Businesses use app to give employees child care options

SALT LAKE CITY — Some parents are struggling to find affordable child care as the industry goes through its own challenges. In today’s “Save more, worry less,” KSL’s Tamara Vaifanua talks about a new tool that could benefit both sides.

You could call it child care on demand. Businesses are partnering with an online platform to provide its employees access to child care providers.

A Utah company launched it a couple of weeks ago and like what they see so far.

“We manufacture bottles. So, here specifically, we do Chlorox spray bottles, laundry detergent bottles, Chobani yogurt bottles,” said Jon Bayton with ALPLA, which runs a 24-hour operation in Salt Lake City.

They’re open seven days a week.

“We work 12 hour shifts, so 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.”

Employees with kids have a hard time finding child care that fits their schedule.

“I want to take that burden off of their plate.”

Bayton looked for a solution and heard about TOOTRiS.

“There are a lot of parents out there who struggle with two things — a. finding child care, b. affording it,” said Jeff McAdam, director of communications for TOOTRiS.

In the United States, the annual cost of child care is nearly $16,000 a year, according to the Center for American Progress. TOOTRiS believes they have an affordable option.

Their online platform connects companies with more than 200,000 child care providers across the country.

“TOOTRiS is unique in that it’s the biggest child care platform in the country, and it’s the only platform that shows you the availability in real-time of child care locations,” McAdam said. “Think of it like a vacancy sign outside a hotel.”

ALPLA offers its employees a flexible spending child care credit of $1,000 they can use toward child care, after-school programs and extracurricular programs.

“In our school, we do French immersion half the time and then we’re speaking in English the other half,” said Tanya Gallego, who runs Petit Explorer Preschool in Millcreek, Utah.

Parents can find her school on the TOOTRiS platform.

“I’m a smaller school. Our maximum is 12 in a class,” Gallego said.

The free exposure has boosted her business.

“A platform like TOOTRiS has been wonderful for being able to contact parents outside of the circle that would hear through word of mouth.”

It’s in the early stages at ALPLA, but Bayton said as more employees sign on, they hope to make an even bigger investment.

“Because you have to like where you work, you have to love where you work, and if I can make it basically their second family and take care of them, they’re going to come and they’re going to work hard.”

Again, people who work for companies that partner with TOOTRis can use this platform, and licensed child care providers can register to put their services online for free.

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