The Kids Kare at Home service provider has specific requirements before they will consider care requests for mildly-ill children.

When you register, you will receive an email with contact information for the Kids Kare at Home service provider, Kennedy Care/Safe at Home. Please search your email accounts (and spam folder, possibly) for that email: the subject line reads Kids Kare Registration Confirmation, and the sender is U-M Child and Family Care for 2024 (you may want to bookmark the link or save it to your favorites). If you are sure your family is registered for the current year, and you cannot find the email, please email us. 

If your regular child care is unavailable, and you must work for U-M, Kids Kare at Home may be able to help.

Before you request service, please note:

• You must be a current U-M affiliate (active, regular employee or enrolled Ann Arbor student) to request service.
• Kids Kare services are provided in the family home (listed on registration) only.
• Because there are a limited number of available caregivers, service is not available for scheduled child care and school closings, such as school holidays, breaks, and teacher work days.
• Care is often not available for snow days and during severe weather conditions that make travel hazardous.
• During peak flu season or other periods of unusually-high request volumes, such as unscheduled school closings, there may not be enough caregivers to fill all requests.
• Care is not available for children who have contagious conditions.
• Care is not available for infants under the age of 6 weeks.
• Requests for care at unique hours, such as afternoon work shifts, or in locations only partially served, are contingent upon caregiver availability in each instance.
• Please try to request service as soon as you know that you'll need care, including during the days before (preferred, if possible) or day-of, but no more than one week in advance. Requesting care online via their web site is preferred. Kennedy Care/Safe at Home will contact you, and will do their best to schedule a caregiver for you. 
• Clients who fail to make required payment balances for previous care will not be eligible for service until payment is received in full.

When you request service:

• Contact Kennedy Care/Safe at Home per the instructions you received by email following online registration. On that email: the subject line reads Kids Kare Registration Confirmation, and U-M Child and Family Care for 2024 (you may want to bookmark or save it to your favorites). If you are sure that your family is registered for the current program year, and you cannot find the email, please email us. 
• Kennedy Care/Safe at Home will do their best to secure a caregiver for you. Sometimes, they may only be able to make a partial offer, e.g., a half day even though you requested a full day of care, or a later start time. They will contact you with updates or confirmation.  
• Families can request a caregiver based on vaccination status, and Kennedy Care/Safe at Home will do their best to honor the request.
• The Kennedy Care/Safe at Home office is open weekdays from 6:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. Care requests received after 9:00 p.m. will not receive a reply until after 6:00 a.m. the following morning. 
• The process of scheduling care, from the time you request a caregiver to the time the caregiver arrives at your home, can take 4 hours or more.
• There is a minimum service usage of 4 hours per day.

Building a safety net of child care providers:

Although Kennedy Care/Safe at Home can fill many caregiver requests within their service areas, we encourage you to build a safety net of child care options, prior to needing backup care. For example, some U-M families interview and get to know several local caregivers, and use them for occasional care so they have babysitters to call upon when needed. Other options may include family members or trusted friends and neighbors with flexible schedules, and licensed child care centers and homes that may be able to offer weekday backup or drop-in care if space is available (inquiring with and visiting programs ahead of time is strongly recommended).