Children Inc. is planning to open two rooms at its facility this fall that would provide daycare for up to 16 infants.
The rooms, which are located at Children Inc.’s facility at 715 McClure Rd., would be exclusively for infants from age 6 weeks until 1 years old.
Cost for child care would tentatively cost $244 per week per infant, said Jill Hammer, Children Inc. executive director.
Currently, no date has been set for the opening of the two rooms, as Children Inc. stills needs to hire at least four employees to take care of the infants and the rooms are not yet prepared to host infants.
“This has been a need in the community,” Hammer said. “Infants are an under-served group, and now we have the space.”
The rooms still need new carpet and will be repainted, said Hammer, who projects that the total cost of getting both rooms ready would be around $27,000.
After the rooms are complete, they will need to inspected by officials from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning, the agency charged with overseeing child care facilities in Indiana. Hammer expects the rooms to pass inspection by the end of August.
State officials have already verified that the two rooms meet square footage regulations, Hammer said. Regulations require 50 square feet of space per infant and one adult present for every four infants.
Hammer said the two rooms were previously used for toddlers. The toddlers were moved to another area of Children Inc.’s facility that had recently been renovated.
Currently, Children Inc. has a total capacity of 20 spaces for 1-year-olds and another 20 spaces for 2-year-olds, 40 preschoolers, 20 pre-K children and 50 children from kindergarten to age 12, Hammer said. The facility is open Monday to Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Children Inc.’s eight-member board approved the organization’s expansion into infant care at its April 9 meeting, Hammer said.
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Children, Inc. is a licensed child care program offering full time/part time care, as well as after school care. The facility serves more than 200 children in the full-time program for families all over the Columbus area.
For more information about infant care at Children Inc., visit children-inc.com, call 812-379-2319 or email Jill Hammer, executive director, at [email protected].
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