Families pay fee to tap into database, request background checks

So why not your baby sitter or pet sitter?

I'll admit, when I saw a news release about Sitter City, which claims to be America's first and largest parent-baby sitter matching site, I giggled.

What ever happened to finding the neighborhood teenager to watch your kids? Or asking friends and relatives for recommen-dations?

After all, I want to know the family of the teen watching my kids. Do we share the same values? Is there someone at home nearby if something were to happen and the baby sitter needed some backup?

But the more I thought about it, not everyone has an ample supply of neighborhood baby sitters or recommendations from friends and relatives to tap into.

So it seems a little ingenious to have a service to match parents and baby sitters. Maybe even a good business model -- sitters register for free for work, and parents pay a fee to search the database.

Genevieve Thiers thinks so.

The founder and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Sitter City came up with the idea while she was contemplating what to do with her life after graduating from Boston College.

Thiers was looking out her dorm room window one day when she saw a woman who was nine months pregnant waddling up a steep hill. Thiers ran downstairs to help the woman, who was posting fliers looking for a baby sitter. Thiers, who had been a baby sitter in college, offered to post the fliers around for the woman.

As Thiers was posting one of the signs next to an elevator, the idea hit her. Why not launch a Web site to match sitters looking for jobs with parents who need help?

Though Thiers thought the idea was great, it wasn't easy to convince venture capitalists to provide seed money -- especially older men.

"We were the first. No one thought it was going to work. I got laughed out of the room with most" venture capitalists, she said. "I had to launch it by foot."

She posted 20,000 fliers around Boston and had two college friends start her Web site.

In September 2001, she had 600 sitters registered and 30 parents. "It was magic," she said.

She now has half a million users, including companies that have paid to sign up their employees as an employee perk to find child care. Thiers later moved the corporate offices to Chicago.

Sitter City is not the only site out there. Put "baby sitter" in a search engine, and you'll get others. Sitter City is also branching out to match pet sitters and pet owners on its site starting in June.

Here's how Sitter City works:

Sitters must be 17 or older -- so that knocks out most of the neighborhood teens. Thiers said the company is debating starting a junior site, but there are too many liability issues with younger sitters. The typical sitter on the site is 17 to 23, though there are older sitters. About 80 percent of the sitters are people looking for part-time work; the others are full-time nannies.

Sitters don't pay a fee to register.

Parents can pay either $39.99 for the first month and $9.99 for each month after, or $95 for a full year.

Not exactly cheap, but it is a service for parents who find it valuable.

Background checks can be run on sitters for a $10 fee. A sitter can pay that fee and post the background check on the sitter's profile, or the parent can pay $10 for each check requested.

The background checks, which include a nationwide check and driving violations, are a resource for parents, in addition to a feedback system on parents and sitters, said Thiers.

In our society, which is becoming more mobile, Thiers said a service like hers helps make life easier.

Her company's statistics show that 64 percent of the parents have moved in the preceding two years.

"When people are moving from city to city,... they end up in this new place with no family and no support network. They're dumped in a new area, and that's where Sitter City is incredibly helpful," she said.

Finding right fit

Carol Gregory of Strongsville has some relatives in town to help watch her kids sometimes, but she needed someone to come over to the house during the day when she occasionally works from home.

But the area college professor, who is the mother of a 1-year- old daughter and 3-year-old son, said she got nowhere when she posted fliers in grocery stores and on college campuses and called people through newspaper ads.

"Even just based on the phone conversation, I wasn't entirely comfortable it was a good fit for us. It wasn't enough detail for me to bring that person into my home to meet my children," Gregory said.

A neighbor then told her about Sitter City. She has used three sitters through the service and has been very happy with them all. Gregory said that as her sitters' situations changed -- one got pregnant, and another moved away -- she was able to go back to the site to find other suitable ones.

The Gregorys now have Ashley Schindler, 22, of Copley Township watching the kids one day a week. For Schindler, an early childhood education major at the University of Akron, the site was a good way to connect her to parents who needed sitters.

She baby-sits for several families -- some are just an occasional weekend job.

Gregory said she's still comfortable with a combination of using an older sitter from Sitter City and the neighborhood teen. She just likes having the choice.

Seniors raise concerns over funds

Some senior citizens on the coast say they are concerned about what's happening to state programs as tax revenue continues to contract.

Program after program is being hacked and sliced to pieces, they said Tuesday during a meeting sponsored by the Commission on Aging of the Coastal Regional Commission, at Darien Church of God. Some programs are being scrapped altogether due to lack of funding.

One program, the Kinship Care program to assist grandparents rearing grandchildren, has been eliminated be budget cuts, Monica Couch, elder rights program manager at the Coastal Regional Commission, told the 150 persons in the audience.

Other programs being slashed include ombudsman services, which helps monitor elder abuse; the caregivers resource center, which provides adult day care services; and respite care, which allows caregivers to take a break from caring for an elderly ill person at home by providing a sitter on occasions.

