By Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – If a pilot program at the Illinois Department of Public Health is successful, infants could soon be commonplace in state government offices.
The Infant at Work pilot program, developed by the Office of Women’s Health and Family Services, allows mothers, fathers and legal guardians to bring their infants into work.
“This is only for the Department of Public Health employees,” said Divya Little, public information officer for the department. “It would, for families, lower daycare costs, improve infant-parenting bonding opportunities as well as breastfeeding opportunities.”
Implemented in part due to her own pregnancy, Little and the department’s director, Dr. Nirav Shah, modeled the program after similar state measures in Nevada and Washington.
“The Infant at Work program will provide numerous benefits for participants, including healthy infant brain development, parental well-being, and critical bonding,” Shah said in a statement. “Promoting health and wellness is a pillar of IDPH and we want to lead by example.”
In Illinois, parents with infants between 4 weeks and 6 months old would be allowed to bring their children to work providing their job duties and allotted space meet eligibility requirements.
“There’s a caveat that your work responsibilities, as well as workspace, has to accommodate this sort of thing,” Little said. “If you don’t have the space to put a Pack ‘n Play or other equipment that you need to have an infant at your office, you won’t be able to participate in the program.”
The program also will not extend to jobs that involve heavy equipment or biohazardous materials.
Along with promoting bonding, the program is aimed at bringing parents back from leave in a shorter time frame.
“It’s so difficult when you transition from, you know, maternity leave, if you’re so fortunate to have it … if you have that opportunity, it can be really difficult to leave your kid.”
The goal is to ease the transition back to full-time work.
Employees will have to work with supervisors on scheduling, work plans, and space accommodations. Participating employees will have regular evaluations with their supervisors to assess their satisfaction with the program, according to a news release.
IDPH is the first Illinois State agency to pilot this program. After 2 years, the Illinois Department of Central Management Services plans to evaluate how effective it is to determine if the program can be expanded to other state agencies.
