Laboratory web page helps local child-care providers

Contact: Steve Sandoval, steves@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9206 (01-126)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Dec. 12, 2001 -- Two free services currently are being offered by the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory for child-care providers and coordinators of youth activities.

Child-care providers and youth-event coordinators now can go online to tell parents and guardians about available child-care services and events through new World Wide Web pages developed by the Laboratory.

To access the Program for Working Families and Dependent Care Web site, go to http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/dvo/dependent/ online. Child-care providers can add their name to the Web site by calling 665-4113 or writing to child_care@lanl.gov by electronic mail, explained Deborah Lee of Los Alamos’ Human Resources Division. For security reasons, actual addresses of providers are not listed on the site.

To access the Kid Calendar, go to http://lanldb1.lanl.gov/lanl/kidscal.nsf/kidscal online. To add an event, go to http://lanldb1.lanl.gov/lanl/kidscal.nsf/kidscalprovid1 online. In both sites, users will be required to read and agree to a disclaimer. The Laboratory reserves the right to remove any information posted on the Web sites at anytime.

The Laboratory plans meetings in the area next month to better inform the public about the services and to provide any necessary assistance in entering information on the Web sites.

The Working Families Web site's purpose is to serve as an informational tool for parents of children, teenagers and seniors. While it offers a link to child-care providers, it also offers information on other useful agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and local service agency telephone numbers, said Lee.

It is hoped that at a later time, the site will grow to include providers, activities and services available for senior residents as well.

"Parents searching for child care, and providers who wish to enter their services must agree to the terms of conditions of use before being allowed to access the Working Families Web page," Lee said.

"It is important for parents to understand that both the Working Families Web site and the Kids Calendar are regarded as informational tools only," said Lee. "Although the Laboratory provides tips to help parents, it does not endorse or promote any of these services, events or providers. It is incumbent upon the parents to check out these services completely before committing their children or teenagers to any of them. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough," she added.

Once at the site, providers can complete a form that lists information such as their specialty area or areas of care, what availability by age group a provider has, if any, and which schools they are located near. Including availability information on the providers' Web pages done at the request of local providers, said Lee.

"A real unique thing about this Web site is that external providers can enter, update and maintain their own information," Lee said. "It gives them the freedom not to have to rely on us. Because the information is automatically dated, it also gives the viewer a sense of how current the information is.

“We are excited about offering these new services and hope that providers and parents will make use of our Web sites,” Lee said. “The site also will serve as an important recruiting tool for Los Alamos as we begin hiring new employees.

“We not only want current Laboratory employees and families, but also prospective employees and their families to become aware of what a family-oriented community Los Alamos really is.”

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Additional news releases from the Human Resources (HR) Division