Infant care center to expand on-campus child care options

As director of the UW–Madison Office of Campus Child Care, Lynn Edlefson receives about three calls daily from employees and students inquiring about infant care on campus.

Edlefson directs her callers to off-campus providers, since the university does not offer day care for children less than 2 years old. But that will soon change, as part of a projected child care expansion at UW–Madison.

Details The Office of Campus Child Care is hosting a “baby shower” Friday, Feb. 12, from 3-5 p.m. at the new infant care center, 1800 University Ave. Faculty, staff and students are invited to preview the facility and meet with campus child care officials. Employees from Satellite Family Child Care Inc., the firm contracted to operate the center, also will be on hand. Parking is available in Lot 41. To RSVP or for more information, call 262-9715. The child care office is seeking contributed items for the center. For more information, contact Lynn Edlefson, 262-9715, or by e-mail: leedlefson@facstaff.wisc.edu. The enrollment date for the new center will be in April.

A new infant care center is scheduled to open in April at the former Sea Grant Institute, 1800 University Ave., with capacity for eight children ages six weeks to 30 months. This fall, the University Preschool Laboratory Program Site 2, at Bethany Methodist Church, 3910 Mineral Point Road, will offer infant care for up to 12 babies.

“Our expansion in infant care is just a chip off the iceberg in terms of need,” Edlefson says.

Other expansion plans could nearly double the number of total child care slots on campus, from the current 335 to a projected 644. A sick child care center planned to open this fall at UW Hospital and Clinics will house up to 10 children, and the Waisman Center addition on the west end of campus will create 53 slots in 2000.

In addition, construction of the Healthstar facilities could bring another 52 slots by 2003, and the preschool laboratories hope to add 54 new slots through construction of a new building. A building committee has been formed to outline needs and identify possible funding. Edlefson and other university officials also want to eventually construct a new facility on the southeast part of campus that could provide day care for 60 to 100 children.

“The number of child care slots we are proposing is reasonable for a campus this size,” Edlefson says.

Because of the high demand for infant care by faculty, staff and students, Edlefson and the University Child Care Committee focused their energies in the last 12 months on bringing the service to campus. Preventing that expansion in the past has been the higher cost of caring for babies.

But funding from the Wisconsin Office of Child Care and the UW- Madison administration is offsetting the costs.

The state is providing $45,000 in grants over two years to be divided between the infant care center and the sick child center. The campus administration provided another $20,000 for the infant care facility. The budget for the infant care center during its 16-month pilot phase is $142,000; the annual operating cost after the pilot period is projected at $90,000, to be funded by user fees, which will average about $220 a week.

“We’re delighted to be able to help UW–Madison establish this much- needed service,” says David Edie, director of the state child care office. “The need for infant care is significant all over the state, so I’m excited about what the university will be able to offer.”