Liberty Lake Day Camp

By Andy Pritikin, Liberty Lake Director

In the tough NJ economy that we live in, few families enjoy the luxury of having a non-workforce parent at home to care for their children. Typical parents begin their day waking, dressing, feeding, and making lunch for their children (and themselves). They drop their children off for extended care, either at their children's school or daycare center, and hopefully get to work on time. Then, of course, school ends at 3PM - right in the middle of our afternoon meetings, or our rush of potential sales. The kids remain in extended afternoon care, or if they are lucky ($$$) stay with a babysitter until Mom/Dad get home around dinner time. Throw in homework, sports practices, dance, karate, piano, etc. - Plus school vacations, teachers "in-service days", and the fact that every other phone call I get seems to be from a single mom...Are you getting stressed out just reading this?

 How can your

company help 

working parents?

 This is an increasingly important economic issue.

Some things that progressive companies (both large and small) are currently doing to help employees with childcare:

• Help pay for childcare by setting up Flexible Spending/Dependent Care Account (FSA). Similar to an HSA for health care, employees can take part of their salary without payroll taxes to pay for Day Care, Babysitters and even Summer Camps.

• Provide flexible hours. If one parent can come in early and leave early, and another can come in late and stay late - both ends of the day can be covered for families with two parents in the home.

• Allow employees to do parts of their job from home. My company's database, as well as our Quickbooks, is entirely web-based, with employees able to log in from any computer. I know many companies who transfer calls directly to home offices.

• If your facility can not house a child care center (a great perk for many of the Rt. 1 pharmaceutical companies in Mercer/Middlesex Counties), create a list of viable childcare options in your area for families - including local childcare centers, before/after school programs, Camps, and state certified childcare providers. Most of this can be done through the Internet.

Private daycare facilities are opening up faster than Starbucks. Meanwhile, there are very few before/after school or school vacation care options. While families may have less disposable income and less time with their kids, one fact remains the same: All Parents want the best for their children.

Since starting Liberty Lake Day Camp in 2002, we have found that there is a void of quality childcare options in Burlington County. In addition, the financial implications hold back most families from anything beyond neighborhood babysitters, and grandparents (who are often working well beyond retirement age). This is an area in which the middle class squeeze is evident. Wealthy families can leave a parent home or pay for quality care, poorer families qualify for state or county aid, but your middle class employees (the bulk of your workforce) probably can't afford what they truly want/need for their kids. This puts inevitable mental strain on the minds of your employees, 24-7.

Liberty Lake found a niche in offering high quality summertime childcare. After only 9 seasons, the Camp is 90% filled by early Spring. The business model has been adjusted though, for Burlington County - mostly middle/upper middle class, dual-working parents and lots of single Moms. While most Camps follow typical 9-4 school hours, 1/3 of Liberty Lake families use some sort of extended care (AM or PM), which is a deciding factor while enrolling.

While most private Camps are inflexible with their sessions/structure, we adjusted to our market and offer 2-10 weeks, with full refunds. Most families actually wish we had an 11 week program so that they could cover their entire summer - from the last day of school in June, to the first in September!

We do not live in a world anymore in which kids just "play outside". Thus, parents feel that quality childcare is not a luxury, but a necessity. As employers, we don't just hire the employee - we tie ourselves into their families as well. Successful businesses which wish to hire and retain the best available staff will be the ones offering options which help make their working parents' lives easier by assisting with their childcare issues.

Other Published Articles By Andy Pritkin-

The Lasting Positive Impact of Summer Camp

 Our Kids Need Camp!

Why Camp?

Friendships: Get Them While You Can At Camp!

How to Choose a Summer Camp

Interview with Andy Pritikin from "SNJ Business People"

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