Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990                   TAG: 9005310201
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: CYNTHIA JENNISON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COMPANY FINDS WAYS TO KEEP MOMS WORKING

"Child care is everybody's business," corrects Carolyn Quinn, with the certainty of a businesswoman.

Thornton and Quinn are partners in a new company, Child Care Consultant Services, one of few such companies in the state set up to help businesses start child-care programs.

As women make up a larger and larger share of the work force, companies will have to address their need for affordable, dependable child care if they want to recruit and retain them, Thornton and Quinn believe.

Thornton, who owns a child-care center in Christiansburg, and Quinn, administrator of a private elementary school, were prompted to start their own company by a common interest in young children and their concern as employers over the impact of inadequate child care on employees.

Thornton said she thinks the quality of care given to children in the first five years of life is vital to their development. Quinn agrees. "If children aren't mothered, stroked and given a positive sense of self-esteem in the first five years, we lose them."

But child care also is a hot issue in today's economy because of the declining number of entry-level workers in the "baby bust" generation.

Employers stand to gain more than just an edge in recruitment, according to Thornton and Quinn.

"Being an employer," said Thornton, "I know how detrimental it is when an employee is worried about her child - it destroys productivity and disrupts the entire flow of work."

Child-care problems also have been blamed for absenteeism, stress-related health problems that increase health insurance costs and high rates of turnover resulting in increased costs of replacing personnel.

Thornton and Quinn think the obvious solution is for employers to help with child care as a part of their benefit packages.

But they also think child-care solutions should be a concern of the entire community, including parents, providers, employers and government.

Among companies' options are operating an on-site or near-site center for employees' children. The center can be managed as a department within the company or contracted to another organization. It can be operated as a non-profit corporation or a wholly owned, profit-making subsidiary.

The best-publicized example of an on-site facility in this part of Virginia is that of Dominion Bankshares Corp. in Roanoke, which has won national awards for its child-care benefit program and facility.

Another option is for two or more employers to share the costs of a center. Often a firm that specializes in child-care management handles the operation, including providing seed money for construction of a facility, representation on the board of directors and technical assistance.

The company also could contract with a private child-care center for a specific number of spaces for its employees' children. Child-care arrangements can be subsidized on the basis of income and family size.

A company could use a voucher system that allows an employer to defray some of its employees' child-care expenses by contributing toward the cost of care.

Companies have a legitimate worry about the risks involved in running their own center, Thornton and Quinn say. Many have failed because of lack of proper management or miscalculated costs, they say.

The partners think child care in the future will be offered as a mainstream employee benefit, along with the more traditional benefits such as vacation and sick leave or health and life insurance.

"Smart employers," Quinn said, "will take advantage of this potent recruitment tool to enter the 21st Century with a competitive edge."

Cynthia Jennison is owner of Bread & Roses Communications, a public relations and marketing firm. One of her clients is Child Care Consultant Services.

\ NEW RIVER VALLEY DAY-CARE INFORMATION

For information on obtaining child care or for certification and licensing standards, call:

Virginia Tech Resource and Referral Service - 231-3213

Montgomery County Department of Social Services - 382-6990

Virginia Department of Social Services - (703) 857-7944

Day Care Provider Certification - (800) 354-3388

Carol Guilliams, licensing specialist and member of the New River Valley Children's Provider Committee - (703) 857-7944