Greater Philadelphia YMCA’s streamlined approach in child care operations

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December 4, 2024

October 31, 2024

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Greater Philadelphia YMCA’s streamlined approach in child care operations

We're diving into the child care operations at Greater Philadelphia YMCA to see how a unified CRM platform is helping them run a smoother, more efficient and connected environment for both staff and families.

Running a child care operation can feel overwhelming—juggling enrollment, tracking payments, coordinating staff, and keeping parents informed. From staffing and scheduling, to financial subsidies, safety protocols and activity planning, it’s a lot to handle. But that doesn't mean it has to be difficult.

Jen Segelken and Toni Marie Bell from Greater Philadelphia YMCA join us to share their experience with Traction Rec, and insights how their technology is helping them tackle the common struggles of manual processes, reporting, and capacity management —challenges that every program and childcare operator knows all too well.

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We cover:

The before and after of child care management for the YMCA: What they couldn't do before but can now with a centralized platform.
How the training, onboarding, and phased implementation of new processes were thoughtfully aligned with registration schedules to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for both staff and families.
A demonstration of the experience from three unique perspectives: a parent, a child care administrator, and a program director, utilizing the tools and connecting staff and families.

We've pulled together a recap of our key takeaways from this webinar. You can watch the entire discussion further below.

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About Greater Philadelphia YMCA

With facilities in YMCA branches, local schools, and stand-alone centers, the Greater Philadelphia YMCA is dedicated to supporting its community by providing essential childcare, after-school enrichment, and camp programs throughout the year. Serving children aged 6 weeks to 18 years, the YMCA focuses on nurturing child development, building foundational skills, and fostering an inclusive environment where every child can thrive.

Annually, the YMCA serves around 6,000 children, offering approximately 27,400 camper weeks in Day Camp and enrolling about 2,500 kids in Before & After School Enrichment, with flexible registration options to accommodate families year-round. Additionally, the YMCA provides a financial assistance program to ensure all families can access their valuable services.

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Why teamwork between technology and child care teams matters more than ever

The technology and childcare teams at the YMCA have built a strong partnership to improve experiences for both members and employees. They've discovered the vital role of clear communication in making recommendations and ensuring frontline feedback reaches the administrators working behind the scenes. It really helps when team members have experience in member services and understand the operator's mindset. This collaboration not only improves service delivery between departments as a whole, but is also playing a key role in supporting the association from a risk management perspective.

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Celebrating key wins and a smooth transition for the YMCA’s child care operations

The YMCA has already celebrated significant wins in their first six months since going live! Their success is largely due to thoughtfully crafted training materials and strategic planning, giving staff easy access to instructions, videos, and the system.

With a smooth migration process, the transition has been "pain-free," boosting confidence in the new tools. The organization now has better control over family information and has launched a community portal for parents to self-serve—an exciting new feature! Plus, the intuitive design allowed for instant self-registration from day one. The YMCA phased in the new system, starting with child care registration to align with the academic year, followed by membership and programs.

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Elevating the member experience in child care: A parent’s perspective with Traction Rec

From selecting childcare programs to managing payments and household information—all in one place—parents can easily stay connected and informed about their child's progress and activities at the YMCA. The Community Portal offers real-time access to essential information, including enrollment status, attendance records, and upcoming payments and schedules. This level of transparency and engagement not only strengthens trust between families and the YMCA but also fosters effective communication and collaboration, ensuring the best care for children.

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Simplifying staff workflows: An administrator’s perspective with Traction Rec

With Traction Rec, staff have a centralized location to access essential information for program management. This includes real-time updates on program availability, schedules, attendance records, health and safety records, billing statements, waitlist management, with the ability to communicate quickly with parents and families. Beyond simplifying daily tasks for child care providers, Traction Rec emphasizes the safety and well-being of children. With features like emergency contact info, allergy alerts, medication tracking, and daily health check-ins, parents can trust that their child is in great hands at the YMCA.

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Managing the complexities of child care operations: Optimization and delivery for child care directors

By streamlining intricate tasks like third-party and split billing management, financial reporting, regulatory compliance, record maintenance, and staff certification tracking, Traction Rec simplifies these processes for child care operators. With a holistic view at hand, and insights through data analytics and real-time dashboards, directors can can make informed decisions about program offerings, resources, with opportunities to customize and scale as child care programs grow and evolve.

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