By Darcy Costello
The Baltimore Police Department will launch a pilot program in January that provides 100 employees with a financial stipend to cover child care expenses to help boost the depleted agency’s recruitment and retention.
The stipends, up to $250 per month and $3,000 annually, will be made available to 100 qualifying professional staff and sworn officers with children younger than 13 years old or who have special needs, according to the department.
Those who participate will have access to child care services “through a national network of childcare providers,” the police department said in a news release. That service also will provide access to “emergency” child care services for employees with nontraditional work hours and unanticipated scheduling changes.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Wednesday that the pilot will be a “game changer” for families who are selected to participate.
“We know, and I know, how financially difficult child care can be for families, and that goes double for families whose schedules are a bit more unpredictable than most, like many of the women and men that work in BPD,” Scott said.
The city’s Board of Estimates approved a $130,000 contract the department entered into for the pilot project in a vote on Wednesday morning.
The two-year contract with WeeCare Inc., also known as Upwards, is for case management, reporting of employees enrolled in the program and employee stipend management, according to Board of Estimates documents.
Police spokeswoman Lindsey Eldridge said the total cost is estimated at $730,000, including the allowances for employees and management of the program. She said the cost would be covered by a Maryland grant called State Aid for Police Protection.
In its news release, the department called the pilot program an “important retention and recruitment tool.” The agency currently has 1,981 sworn officers and 549 sworn vacancies, as well as 508 professional personnel and 266 professional vacancies.
Scott added in a news conference following the Board of Estimates vote that the pilot program would only go toward 100 police employees to begin, but “it is our hope, that down the line we are able to expand this program not just through BPD, but looking at something throughout the City of Baltimore.”
He said there would be a “lottery system” in the police department to determine who is selected.
“My only question is, does the commander-in-chief, can I apply?” Scott joked.
He also stressed that the opportunity is available for both sworn and non-sworn police employees. The agency has increasingly hired non-police staff members, who they refer to as professional employees. Civilians have been hired as investigators, tasked with looking into low-level crimes, police misconduct complaints and cold cases.
In the department’s most recent budget, passed in June, the department sought to add 58 new civilian positions by cutting long-vacant sworn positions. It estimated that plan would lead to $1 million in overtime savings.
