Families Not Alone

From little things, big things grow. Testament to the sage words of Kev Carmody is the story of a Brisbane-based 'little' start-up that is suddenly at the centre of enabling our essential services workers to go to work – while their kids remain safely looked after.

Queensland based, Australia-wide business MiStaffing has announced it will extend its services, providing casual and permanent educators not only to early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, but also to families who are in need of in-home support, as the country comes to grips with the COVID 19 pandemic.

This service, CHILDCARE@HOME is a solution which provides access to qualified childcare casual educators to families in need.

MiStaffing CEO Sharyn Fewster said this was a stressful and confusing time for families, particularly as the country approaches lockdown, however said they were not alone.

"It's a very stressful time for so many Australian families right now as an increasing number of sectors and industries have directed their employees to work from home, in order to provide social distancing and limit the spread of COVID 19. As a result, some families have made the decision to remove their children from ECEC services and schools, making the dual demands of working and providing care challenging to manage.

"As the closure of schools approaches, as well as the onset of Easter School holidays, the situation of kids at home while parents are working from home, or being at work, will heighten."

"There will be pressure on families to find last minute safe care for their children at home, while still trying to either stay at work themselves or conduct meaningful work from home, as permitted," she said, explaining the origins of the CHILDCARE@HOME of the business.

"MiStaffing has developed its CHILDCARE@HOME capability to ensure that we can now provide qualified educators during the months ahead, particularly for frontline staff such as healthcare workers."

All educators working in the CHILDCARE@HOME program are qualified, casual educators who hold first aid certificates, have undergone a Working with Children check, and have either a Certificate III or Diploma of Early Childhood and have completed the CHILDCARE@HOME COVID-19 infection control procedures checklist. The educators who work with the CHILDCARE@HOME program will also be given detailed expert information on how to prevent the spread of COVID 19, enhancing the peace of mind for families. At this stage families will not be able to access childcare subsidy (CCS) for the CHILDCARE@HOME service and must pay the educator an agreed rate directly.

In terms of how the CHILDCARE@HOME service may support Approved Providers, Ms Fewster explained that ECEC services have the opportunity to connect their families with casual educators who may already be known to the children from their time in the service, providing continuity of care, familiarity and comfort at this challenging time.

"The business model adopted by organisations may vary according to their need, however MiStaffng provides the capability and support required to ensure the best outcome for the educators, families and organisation," Ms Fewster said.

"We have a large database of early childhood professionals currently looking to be employed and see CHILDCARE@HOME as a solution to a range of potential issues soon to impact," she explained.

Families are able to register for free and connect with professionals to meet their childcare needs.

"We have watched some of our friends and families worry about the impact of school and early learning services closures on their vital work as doctors, nurses and paramedics and we want them to know that we have their backs," Ms Fewster said in closing.

To learn more about how the CHILDCARE@HOME model works, or to pre- register please visit www.mistaffing.com

Photo by Charlein Gracia on Unsplash