609-465-0840 Reservations Required   Weddings & Conventions Too! Find out more about our  Group Care &  Kids Conventions Screened safe sitters from eighteen to seventy years of age. Child Care Referral Agency Since 1998 Licensed and Registered   We service all hotels, bed & breakfast inns, condo's and private homes in Cape May, Wildwood, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle, Ocean City areas.

Don't Despair, A Night Out Alone Means Calling Care Aware!

By Eleanor White, Correspondent of the Cape May County Herald News Paper.

Vacationers at the Jersey Shore usually know few or no locals, leading to a seemingly endless search for a qualified babysitter. How can they possibly know if their sitter is capable, competent or trustworthy?

Christine Meehan, of Rio Grande, wondered the same thing. Meehan used to work for the Pan American Motel, where families knowing nothing about her used to ask her to watch their children.

So eight years ago, Meehan started Care Aware, affectionately known to its clients as "Super Sitters at the Shore." Care Aware is a childcare referral agency that services people from Ocean City to Cape may and all the areas in between with the hope of offering the county reliable and safe childcare providers.

With over 30 sitters, (Still growing) Care Aware screened sitters are available holidays, weekdays, weekends, 24/7. During the off-season, sitters are available on weekends.

Care Aware also has sitters for children with special needs as some of the sitters have special education degrees. Sitters for Care Aware range in age from 17 to 70 years of age

Lynn, one of the agency's babysitters, says even though there are many different ages of sitters, everyone seems to work together really well. We get this opportunity when doing conventions, weddings and parties.

Meehan says that safety is important and she screens her sitters as she gets to know them personally. "We only want the best sitters for our clients". Reference checks, social security and lisc. are required. Fingerprinting also completed by many teachers on board and a training manual is distributed and discussed. Pictures and profiles are kept on file and shared with our clients.

Most of Care Aware's sitters are local teachers, aides, college gals, moms and grand-moms with experience with children. They all come equipped with a "busy bag" to each appointment. The bag contains various age appropriate activities for the children, which makes their time away from their parents fun, fast and interactive.

Louise, a Care Aware sitter from opening day, says her favorite "busy bag" toy to bring along to her jobs is bubbles, and pirates.

Kid Conventions are also available for large groups. Meehan said that a wedding party or other large groups may need care for their children, so a group of sitters will come in and provide a structured session. The session often includes arts and crafts, indoor physical games, movies, puzzles or many other activities. We have a crawl through bus, parachute, and such fun things to play with the kids enjoy playing with us.

Care Aware is also involved in Camps. Camp Congress Hall was conducted by two of our sitters several nights a week with dinner, craft and a movie so parents could have their own private time together.

"Working with Christine is great, she is very aware of children's habits and is always very caring concerning with her sitters and clients." said Louise. "She also believes clients like the service because they are aware that Christine only wants a quality, professional childcare provider to refer." Lynn feels the same way: "I was looking for a fun job, something where I could meet people...and that's what I have at Care Aware.

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