Announcing New Backup Care for Children and Elders
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
and Gary Nicksa, Senior Vice President for Operations
One of the difficult challenges that faculty and staff may face during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic is the breakdown of reliable childcare and eldercare support systems. For individuals with young or school-age children, or the responsibility for elderly family or friends, the absence of this support is profoundly disruptive. We have been working to develop help for faculty and staff who may face this challenge in the upcoming year. We are happy to announce that beginning next month, Boston University will offer a new benefit to all faculty and staff: Backup Care for Children and Elders. This new benefit will be available as of Tuesday, September 1.
Backup Care is designed to provide occasional alternative care when your regular care plan is disrupted. The new benefit will provide you with a national network of vetted childcare centers and in-home caregivers through Bright Horizons for both children and adults. You will have 24/7 access to book these services either online, through a mobile app, or by phone. Bookings can be made up to 30 days in advance for anticipated disruptions or on the same day for unexpected needs.
We hope this new benefit provides you and your family with some additional flexibility and support during this difficult time. While we recognize that this benefit will not solve the entirety of care issues, we hope that it alleviates some of the pressure points. More detailed information about the program will be available in the next few weeks; please visit the Backup Care webpage for current information about the program.
We very much appreciate all of your hard work over the last few months. This has been an undeniably challenging time, and we continue to be invigorated by the perseverance and dedication present throughout the University community.
Announcing New Backup Care for Children and Elders – 8.20.20