Bear Hugs: Sick Child Care

2003

The Bear Hugs Project is a program for the care of sick children and for the provision of substitute child care providers in Southeast Kansas. Many parents cannot afford to miss work to stay home to care for a mildly ill child. Rather than being allowed to convalesce at home, sick children must attend school or childcare where the risk of passing communicable illness to other children is very real. To help alleviate this problem, the Bear Hugs Project recruits, screens, trains, and places providers to care for mildly ill children in Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery, Elk, and Chautauqua counties. Bear Hugs ensures that parents have a ready, willing, and able pool of trained caregivers from which to draw when an unforeseen illness or emergency occurs. The proram also offers assistance to child care professionals who need to be away from work for doctor's appointments, a child's school activity, training, or family emergency. Bear Hugs providers are corss-trained to substitute for child care professionals when needed.

child care; sick children

Child Care-Related Activities

Family Members/Caregivers, General Public

Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote

Mulit-County

N/A