Summer Presents Triple Challenge For Military Families With Children

CHICAGO, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As schools close their doors for the summer, it often leaves parents scrambling to find a summer sitter.  But for military families with children, this time of year presents additional challenges. Not only may a military family have just one parent at home during a deployment, but one in three military families will also have to move between May 15th and September 30th.  One of the biggest problems they face when relocating to a new post away from friends and family, is finding flexible childcare options they can count on.  To help these families navigate the unique challenges of military life, the Department of Defense has paid for memberships to Sittercity for Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force families including, active duty, Reserve, and Guard.

Sittercity is the nation's largest and most trusted website for finding quality local babysitters, nannies, elder care providers, dog walkers, housekeepers and tutors.  Military families can activate their paid Sittercity membership today by visiting www.sittercity.com/dod.

Eighty-four percent of military families who used this program said that Sittercity met childcare needs not met by other military programs.  And 93 percent would recommend Sittercity to other military families. 

Sittercity has helped over 60,000 military families find the right caregiver.  Sittercity memberships help families find the care they need, particularly when a spouse is deployed, they move to a new location or find themselves living off-installation or in a remote area.

"Flexible childcare is essential for military families because of their unique needs," said Melissa Anderson who heads up Sittercity's Government Programs.  "Many military families have a spouse who are deployed so daily life presents many challenges and often parents find they need extra help in the summer to care for children when schools are closed.  In addition, one third of military families have to move to a new post where they don't have access to friends or family members to help them.  Sittercity helps military families find the care they need whether it is full-time, part-time, after-school, hourly, or school vacations."

"I went through Sittercity to find someone to watch our, then, two-year-old while the movers were moving things into our new house last year during our PCS," said Rosella McCallister.  "It made the move so much easier as we know absolutely no one in our new area to help.  I had the same girl over to watch him several more times after that.  I was so glad to have Sittercity to fall back on."

Sittercity's Government Program for military families provides instant access to over 2 million, pre-screened caregivers nationwide.  Caregiver profiles include background checks, references, reviews, photos and much more.  Sittercity's proprietary matching technology helps families hand-select the perfect caregiver for their family.  Families can even find military spouse caregivers through the program.  In addition, servicemembers and their families are able to connect with Military certified care-providers on Sittercity including Child Development Homes (CDH) and Family Child Care (FCC) as well as caregivers who are military subsidized and authorized access to military installations. The Sittercity program can also help servicemembers who may not need childcare, but are looking for other types of care including elder care providers, daily dog walkers, pet sitters, tutors and even house sitters.

To activate their paid membership, military families can go to www.sittercity.com/dod.

About Sittercity®
Sittercity, founded in 2001, is America's largest and most trusted online solution for connecting families with high-quality, local caregivers, including babysitters, nannies, tutors, elder care providers, pet sitters, and housekeepers. With over 2 million members nationwide, Sittercity connects families with pre-screened caregivers by providing detailed profiles with photos, parent reviews, background checks, up-to-date availability, references and caregiving experience. In fact, every 30 seconds Sittercity connects a family with the local caregiver that meets its unique needs.   As the Department of Defense's solution of choice, military families in all four branches (Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force) have access to Sittercity funded through an exclusive Department of Defense contract.  Many other leading employers provide Sittercity's Corporate Program as an employee benefit including UnitedHealth Group, MasterCard, Northwestern University, Avon and Children's Medical Center of Dallas.

SOURCE Sittercity