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From Child Care to Elder Care:
Evolution of A Corporate/Community Collaboration
By John Paul Marosy, President
Bringing Elder Care Home LLC
jpmarosy@charter.net
(508) 854-0431
When
the Corporate Champions program in Fort Worth, Texas began in 1993, the
focus was on child care. Ten local companies gathered together to address
workforce productivity. The founders decided to take action to assure
a qualified future workforce by investing in quality child care. Today,
the organization has expanded to encompass a much broader collaboration,
including elder care. It's an interesting model for sustained, local action
on promoting quality child care and elder care.
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I spoke with Diane Lochtrog Johnson, associate vice president of Corporate Champions http://www.firsttexascampfire.org/CCFC/, to learn how this unique local collaboration evolved - and what the group is doing related to elder care/work balance today.
What was the impetus for the formation of Corporate Champions in 1993?
The
founding members included representatives of JPMorgan Chase Bank, Keystone,
Inc., and Congresswoman Kay Granger, the former Mayor of the City of Fort
Worth. They came from the public and private sectors, they shared a concern
about the availability of quality child care, and they were determined to
do something about it. They adopted the NAEYC and NAFCC standards and began
work to assure the availability of training for child care providers at
homes and at day care centers.
The program began under the auspices of Camp Fire USA and continues under
its corporate umbrella today. Campfire USA is dedicated to youth development.
The local chapter has become the largest provider of training for child
care providers in Tarrant County.
How is Corporate Champions organized and funded?
There are three levels of membership: Membership dues comprise most of the
funding.
- Corporate Champions - who understand the importance of quality child care and make an investment of a set amount each year in supporting quality training.
- Work/Life Advocates - pay dues based on the number of employees at each company, thereby gaining access to educational and resource and referral programs.
- Coalition Members - This is the entry level. Many vendors join at this level at a modest annual membership dues fee.
Corporate Champions operates, in part, like as a type of Employee Assistance Program.(EAP) While its offerings are not as comprehensive as some of the large, for-profit EAP's, it does offer lots of work/life manuals and seminars, dependent care resource and referral (child care and elder care), as well as quarterly meetings, a newsletter, and an annual work/life conference. For a full list of services, see the Corporate Champions website.
How and when did the mission expand to include elder care?
Over the years, the group gradually expanded its interest to include all facets of work/life balance, based on our member companies' requests. In 2000, Corporate Champions conducted a needs assessment for the City of Fort Worth, one of the founding employers. One of the key findings: 35% of the workforce expected to be affected by elder care needs within the next five years.
What kinds of elder care/work balance supports do you provide?
As a result of the survey, Corporate Champions began partnering with groups that have expertise in elder care, including the Area Agency on Aging of Tarrant County. Senior Concepts, a local for-profit provider, delivers elder care resource and referral service. The cost of access to the service is included in the membership fee paid by employers.
In addition, Corporate Champions is using grant funding from the United Way to partner with the University of Northern Texas to develop an Employee Life Caresource program. The one-year grant also supports caregiver education, e.g. lunch-and-learn seminars, a social service coordinator who provides one-on-one counseling for employees of member companies, and a website to develop the full range of work/life issues, including elder care.
What does the future hold?
"Elder care is only going to grow," says Lochtrog-Johnson. "I encourage every student I know who is getting ready to go to college to go into geriatrics. We're all living longer!"
For more information, contact Ms. Lochtrog-Johnson at DJohnson@firsttexascampfire.org
Reader feedback on the May 2004 issue:
Commenting on the data showing a high level of employer and employee satisfaction
in the federally-funded Caring Workplace program in St. Louis, Connie
Siskowski of Boca Raton, Florida wrote:
"Glad to see those results...maybe FINALLY the employers here will listen!!"
A Special Invitation:
Going
to the Annual Conference of the National Association of Area Agencies
on Aging in July?
Stop by our booth and say hello! Mention this e-newsletter and receive
a free gift.
What do you think? Take a moment now to send us an e-mail
with your opinion to jpmarosy@bringingeldercarehome.com
We will publish your thoughts in the next issue.
John Paul Marosy
Editor and President,
Bringing Elder Care Home, LLC
John Paul Marosy is the author of Elder Care: A Six Step Guide to Balancing Work and Family, available from Bringing Elder Care Home Publishing online at www.bringingeldercarehome.com or by calling 508-854-0431. Visit www.bringingeldercarehome.com or call or email today to learn how your organization can offer this effective resource: (508) 854-0431 or jpmarosy@bringingeldercarehome.com
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