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San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus announced at a press conference on Thursday, Sept. 19, that her office would create a child care center for the children of employees.
“For a law enforcement agency to provide day care for its employees is virtually unheard of,” said Corpus. “I am proud to say it will be the first of its kind in Northern California.”
The child care center will be tailored to the schedules of law enforcement officers, with hours that extend beyond those of a traditional child care center, according to a press release. Corpus said the center will be open from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“(Law enforcement officers) often have to work from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and there are no child care centers open at 6 a.m.,” said Corpus. “So (finding child care) becomes very challenging. … If I didn’t have family that was close by I wouldn’t have been able to make it and I would have probably had to make a different decision.”
The proposed child care center will be located at 690 Broadway St. in North Fair Oaks.
The Sheriff’s Office has already leased the space. Corpus said the building is ideal for the child care center as it is close to the County jail, a Sheriff’s Office substation and the patrol beats of many deputies.
This announcement comes on the heels of turmoil within the Sheriff’s Office as the two unions that represent Sheriff’s Office employees held a vote of no confidence against the Sheriff’s chief of staff.
At its Oct. 8 meeting, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to approve a contract with a construction company to begin renovations on the leased building.
During the press conference, Corpus said that the center could open as early as summer of 2025. The center is planned to accommodate 60 children, aged 4 months through 5 years. Corpus said that the child care center will also have a nursing room, so that mothers can feed their children on their breaks.
Corpus said she hopes that the proposed day care center will help the Sheriff’s Office recruit and retain law enforcement officers. She said she also hopes that the addition of the child care center will help the Sheriff’s Office achieve its goal of having 30% of each academy class be made up of women by 2030.
“I am proud to remove the barriers for women and parents looking to join or advance our profession by prioritizing employees and family needs,” said Corpus.
Gretchen Spiker, the sheriff’s office’s director of communications, said the child care center and the adjacent new Sheriff’s Office substation would cost an estimated $4.3 million to build. Yet Corpus said she hopes investing in the child care center will reduce the county’s overall costs.
“It aims to save taxpayer money by retaining employees,” Corpus said. “My office will reduce expenses related to recruiting, hiring and training, not to mention overtime.”
Spiker said in an email to this news organization that the Sheriff’s Office intends to fund the project through its existing budget and private donations.
She also said that it is estimated that 12 jobs will be created to accommodate the 60 children in the proposed child care center. The child care center’s employees will not be employed by the Sheriff’s Office but rather a child care contractor who will oversee the facility.
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