To solicit employee feedback regarding the efforts of a volunteer committee that is investigating concerns and possible solutions related to the availability of quality child care in Los Alamos and the surrounding region, Director Bob Kuckuck held an all-employee meeting Monday in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3.
“The committee has presented a broad spectrum of ideas and thoughts attached to the [child care] problem. While we have not chosen a distinct path so far, I am looking forward to, in the very near future, being able to take some action,” said Kuckuck. “I see a continuity of effort and momentum going that we can carry across the contract transition. I couldn’t be more pleased with the progress of the committee.”
Carolyn Zerkle, principal deputy associate director for administration (ADA), is leading the committee consisting of Mark McNulty and Jennifer Smith-Nelson of Nuclear Design and Risk Analysis (D-5), Lillian Montoya-Rael, Community Relations (CRO) Office leader, and Fred Brueggeman, former assistant county administrator for Los Alamos County.
During the meeting, each committee member honed in on specific topics related to the overall child-care issue, including presenting the history of the child care initiative in Los Alamos, discussing some of the various child care options/solutions the committee has developed, looking at the importance of community interface in the decision-making process and analyzing the project’s next steps.
In expounding upon the history of child care in Los Alamos, Smith-Nelson made it clear that obtaining child care has been an issue for Lab employees since 1976 when the need to investigate child-care options was first identified. In the decades that followed, surveys and various committee recommendations supported this necessity (even resulting in the release of a request for proposal in 2002), but conflicts and technicalities always seemed to stop the effort from moving forward.
Smith-Nelson said that a 1996 survey of Lab employee interests conducted by Burud and Associates revealed that 18 percent of supervisors at the Laboratory said it lost employees because of child-care issues. Consequently, a 2004 study by McNulty showed that the cost to replace such employees ranged from $30,000 to $800,000. In addition, Smith-Nelson showed that, based on a supply and demand comparison of available child care to the number of children requiring such care, there is a definite need for child care among Lab employees.
Given these statistics, the committee concluded that child care is a Labwide problem, not just a parental issue.
While discussing the myriad of solution options the committee constructed, McNulty outlined the who and to whom, what, where, when and how components of the decision-making process. He said the committee had to face tough questions: Who is going to provide the child care – the Lab, a subcontractor, a co-op of community providers? Or will the focus be on enhanced private services – guaranteed enrollments, parent vouchers, provider training, licensing and hiring support? For whom will such services be provided – Lab employees only, subcontractors, the community? What type of care will be provided – infant, toddler, home care, school supplemental, etc.? When will the care be provided – regular business hours, alternate work schedule hours, school schedule? Where will the care be provided – onsite at the Lab, offsite in Los Alamos, a surrounding community? How will the care be financed – through General and Administrative (G&A) policy, contractors, grants, tuition paid by employees?
He stressed that there is no single, one-size fits all answer to these questions. Rather, a portfolio or menu of choices must be offered to meet the needs of Lab employees and the community. However, he did mention that the Laboratory Foundation will most likely be involved in the administration of the funding. The committee is currently trying to narrow some of the proposed solutions based on community and employees’ feedback and through the use of a decision tree.
In talking about the need for community involvement, both Brueggeman and Montoya-Rael stressed that the Lab and the Los Alamos community must learn from mistakes of the past and take into consideration employee needs as well as the welfare of regional businesses. Montoya-Rael also mentioned the potential involvement of local regional educational institutions, including University of New Mexico-Los Alamos and Northern New Mexico Community College, in the child-care effort.
Zerkle, who was adamant about “not studying things to death,” presented a timeline for next steps in the child care initiative. She said that the committee plans on finalizing all the available options by Thanksgiving in order to make decisions and define requirements by mid-January 2006. That would enable the team to develop an implementation plan outlining cost, a schedule and scope of the project by February. The committee’s goal is to begin implementation of the final plan while Kuckuck is still director, which means the majority of the project must be in place by June 1.
In addition, Zerkle mentioned some “quick wins” that will yield immediate results for employees, such as restarting the Lab’s child care referral Web site, which the committee hopes to have up by Christmas. Overall, she stressed that “openness with the community and socialization of ideas” will be key to the child care project’s success.
Finally, the meeting turned into an open discussion session where Lab employees expressed their concerns and shared ideas how on to enhance the program initiative. General themes of this discussion included quality, security, transportation, funding, sick child care and telecommuting.
Employees are encouraged to submit comments or questions to
In addition to the all-employee meeting, Director Kuckuck and members of the committee recently met with local child- care providers to gather input and hear concerns. The Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation helped facilitate the meeting.
The talk will be rebroadcast today on LABNET Channel 10.