Center for Families & Children/Ease@Work – Photo by Patrick Gaul

The world is starting to figure out that early childhood education is very important. Ask any employee with children.  One of their biggest challenges is to balance work and parenthood. A good daycare arrangement will put the parent at ease when in the role of an employee and will set the child on a course to becoming a well-educated adult. While Ease@Work helps businesses to address this issue in the workplace, our parent company the Center for Families and Children (CFC) is addressing this issue on a societal level.

Before Ease@Work existed, there was the EASE Program – Employee Assistance SErvices and the Corporate Childcare Resource and Referral Program (CCR&R). Both were natural outgrowths of the two largest community-based programs of CFC: Behavioral Health programs and CFC Children’s Programs, which operate Cleveland-based high quality daycare centers. As EASE and CCR&R evolved to meet the changing needs of Ohio businesses, they were merged to create what is now known as Ease@Work. 

CFC’s Children’s Programs can trace their history back to the 1800’s when the Cleveland Day Nursery Association was one of the first agencies in this region to provide childcare. With over a century of experience in offering early childhood programs, CFC is one of the region’s experts on early learning.

Comments by CFC’s President and CEO, Sharon Sobol Jordan, were recently featured in the op-ed section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Jordan’s comments were part of a series of statements regarding the Jan. 17, 2010 PD article, “Change how kids learn – change the future,” about early childhood programs and how important they are to a child’s success – and ultimately, the success of the greater community.

 “High-quality learning programs focus on helping young children navigate their growing worlds, preparing them for a lifetime of learning,” Jordan said. “Children who are involved in early learning programs – via pre- and post-natal home visits and later in community early learning centers – are better poised for success in school and in life.”

Along with Jordan, Georgianna T. Roberts, president of the Board of Directors of the Hanna Perkins Center for Child Development, and Thea Wilson, executive director of the Office of Early Childhood Education, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, concur that early “intervention” is key to a child’s success. Education for parents/guardians, early assessment of behavioral or mental health issues, early learning programs and pre-kindergarten classes focusing on both the cognitive and socieo-emotional growth of a child all contribute to the success a child will experience in school and beyond.

To think programs such as these impact children only in terms of their school success would be short-sighted.  “Championing the investment in our youngest children is ‘the most effective way to reverse this community’s decline,’” Roberts said.

Providing parents/guardians with the education and tools to better care for their children is essential. Providing access to high quality daycare programming is the next step in laying the foundation for a child’s success in life, and ultimately, as a contributing member of the community.

 “The Center for Families and Children has five early learning centers in Cleveland and Cleveland Heights that have been recognized for their high quality and are nationally accredited, and we have been part of the community for more than 100 years,” said Jordan.

Ease@Work is proud to be a division of CFC, an organization that works hard in ”making success possible for people who choose to change their lives.”

Those in the community come to CFC because of a choice they’ve made – they want a better life for themselves, for their children, for their families, for their future. For some in our community, it’s easy to get off track – perhaps due to issues that walk hand-in-hand with living in poverty-stricken neighborhoods, or because of a mental illness, substance abuse problem or other life event. But if one of these people in our community wants to change their life, CFC is there to help by providing Early Learning Centers, Homebound Services, Youth Development Programs, Behavioral Health Services, Families and Fathers Together, Re-Entry Services and Family to Family programs. 

Ease@Work’s goal is similiar to that of CFC in that we foster ”better personal lives, for better work lives.” Much like CFC, Ease@Work is there for both the employees of our client companies and their management teams when they need us. As an EAP, employees come to us voluntarily when they need help with certain aspects of their lives. Jordan’s comments provide insight as to why Ease@Work is unique in our ability to provide assistance to employees with childcare issues. We do much more than tell employees where the nearest daycare center is located. Our childcare specialists draw from decades of expertise and provide valuable education, coaching and resources for employees struggling with the many issues associated with caring for children from birth through high school.

We think our success as a comprehensive EAP is doubly sweet. In providing EAP services to our contracted companies, we not only provide a valuable service to our clients, but Ease@Work in turn generates funds which are then returned to our non-profit parent company, CFC. These funds help provide the programs and services CFC offers to those who are in need of assistance…improving the quality of individual lives and our community as a whole.