Couch said on the state level, the Senior Legal Hotline and the Center for the Visually Impaired have been eliminated, and other programs, including Alzheimer's Services, have faced severe cutbacks. Just how many people are being affected by the cuts is hard to determine, Couch said.

"We currently have a wait list of more than 20,000 people statewide for home- and community-based services," she said. "As of Sept. 1, there were 1,497 individuals waiting for one or more services in the region we serve."

So far, no one has had services discontinued, but Couch said persons on waiting lists cannot be served until additional funding is received.

Couch said the Coastal Regional Commission is the designated Area Agency on Agency for the region, which includes Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Long, Liberty and McIntosh counties. The agency plans and coordinates services and programs for senior citizens, persons with disabilities and caregivers.

Many of the cuts stem from Gov. Sonny Perdue's mandated 5 percent across-the-board cuts for all Department of Human Services programs.

"We understand the economic difficulties facing state government, but advocates are deeply concerned about the depth of service reductions for aging services and the impact they will have on the frail elderly and their caregivers," Couch said.

Alberta Mabry of Darien, a senior advocate, said every day some seniors are faced with having to decide between purchasing food or medicine. Some, she said, only get one hot meal a day from the Darien Senior Center.

Many have watched savings dwindle and are living solely on Social Security.

"We're living longer now, and that makes things more complicated," Mabry said.

Mabry is in favor of respite care and bemoans the cuts that have been made.

"You can remain in your home, rather than be in a nursing home," she said. "Respite care gives the caregiver a short break to go to the store or to get their hair done or see a movie."

The ombudsman program is also critical, Mabry said. "There is lots of abuse toward the elderly," she said.

She said she would like to see an adult day care center opened in McIntosh County. Currently, those with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia must travel to Savannah or Brunswick to participate in adult day care programs.

"We have lots of folks here in McIntosh with Alzheimer's or dementia," Mabry said.

U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-1, on a town-hall meeting sweep through the district, stopped at the gathering and addressed Social Security concerns. He said cost-of-living increases would most likely not occur for 2010.

"The COLAs are tied to inflation, and with inflation in 2009 down, no COLA is anticipated this year," he said.

Taking questions from the audience, Kingston agreed with a resident who suggested using stimulus funds to fund Georgia Cares, which is Georgia's Medicare Part C and D program.

"We will work with you on it. We support Georgia Cares," Kingston said, explaining that he would look into the possibility of using federal stimulus funds to help replace some lost state funding, even though he has voted in Congress against all stimulus programs other than an extension of the so-called cash for clunkers auto incentive.

"There's a lot of stimulus money sitting out there. It might as well be put toward something useful," Kingston said.

Parents to sue baby-sitter, her mother and the town

The town has received notice that a Cortland Circle couple intends to sue the town as part of a broader legal action stemming from the May 2 drowning death of their 3-year-old son.

New Haven law firm LoRicco, Trotta & LoRicco on Sept. 14 filed the notice of intent to sue the town on behalf of Richard and Diane Veenhuis, according to legal papers. The Veenhuis family will sue the town for negligence that resulted in the death of their son, Cole, who drowned in the family's swimming pool, attorney Frederick Trotta Sr. said Friday.

Also named as defendants in the notice are Michele Repko and her daughter, Krista, who was baby-sitting Cole and his twin sister, Hannah when the drowning occurred. Hannah is listed with her parents as seeking damages from the town and the Repkos, according to Trotta.

"This has had a profound effect on the Veenhuis family," Trotta said. "They feel quite betrayed by Michele Repko's misrepresentation of her daughter's fitness to be a baby-sitter."

Trotta said the town is party to the lawsuit, which he intends to file within two months, because Michele Repko met the Veenhuis family while working with Cole at the Darcey School, the town's only public kindergarten, to improve the child's speech. Also, Krista Repko took a baby-sitting class that was run by the town, Trotta said.

Town Manager Michael Milone confirmed Friday that the town had received the Veenhuises' intent to sue letter, but declined to comment on the matter.

At some point after meeting the Veenhuis family, the relationship between Michele Repko and the family grew to the point where she recommended her daughter as a baby-sitter for Cole and Hannah, the attorney said. Richard and Diane Veenhuis met Krista Repko and were comfortable enough with her being around Cole and Hannah that they let the teenager take the twins to one of her baby-sitting classes, Trotta said.

But Trotta said the lawsuit will contend that on the day that Cole drowned, Krista Repko "froze up for a significant period of time and didn't immediately jump into the pool to rescue the youngster."

"The girl's a shot-putter on the Cheshire High School track team and an honor roll student," Trotta said. "How does somebody like that not jump into the pool immediately when she saw the boy in the pool?"

Trotta added that rescue efforts were hampered when Krista Repko couldn't initially give a police dispatcher the address where was she baby-sitting.

"Emergency services did a magnificent job coaxing it out of her," Trotta said.

