Contact: Mike Di Marco
(408) 265-2607 ext. 2423
Pager: (408) 488-3963
E-mail: mikedima@scvwd.dst.ca.us

Meenakshi Ganjoo
(408) 265-2607 ext. 2295
E-mail: mganjoo@valleywater.org

Date: Feb. 25, 2002

Santa Clara Valley Water District unveils plans to open childcare center

SAN JOSÉ -- The Santa Clara Valley Water District will open an on-site childcare facility at its San José campus. The facility, scheduled to open in August 2003, will provide comprehensive childcare assistance for its employees' children.

The district board of directors Tuesday approved an agreement with San Juan Bautista Child Development Center to provide childcare services. SJB, a non-profit organization, has provided quality childcare in the San José area for more than 30 years.

The board's unanimous vote to set up a childcare facility culminates years of efforts that were galvanized in 1995 when the district set up a task force to identify employee needs. Approximately 75 percent of district employees who are parents indicated interest in an on-site or nearby childcare facility.

"We have been looking forward to this family-friendly initiative for years and are happy to finally see it implemented," said Rosemary Kamei, chairperson of the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors.

In today's fast-paced lifestyle of working families, finding affordable and quality childcare is a major concern of parents, Kamei said. The 2001 Bay Area Work/Life Inventory report, a joint project of One Small Step and the County of Santa Clara's Office of Women's Advocacy, stated: "Family care and, in particular, the care of young children, is a pressing priority in the Bay Area."

That is particularly true in San José, where the lack of childcare has been called a "crisis" by Mayor Ron Gonzales.

"Childcare is too important to them (working families) and to the future of our community not to be addressed," Gonzales said earlier this month when he urged a communitywide effort to find solutions.

Studies have shown that childcare issues can cost millions of dollars each year in lost productivity and turnover when parents are disrupted at work because their childcare is unreliable or of poor quality. Benefits from an on-site childcare facility include less employee stress, reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, improved morale and a better employee-employer relationship.
Bill Williams, executive director of the San Juan Bautista Child Development Center, said the center was "extremely proud and honored" to be collaborating with the district. He said that a SJB program director had already begun the process of implementing a "state of the art" program and facility.

The district's childcare facility will provide care to as many as 84 children up to the age of 5. The cost of childcare will be covered by employees.

Santa Clara Valley Water District is Santa Clara County's wholesale drinking water manager and coordinates flood protection for its 1.7 million residents, while serving as steward of the county's more than 700 miles of streams.