Future idea… I’ve heard of DMS being described as a “Fitness Gym for Creatives” Well, what if like many fitness gyms there was a room for temporary childcare hours like a gym? Just an idea… I’d love to go more on a regular basis for a few hours here and there not just host membership scouting classes, but limited on parent schedule outside of normal business hours. Suppose I could work on dreaming up kid friendly maker activities to do together too…
I think the issue is securing someone to watch them, as well as the necessary insurance for that. For kids under a certain age limit, there have to be so many adults per child, although I don’t remember what the exact ratio is. But if you can secure the appropriate number of supervisors, as well as clear it with the insurance I think the board could probably be persuaded
And don’t forget that nowadays, child-watchers probably need to have a background check.
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DMS is not a child safe or child friendly place. DMS is designed and built for adults and young adults: 16 & 17 y/o.
While we have have some activities they must be highly supervised.
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Just thinking about cost and the legality of child care. The needs of singles and parents are often juxtaposed. So we have libraries that cater more to children and mothers and less to working adults. I am curious why libraries and colleges and makerspace should provide free or low cost day care. Are we saying it is easy to be a qualified child care giver and if so should the pay rate be that of low level technician, burger flipper, or a day laborer? If the qualifed child caregiver is highly trained and expensive then dms does not have the ability to reliably vet component members which is why train. But We go further by having liable wavers. Gym are responsible for health to some degree so contract liability. Gym can life guards and cpr trained people. the general principle is “do makering at your own risk.” Thus it seems dms is struggling to vet members like myself to not be children let alone component child caregivers. Then there is question of fees for any service like this, or why child care in the general area will not work. It is a good desire to be next to your children. It would be a bad desire to tell your children to go play in traffic… [unless the child in question, is your adult lover, then hey i dont judge… what happens behind road cones I hope stays behind road cones, because one likes rubber necking.] Makerspace cost much but is reasonably priced for education. Thus given past experience, these are many of the questions we have deal with in regards to child care. I mean there is the parents rites and states rites in the educational system, does makerspace have the time and resources deal with that heated topic. The PTA is hotly contested. There is critical race theory and being honest i don’t have kids rather i have the need for education to provide resources for parents and children.
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The barriers to a child care facility at something like a makerspace are significant . It would require state licensing , hiring of certified staff and compliance with city of Carrollton zoning and special use permit rules . Not to mention our lease . It is certainly a nice thought but I just don’t see it as a realistic option on our future .
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Alternately, you could probably make decent Bank if you managed to secure a facility near DMS to provide child care
When I was the CIO at Medical City Dallas, Ltd, we surveyed our medical staff and determined that there was enough interest to support a child care center on campus. We didn’t have a facility or existing space for it, but decided it was worth building a new building especially for it… Nurses and Doctors in particular wanted a place they could drop their children off and then step in to see them during their working hours.
It was premium care and only allowed for medical staff at Medical City. It was full within the first few months it was open. It cost more than other local providers, but of course the space was designated medical office space so it was necessary to charge a premium to justify the expense.
After over 20 plus years the place is still going. I believe Medical City outsourced the care to a 3rd party provider, but it has been successful.
https://childcareavenue.com/childcare/77016/Childrens-Choice-at-Medical-City-Dallas.aspx
It is a huge draw for medical staff with children. It fits in line with the Medical City concept of providing everything a clinician needs from dining, dry cleaning to child care.
Bottom line if DMS were to do this we would have to 1) obligate permanent space 2) contract with a duly certified child care company 3) charge a substantial fee for the care (AKA a monthly subscription) and 4) have enough member support to justify it.
Having said all of that I don’t believe a Makerspace is a place for young kids. If there is sufficient parental control I’m ok with kids in the shop, but only if the parents are attentive and take full responsibility for their children. I participate in the Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby build every year and the kids are youngsters. There are plenty of parents, troop leaders, and volunteers to keep the children safe though.
I would be most comfortable with a non-power tool activity. Early on I taught a home schooler group leather craft. I had a couple of unruly children but overall it went pretty well.
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Not to squash it without consideration, but I believe the zoning/permitting this is a non-starter.
It’s just super unlikely to we would get a special use permit.
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Slightly off topic but I have several friends who used that facility for their kids. pretty cool to know where it came from!
We have an active partnership with the Irving Library Makerspace, when people want maker stuff for their kids we send them there, or to Lewisville. If Carrollton had one we would be glad to make the referral.
Between cost, liability, and volunteer workload I think it would be better for us to reach out to the Carrollton library and donate all the equipment they need to get a kid program started.
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And basic first aid.
The way you word it “child-watchers” - it is somewhat ‘breaking news’ sounding…
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I don’t have kids so I don’t have a dog in this fight, but if someone was interested in teaching a child level activity like the library spaces do, wouldn’t that be an option for parents to come work in another area for an hour or so while the kids take their class? Might be an alternative to a traditional always available child care?
Just adding to the idea storm.
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As a …
- Volunteer-run
- Self-service
- Best effort service level
… organization we are fundamentally not structured for children who in this day and age require active+competent supervision in a safe environment.
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this is what my wife does for a living - at a high end gym down the highway… this is a nightmare in real life and the overhead to operate that section of the gym is 50% of their bottom line. not to mention the amount of employees they go through because watching someone else’s child is not that same as watching your own.
appropriate licensing, people who have child care licenses (yes they exist), adult ratios, insurance coverages not to mention the tools that are lying around here - we would never be approved for childcare coverage, ever.
this attempt would get this place shut down.
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