Caregiving benefits to support your family this summer

Summer will soon be here, and school will be out. The university's Office of Benefits & Worklife wants to remind you about the family care benefits available to help support you and your children or adult loved ones.

Maryland Family Network: LOCATE

You can receive individualized help finding child care through Maryland Family Network's LOCATE: Child Care service. After speaking to a child care specialist, you'll receive referrals to registered family child care providers and licensed group programs, as well as follow-up assistance until placement is found. LOCATE also provides materials on specialized child care options and services, federal income tax credits for families, and Maryland state financial assistance programs. (For child care needs outside the state of Maryland, call mySupport at 443-997-7000.)

Complete and submit the LOCATE: Child Care registration form, and the LOCATE Corporate Enhanced Referral Service will contact you as soon as possible. You also can call LOCATE at 800-999-0120, option 2, or email LOCATEcorporate@marylandfamilynetwork.org.

Additional information on Maryland's Recovery Plan for Child Care can be found on the Maryland State Department of Education website.

Care.com Membership

As a Johns Hopkins employee, you have a premium membership to Care.com, where you can easily post a job or search for a caregiver in your ZIP code to care for children, adult loved ones, and pets; find tutors; and more. Request Expert Assistance, and a Care.com specialist will conduct the search for you.

To register, go to johnshopkins.care.com and use your JHED ID (without @jh.edu) to activate your account. You must register online before calling 855-781-1303, ext. 4, to request Expert Assistance if you choose.

Backup care for children and adults

Backup Care by Care@Work is a great resource to use when your regular care is not available, especially during interruptions caused by COVID-19. Backup Care is subsidized, meaning you have only a co-pay for the care you receive (based on your salary), and you can use up to 10 subsidized days each year. Backup Care days will be renewed on July 1 for full-time faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students. You can request in-home or in-center backup care for children; in-home backup care for adults can support an elderly parent so that you don't have to take time off from work. Visit the JHU Family and Caregiving Programs webpage to learn more about the Care@Work benefits available to you.

Komae

Komae is a cooperative child care app that helps families identify others with whom to trade care at no cost. When added to Johns Hopkins' other tools for finding child care such as Care@Work, Family Network, and mySupport, Komae fills in the gap for families seeking flexible child care on their own. Komae enables users to identify families with similar parenting styles and COVID-19 hygiene practices to match and share child care and supervision of remote learning.

To use this free service, download the Komae app on your mobile device to join the Hopkins group and begin connecting with other Hopkins families looking to share care. Once registered, you will receive an initial balance of points to receive care from others in your community. Additional information can be found on the Komae website.

Contact the Johns Hopkins Office of Benefits & Worklife at 410-516-2000 or benefits@jhu.edu with any questions.

And remember that Johns Hopkins' mySupport program can help with a variety of issues that include finding child or elder care.

Also check out the university's LifeMart employee discount program, which offers reduced prices on select child care and elder care services, as well as on other family-friendly services and summer activities.