time student and single parent before the Family Resource Center launched the program.

“I would have used it if it was available back when I was eligible for it,” she said.

When Jacobson came to Penn in 2009, there was a year-long waitlist at the Penn Children’s Center and at St. Mary’s Nursery School, “so we had to go to [a childcare center] in my neighborhood of Grays Ferry, which wasn’t good … I dropped him off and picked him up and had to hire a babysitter on my clinical days.”

Jacobson also expressed concern with the hours at which childcare resources are available at Penn, as they often conflict with her schedule.

“I would get emails from the Family Resource Center and would see that there were story hours, but it wasn’t an option for me,” she said. “It’s only open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and I’m in class, so I can’t take advantage of that.”

Kraut said she believes Penn has done its part to help new student parents with the added difficulties that may come with emergency situations.

In 2006, she explained, the University carried out a childcare needs assessment, which indicated the need for an emergency childcare program.

“The unpredictable care challenges are the hardest ones to manage,” she said. “We’ve always made an effort to support those [plans].”

She added that while she understands the need for longer childcare hours, the University is working within certain resource limitations.

While Stratton appreciates Penn’s efforts, she said she still sometimes feels out of place as a student parent.

“It’s definitely challenging being a parent,” she said. “But it’s totally worth it.”

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