Following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the drowning, the police and the state's attorney's office chose not to press charges, he said.

The Repkos were not available for comment Friday.

Child-care center won't get $3 million from state

CHEYENNE -- Supporters of a publicly funded child-care center got a quick no Thursday morning from the state's top officials.

The disappointed members of the Laramie County Early Education and Development Joint Powers Board said afterward that they had to regroup, but their quest for quality child care would continue.

"It's not over. There's still a need in the community, and we want to fill that need," said board member Rich Wiederspahn.

The non-profit planned to run a center with expanded hours for shift workers and to offer an accredited education program.

The Wyoming Business Council board had already turned down the $3 million request to build the Laramie County Early Childhood Education Center in the Cheyenne Business Parkway in east Cheyenne. The State Loan and Investment Board had the final vote.

This was the second time SLIB considered this request. This spring, SLIB sent it back to the Business Council, asking it to review current demand for child care. Local providers said it would hurt their businesses.

Thursday's 4-1 vote was in keeping with the Wyoming Business Council's new recommendation, which was based on a revised study that showed there was less need for child care.

Jim McBride, state superintendent of public instruction, was the lone vote in support of the project.

Supporters of the Laramie County Early Childhood Education Center showed up, ready to testify. But Gov. Dave Freudenthal polled the other SLIB members and said they would skip having a public hearing.

They all received plenty of information, he said.

"Everyone's made up their mind," Freudenthal said. "There's no sense on having a fourth hearing on this matter."

Freudenthal said Wednesday it broke his heart to not award the grant because he believes in early childhood education.

But the Business Council's revised study shows there are more slots at Cheyenne day-care centers than children -- which is contrary to the intent of the Business Ready Communities Grant.

Lisa Romsa, owner and director of Diamonds in the Rough, was an outspoken opponent of the grant.

However, Romsa said she hoped that the issue of expanding quality child care would not disappear with this grant request -- in the past six years, she said, people see child-care providers as "more than babysitters."

This time, she'd like to see proponents work with current providers -- for instance, to help offset accreditation costs.

"Everyone needs to still work and come up with solutions," Romsa said. "But putting all the eggs in one facility does not accomplish that goal."

Cheyenne City Councilwoman Georgia Broyles said she was set to urge SLIB to look at funding pre-kindergarten education. Wyoming is one of five states that does not do this, she said.

For instance, the state could oversee a curriculum available to day-care providers n those "who wish to pursue that."

Credit: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne

Lawsuit expected in Cheshire pool death: Parents to sue baby-sitter, her mother and the town

The town has received notice that a Cortland Circle couple intends to sue the town as part of a broader legal action stemming from the May 2 drowning death of their 3-year-old son.

New Haven law firm LoRicco, Trotta & LoRicco on Sept. 14 filed the notice of intent to sue the town on behalf of Richard and Diane Veenhuis, according to legal papers. The Veenhuis family will sue the town for negligence that resulted in the death of their son, Cole, who drowned in the family's swimming pool, attorney Frederick Trotta Sr. said Friday.

Also named as defendants in the notice are Michele Repko and her daughter, Krista, who was baby-sitting Cole and his twin sister, Hannah when the drowning occurred. Hannah is listed with her parents as seeking damages from the town and the Repkos, according to Trotta.

"This has had a profound effect on the Veenhuis family," Trotta said. "They feel quite betrayed by Michele Repko's misrepresentation of her daughter's fitness to be a baby-sitter."

Trotta said the town is party to the lawsuit, which he intends to file within two months, because Michele Repko met the Veenhuis family while working with Cole at the Darcey School, the town's only public kindergarten, to improve the child's speech. Also, Krista Repko took a baby-sitting class that was run by the town, Trotta said.

Town Manager Michael Milone confirmed Friday that the town had received the Veenhuises' intent to sue letter, but declined to comment on the matter.

At some point after meeting the Veenhuis family, the relationship between Michele Repko and the family grew to the point where she recommended her daughter as a baby-sitter for Cole and Hannah, the attorney said. Richard and Diane Veenhuis met Krista Repko and were comfortable enough with her being around Cole and Hannah that they let the teenager take the twins to one of her baby-sitting classes, Trotta said.

But Trotta said the lawsuit will contend that on the day that Cole drowned, Krista Repko "froze up for a significant period of time and didn't immediately jump into the pool to rescue the youngster."

"The girl's a shot-putter on the Cheshire High School track team and an honor roll student," Trotta said. "How does somebody like that not jump into the pool immediately when she saw the boy in the pool?"

Trotta added that rescue efforts were hampered when Krista Repko couldn't initially give a police dispatcher the address where was she baby-sitting.

"Emergency services did a magnificent job coaxing it out of her," Trotta said.

Following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the drowning, the police and the state's attorney's office chose not to press charges, he said.

The Repkos were not available for comment Friday.

Credit: New Haven Register, Conn.