Work-Life Can Help Plan for Child Care Needs
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 8, 2020) – One of the biggest challenges for parents can be finding child care, especially at the last minute. Parents may need options for teacher in-service days, holidays or days when school is canceled for winter weather or other emergencies.
If you’re a University of Kentucky employee who’s also a parent, UK Human Resources Work-Life is here to help ease some of the stress that comes with finding child care.
UK HR Work-Life offers university employees the Big Blue Family Care referral program. The program connects employees with UK students who offer occasional care for children, such as after school and on nights and weekends. Employees can fill out an online form indicating what they are looking for, matching students to requests.
Each student caregiver has passed a UK employee background check. The rate of pay and logistics of setting up the child care are up to parents. The Big Blue Family Care website provides a pay calculator to see the going rate for caregiving as well as potential interview questions. The website also lists options for child care centers in the Lexington area that provide drop-in and backup care and “No school” day camps.
For more permanent, ongoing child care needs, the Work-Life team has compiled a list of child care facilities near UK’s campus. Information is also available on the website to help parents choose a quality day care facility or an in-home option for your child.
To further prepare university employees for child care needs, the Work-Life team hosts an annual Summer Camp Fair. This year's fair will take place Tuesday, March 10. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with camps who provide enriching activities over the summer and discounts for UK employees.
UK HR's Work-Life team is available to help employees feel confident in managing work and personal responsibilities, including caring for little ones. For more information on Work-Life programming, visit their website.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.