Pasadena to Promote Child Care

PASADENA — The Board of Directors has unanimously approved an innovative policy aimed at forging a partnership between residents, government and employers to create a citywide network of child-care centers.

The policy, which was authored by a 100-member citizens group, commits the city to provide a model program of child care for its employees and establish incentives for local employers to do the same.

Approval of the policy Monday makes Pasadena one of about a dozen cities in the state, including Los Angeles, Irvine and San Francisco, that have taken a citywide approach to solving the child-care problem.

“By adopting this policy, the board is recognizing there is a problem and saying that they are willing to do something about it,” said Tina Frausto, co-chairman of the citizens group. “This is a big step for us.”

Detailed Plan

Now that the policy has been approved, the citizens group will begin formulating a detailed plan for providing child care to the estimated 6,700 children under age 12 in the city who are without proper supervision.

Frausto said the plan should be completed in a year. The cost of establishing the network could be millions of dollars, she said.

Some ideas that have been discussed by the citizens group include:

Creating an endowment fund to finance the construction or repair of private child-care facilities.

Modifying zoning regulations to make it easier for child-care operators to open facilities in residential neighborhoods.

Establishing financial incentives, such as waivers of fees for developers, to encourage businesses to start their own child-care programs.

Creating a city transportation system to bus children from school to child-care centers.

Allowing city employees to waive certain employment benefits in exchange for city-subsidized child care.

Creating a city department to coordinate child-care programs throughout the city.

Director Rick Cole said the city cannot bear the entire financial burden of creating such a network.

“It can only be achieved by significant expenditures by the private sector,” he said.

The city will act as a catalyst by being a model for other employers and providing some financial and legislative support, Cole said. Its first step will be to conduct a survey of its 1,150 employees to determine their child-care needs.

The board also instructed City Manager Donald F. McIntyre to include funds for child care in next year’s budget.

The citizens group had originally envisioned completing the network by the year 2000. But the board decided to pursue the admittedly ambitious goal of doing it in five years.