Finding childcare in the Santa Cruz area can be challenging for UC Santa Cruz employees due to the limited number of facilities and openings. To help secure placements, the university is working with local childcare providers to hold spots specifically for employees when they become available.
Last year, UC Santa Cruz surveyed providers in the area. Facilities in Santa Cruz and Aptos are currently participating in the program, and further outreach continues to identify additional facilities, including in the Watsonville area.
Placement waitlist
Through the new waitlist program, UC Santa Cruz will provide partner child-care providers $500 to hold an upcoming opening for an infant, toddler, or preschooler. The payment, covered by the university, is not part of the enrollment fee.
Employees need only fill out a simple request form to get on the waitlist. Spot allocation is on a first-come, first-served basis. Employees are encouraged to join the priority waitlist as soon as they anticipate a need, even if it is not immediate, as wait time for openings can vary and age requirements can differ.
When an opening becomes available matching the specifications of an employee’s childcare needs, the childcare placement/referral coordinator will contact the employee at the top of the list. Since the spots are held specifically for UCSC employees, if an applicant decides to turn down an opening, they are asked to notify the childcare placement/referral coordinator so the space may be offered to the next employee matching the slot specifications.
More campus child care coming
On June 20, the university broke ground on the new Family Student Housing project. Located at the intersection of Hagar and Coolidge drives and adjacent to existing employee housing, the new childcare center will support faculty and staff recruitment and retention efforts by providing critical campus childcare services to the children of employees and students.
Along with housing for 120 students and their families, it will also provide childcare services for up to 140 children of faculty, staff, and students. The new housing complex is expected to open in late 2025.
For more information, go to the childcare placement waitlist program website. Questions can be sent to employeechildcare@ucsc.edu.
