Martha & Mary was recognized nationally for our on-site child care and the benefits that it offers to staff working in the Health Center. Here is a portion of that article by Gene Mitchell from the Winter edition of Best Practices:

"Who will take care of me when I'm old?"

Millions of baby boomers are beginning to take that question seriously as they rush headlong into late middle age. The United States is still a long way from prepared to handle the coming senior explosion. Even so, many different interests - government, the media, academia and especially the public - are increasingly turning their attention to the hard questions about America's aging population.

One of the major intersections where all these interests collide is that group of men and women who earn their living in long-term care, especially those frontline caregivers - RNs, LPNs, nursing assistants and others - that make the strongest impressions on residents and family members.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 25 percent growth in demand for nursing assistants by 2006, and predicts an astonishing 75 percent growth in demand for home health aides by then. Aging service administrators, struggling every day to maintain trained, competent, and adequately sized staff, are understandably nervous about the challenges they'll face in five years. In this article, we'll highlight a few of the ways not-for-profit providers are approaching workforce recruitment and retention. It is just a small sampling of the vast array of ideas and innovations at work today. Think of it as the beginning of a long-term dialogue among providers, sharing the best of what works and fixing the parts of the system that don't, in a profession-wide effort to raise the standards of practice throughout the continuum…

For Parents, a Benefit Better than Gold

While a pension plan offers long-term security that some employees may not fully appreciate for decades, no one with young children will fail to see the value of on-site child care. That fact isn't lost on Martha & Mary Lutheran Services in Poulsbo, Wash., which has run successful child care centers for nearly 20 years.

Martha & Mary launched its program in 1983 to care for employees' children, but has since expanded its operations to include nine sites, caring for kids from infancy up to age 12. Seven of the centers are located at area elementary schools, offering before-and-after school care. Today, Martha & Mary's Children Services is separately incorporated, and its staff of 60 serves about 500 families.

About 40 employees of Martha & Mary's skilled nursing and independent-living center have children enrolled in the center, and benefit from a 40 percent discount.

"When the job market is tight, we recruit more quickly because of the benefit of child care," says Joanna Carlson, administrator of children's services. "Our turnover has dropped since we have expanded our child care capabilities. We also promote our child care facilities in our advertising for staff, a huge help."

Carlson notes that the center is also licensed to handle state-paid child care for low-income employees. "It's great for entry-level parents, some of whom are single and very young," she adds. Some qualify for monthly copayments of only $10 to $20.

"It's been a blessing with not only our intergenerational programs, but because of the peace of mind it gives our employees to know they can visit their kids during the day," says Martha & Mary's Executive Director/CEO Denney Austin. "That goes a long way in a tough market."

Austin points out that the child care operation benefits Martha & Mary's residents as well: "We have an intergenerational program with seniors," he says. "The kids call it 'going to the grandmas and grandpas' and they just love it." Another innovative practice involves residents from the memory units, who go up to the day care center and rock the babies. "With some of our memory patients, we thought maybe they wouldn't take to it or know what to do," Austin says, "but we found out it's like riding a bicycle for them. Sometimes they'll do it for up to two hours; it's very therapeutic for both the residents and infants, and they seem to know just what to do."

Innovation and Inspiration in Not-for-Profits

The strategies described above work on tangible, measurable levels (compensation, benefits, training, security and career growth), and on intangibles like self-esteem, relationships and the meaning of service as a career. As our interviews told us, however, the bottom line must remain the welfare of residents.

"Really, what are our goals?" asks LSNI's Anna Ortigara. "Lower turnover rates and greater stability? Not really; our real goal should be to provide person-centered care for residents. Those other things are just processes and indicators along the way."