THE WORKPLACE More companies offer care for employees with older kids

Employers are listening to the concerns of workers who have 'tweeners.'
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
At work, Connie Fako, a divorced single mother living in Palatine, Ill., is director of operations for the central region at IBM. At Palatine High School, Fako is "room mother," "varsity football mother" and "art appreciation mother." She also volunteers in the school store and hosts Cub Scout meetings.
Because Fako has flexible hours and can work from home, she also is home most days when her two sons -- Justin Burd, 14, and Brent Burd, 18 -- arrive from school. She trusts them, but feels better being there -- and knowing where they are -- even if she is working in her home office.
"They know not to come in when the door is shut. But it's so cute, they put little notes under the door," Fako said.
Although still uncommon, more companies are developing work-life and after-school programs that focus on the needs of parents with older children, including "tweens," ages 10 to 13, and teenagers. Companies are stepping up to fill the gap by providing flexible work hours, funding for community after-school programs, and in rare cases, creating options for older kids in on-site day-care centers.
After-school arrangements
Because job demands make it impossible for parents to beat the kids home from school, for many parents after-school arrangements are essential. But quality programs -- those with an educational as well as a recreational component -- are harder to find than day-care options for younger children.
"Adults want kids safe and they want them supervised. They shouldn't be left alone," said Judy Samelson, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, a Washington, D.C advocacy group that promotes government funding of after-school programs as well as partnerships between businesses and local child-care providers to improve the quality of after-school programs.
Recently, 44 percent of the companies on Working Mother magazine's annual "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" list offered before- or after-school care for older children, compared with 4 percent nationwide.
"We've got more working parents than ever before and those working parents are only going to be productive if they're not worried about the kids after school," Samelson said.
Studies have shown workday productivity slows down starting around 3 p.m., when kids are getting out of school and nervous parents are calling to see if they have made it home safely. A recent poll by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids found that 87 percent of working mothers say the hours after school are when they are most concerned about their children's safety. Statistics that show children are trying drugs and alcohol and becoming sexually active at earlier ages add to parents' fears.