Keiki connection Hawaii's working families have many options for child care, but for the most part they must look outside the workplace to find it.
Parents often must look
to private companies to
meet their child-care needsGROWTH SPURTS
Erika Engle / eengle@starbulletin.com
Employees of the federal government or the city and county of Honolulu may opt to place young children in on-site centers at the Federal Building or the Municipal Building, but private-sector employees are predominantly on their own.
"As much as every company would like to provide that service, there are a lot of issues to consider," said Peter Lewis, vice president of administration at Hawaiian Electric Industries.
He said it's not that employers are insensitive to employees' needs. An employer must find the proper space, and there are questions of liability and of cost.
First Hawaiian Bank, like HEI, has operations spread around the state. "We certainly recognize a need for child-care services among our employees, but ... it wouldn't be practical to have child care in each of our 59 branches," said Gerry Keir, the bank's executive vice president for corporate communications.
Instead, Keir said, "We have a benefit program called Share Care which provides bank matching funds to supplement what employees pay for child care from outside sources."
One of those outside sources on Oahu is Hawaii Kids at Work at 1317-A Queen Emma St., a private nonprofit. Director Lori Lussier said, "Even though it's not 'on-site,' it's close to a lot of sites." Parents of her young charges are mostly professionals who work downtown.
Hawaii Kids at Work is an infant and toddler day-care center licensed for 35 children: eight infants, 12 young toddlers and 15 older toddlers up to age 3. It is staffed by nine child-care workers "better than what the state requires," Lussier said.
She also said the center is at full enrollment and has a waiting list.
Rates are based on the center's "core hours" of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and are $700 per month for infants or $670 for toddlers that come five days per week, "but those fees are prorated for children who come fewer days," Lussier said. There are additional charges, per half-hour, for care from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and from 5 to 5:30 p.m.
Kamaaina Kids, established in 1987 by Ray Sanborn and Mark Nishiyama, is one of the better-known child-care companies in Hawaii. It merged with Hawaii Child Centers in 1993.
Also a nonprofit, Kamaaina Kids serves an estimated 4,000 children in its preschool, school-age, environmental education, hotel and summer camp programs. It has 51 centers statewide, counting after-school programs and hotel programs.
In the hotels, Sanborn said the primary focus is to provide child care for hotel guests, but "we do take employee children, and the hotels discount them, and it helps them when they need to have child care.
"Outrigger does a lot of that," he said.
Kamaaina Kids' rates vary depending on the program desired. "Our average rate is $465 a month for 3- and 4-year-olds," he said, but a sliding fee scale is offered based on income.
The fee for infant care at the two Kamaaina Kids centers offering the service is $700 per month, identical to that charged by Hawaii Kids at Work. Kamaaina Kids has 51 centers statewide.
Kamaaina Kids' success rate, as well as waiting lists at centers such as Hawaii Kids at Work, show the need for quality day-care services for Hawaii's working families.
"We had amazing growth this year," Sanborn said, which he estimated at 20 percent, for "$10.7 million in gross revenue."
Here are the communities in Hawaii with the highest percentages of children under the age of 10, according to the 2000 Census. Areas with most children
Place and Island Total Population Under 5 Ages 5-10 % of Total Age Birth to 10 Iroquois Point, Oahu 2,462 392 421 33% Wheeler AFB, Oahu 2,829 490 306 28% Hickam Housing, Oahu 5,471 727 736 27% Makaha Valley, Oahu 1,289 178 136 24% Schofield Barracks, Oahu 14,428 2,022 1,453 24% Maunaloa, Molokai 230 24 30 23% Hauula, Oahu 3,651 342 420 21% Kaniohale Home Land, Hawaii 602 52 72 21% Ainaloa, Hawaii 1,910 197 186 20% Nanawale Estates, Hawaii 1,073 76 135 20% Areas with fewer than 100 residents were excluded.
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