When Braundii Young joined Carpenters Local 551 in April of 2024, she was up front that she was a single parent and wanted to work as soon as possible. Her mother was caring for her 4-year-old son, but Young knew she needed back-up care.
A union representative told her about an emergency-childcare benefit the Central South Carpenters Regional Council offers through Bright Horizons, and she registered immediately. After using the emergency benefit twice, Young enrolled her son full time in one of the program’s partnering childcare centers. She said she would not have her current job if not for the childcare benefit and also credits Bright Horizons with pointing her to an exceptional center where she is comfortable leaving her son.
“I wouldn’t be working if it wasn’t for me being able to put my baby in a place where I know he’s safe,” Young said. “The center they sent him to has cameras, great teachers, and a great kids-to-teacher ratio. So they’re attentive when it comes to those things as well.”
Program basics
The CSCRC began offering the emergency-childcare benefit in March of 2024 to female members in Texas and Louisiana. The program provides 15 days of care per year so members can continue working when their regular care provider (grandparent, sitter, center, etc.) is unavailable.
“Our leaders saw that a problem with retaining women across the board is childcare,” said Shanta Prude, CSCRC Sisters in the Brotherhood director and SIB committee coordinator for the UBC’s Southern District.
Bright Horizons matches members to partnering childcare centers and in-home daycare facilities near their homes or jobsites. A Bright Horizons report shows 495 out of 777 female members – 64% – in the Southern District match geographically to at least one partnering childcare provider. Members in urban and suburban areas are more likely to match, said Prude, who regularly communicates with members who are in danger of leaving jobs due to childcare issues.
How it works
After program registration – a process Young said was quick and easy – a member is eligible to use the benefit once they have been in the union at least 30 days. Members can use all 15 days at one time or sporadically throughout the year. When a parent needs emergency childcare, Bright Horizons is ready to assist.
Young was doing tradeshow work in June when she initially used the benefit because her mother was unable to care for her son for a few days.
“They are available 24 hours,” Young said. “And that’s awesome because you might have a job that you have to be at tomorrow, and they get it set up. You give them a zip code, and they will find schools for you.”
She said Bright Horizons gave her three or four options in the Houston area. “They are very patient,” she said. “They’ll wait on the phone while you look up the reviews for these places.”
Building from a starter benefit
The CSCRC is positioning the emergency-childcare benefit as a pilot program that could serve as proof of concept for expanding the benefit (to all members and to elder care) and for adding more comprehensive family-care assistance, such as a tuition discount for regular care.
“Given that Labor Department statistics show only 11% percent of construction workers are women and the overall population of women vs. men is nearly equal, our industry is missing out on approximately 39% participation,” said Kavin Griffin, executive secretary-treasurer and CEO of the Central South Carpenters Regional Council.
“Availability of childcare is a barrier to women, and the council created this emergency program to help with childcare access and to explore potential longer-term opportunities.”
The council is gathering data on how many members register and, of those, how many use emergency care days and how many days they use. On a larger scale, council leaders will evaluate whether the program improves female recruitment and retention. “That’s especially important considering that in construction occupations, women are paid equally – removing the gender pay gap, which can be the biggest barrier to employment for women,” Griffin said.
Young, an apprentice who is trying to complete training hours while working, used all 15 days of emergency assistance before enrolling her son in five-days-a-week care. She said she is happy with the experience she and her son have had through the program, and ongoing assistance would be a huge help.
The center Young’s son attends is midway between their home and her mother’s workplace. “Me and him had agreed that we would both go to work,” Young said. “So that’s what he calls it. He calls it going to work.”
Register for the emergency-childcare benefit here.