Program Overview
Launched by The Family & Workplace Connection (now part of Children & Families First) on January 1, 1995, Just in Time Care is a comprehensive, national backup dependent care program that links individuals with backup care options that best meet their needs, no matter where they live. Options can include child care centers, family child care homes, school-age programs, centers for mildly ill children, adult day care centers, and child and adult in-home care. Individuals can also choose their own backup care providers, including friends and family members. An employer subsidy, managed by Just in Time Care, helps offset the backup care costs.
When can the Just in Time Care program be used?
The Just in Time Care program can be used whenever regular child care or adult care arrangements are not available, whether the circumstance is anticipated or unanticipated. It can be used when children or adults are ill; when regular care providers are sick, on vacation, resign, or go out of business; when schools are closed for the holidays or for snow or other weather-related issues; or any other situation in which the regular care arrangement falls through.
How do companies pay for Just in Time Care?
Employers contract to offer the Just in Time Care program to their employees as a benefit. Employers pay an operations fee for the service, and also provide Just in Time Care with subsidy money to cover their portion of backup care costs. Just in Time Care pays the backup care providers (or reimburses the employees) with these subsidy funds. The employer chooses the level of subsidy and cap.
Which companies have offered the Just in Time Care program to their employees?
Progressive organizations in the pharmaceutical, finance, higher education, research & development, legal and manufacturing industries are among the companies who have offered and utilized the Just in Time Care program. References and a list of clients are available upon request.
How does Just in Time Care work?
Interested employees receive a Just in Time Care enrollment packet and complete a simple enrollment form. Once enrolled, employees access Just in Time Care online or via a toll-free hotline available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Specialists help your employees develop backup care plans, identify viable options, and facilitate payment and enrollment processing. Once care takes place, employees submit a form to Just in Time Care, and the subsidy portion of the payment is processed. Employers receive detailed usage reports and quarterly publicity materials to help keep the service visible.
What are the benefits of Just in Time Care?
Employers that have instituted Just in Time Care as a benefit to their employees have found that the program:
• Reduces absenteeism caused by dependent care issues
• Increases productivity
• Increases morale and company loyalty
• Helps with employee recruitment and retention
• Provides a backup care solution that is equitable for all employees
How does Just in Time Care compare with other backup care approaches?
The Just in Time Care program addresses all backup care circumstances and gives employees true choice by allowing them to select caregivers from a full range of options, including friends and family members! Other approaches to addressing backup care needs may include building an on-site child care center, purchasing backup care slots at nearby child care centers, offering employee discounts at selected facilities, and contracting with services that supply in-home caregivers. These solutions assume that employees will use caregivers/facilities potentially unfamiliar to them. Such solutions are often underutilized, and why Just in Time Care is a cost-effective alternative.
How well does Just in Time Care work in conjunction with other dependent care benefits?
An attractive feature of the Just in Time Care program is its ability to work in conjunction with a company’s existing dependent care programs, thereby enhancing their effectiveness. The Just in Time Care program has successfully worked in conjunction with other existing backup care programs, such as backup care centers, in-home care agencies, and on-site holiday programs, in relationships that range from the two programs operating independently to arrangements that involve varying levels of interaction.
The following describe the various models with which Just in Time Care has had experience:
• Just in Time Care and other programs operate independently, with cross-promotion
• Just in Time Care staff make arrangements for employees at a company-sponsored child care center, but Just in Time Care subsidy is not eligible to be used for that child care; usage is reported in Just in Time Care reports
• Just in Time Care staff work in conjunction with providers of on-site school holiday programs; cross-promote; employees enroll in Just in Time Care and are able to use Just in Time Care subsidy for the on-site program; usage is reported in Just in Time Care reports
