The center she visited is run by ChildrenFirst Inc., a Boston-based company that runs 18 backup programs nationwide, all for well children. A large day care chain, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, runs 38 backup centers, including some that take mildly ill children. Fourteen of those opened in the last year. Companies find that it is often cheaper to buy slots in a backup center that many employees take turns using than to build their own day care center. Building an on-site child care center can cost millions, an impossible price tag for small companies.
Many companies find that the service pays for itself.
Now the bank has three of its own centers nationwide and plans to add eight more by 2001. Some of the centers also offer separate rooms for mildly ill children who can't attend group care. In addition to offering 20 free days a year of backup care, the company offers eight extra weeks to workers returning after the birth or adoption of a child. They're making a decision about whether to return to work. I had to leave early, or not go to work.