Back-Up Care for Columbia Law School Students
Columbia Law School offers full-time enrolled students in residency during the Fall and/or Spring semesters up to 60 hours of back-up care per academic year through Bright Horizons Family Solutions.
The Back-Up Care Advantage Program® provides care for children and adults/elders when normal care arrangements are interrupted or when short-term care is required but you still need to perform your academic or work responsibilities. The program can provide you with a professional caregiver in your home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or at a qualified center.
Columbia Law School also offers additional resources for enrolled students through Bright Horizons Care Advantage. This program includes preferred enrollment and discounts at regular care centers, resources for finding in-home care for children and adults/elders, tutoring and test prep help, pet care, and more.
You can take advantage of the Back-Up Care Advantage Program®, if you are a full-time Columbia Law School student enrolled, and in residence during the Fall and/or Spring semesters, in one of the following degree programs:
- Juris Doctor (J.D.)
- Master of Laws (LL.M.)
- Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.)
Prior to scheduling care for the first time, you will need to register with Bright Horizons. We recommend registering even if you are not certain that you will need to use the Back-Up Care Program. Advance registration saves time if and when you do need care.
To register and/or schedule care:
- Visit the Back-Up Care Website. For first-time log-in, use Username: ColumbiaLaw; Password: Benefits4You (case sensitive) for access; OR
- Call 877-BH-CARES (242-2737)
Care can be scheduled from 30 days to 24 hours in advance. While Bright Horizons will make every effort to accommodate care requests, they cannot guarantee availability especially in cases when requests are made less than 24 hours in advance.
Back-up Care Program provides:
- 60 hours of back-up care per academic year
- Child care options
- Center-based child care at a licensed facility near your home or campus; including access to Bright Horizons Back-up Care centers in Manhattan and in New Jersey that have dedicated back-up care capacity available to the employees of clients of Bright Horizons.
- In-home care for healthy or mildly ill children by qualified professionals. This covers up to three children of the eligible Columbia affiliate only and they all must be registered with Bright Horizons.
- Adult/elder care options
- In-home care for healthy, impaired, or mildly ill adults by qualified professionals.
- Coverage is nationwide and in the following international locations: Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
Access to Regular Care:
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Priority access pending availability, (first-come, first-served).
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In addition to back-up care services, Columbia affiliates eligible for the Back-Up Care Program also get priority access or priority waiting list if spots are not available to enroll their child for regular, on-going care at the Bright Horizons Centers. Visit the Bright Horizons website and scroll to "Get Full-Time Child Care Help" to locate a center.
Who qualifies for care?
Back-up care is for anyone who relies on you for care–or for yourself. This includes infants through the elderly. The Back-Up Care Advantage Program® covers care for healthy children in centers or at home, and care at home for people of all ages who need it.
Adults for whom you provide care do not have to reside with you; they may live down the hall or across the country. You may even arrange care so that your child or adult can accompany you when you travel for professional purposes.
How much does it cost?
There is no cost to register for the Back-Up Care Advantage Program®. Columbia University covers most of the costs for back-up care.
Columbia covers much of the cost for back-up care except for the copays listed below:
- Center-Based Child Care (4 hour minimum):
- $3 copay per hour per child
- In-Home Care for Children or Adults Copay Structure (4 hour minimum):
- $7 per hour per child (for the first 49 hours)
- $9 per hour per child (for hours 50-99)
- $12 per hour per child (for hours 100-150)
Child Care
- Your regular sitter is taking a few days of vacation or is ill and you can’t miss work this week. You can use in-home or center-based care for those days.
- You typically get your children up and to school in the morning but you have to go out of town for a conference and your partner or spouse must leave early for work. Back-up care can arrange for someone to come to your home to get your children ready for the day and take them to school.
- You have a child with special needs whose care is split between day care and home care. But the day care center is closed for the day, and the home care attendant cannot come in for the full day. Back-up care can send you a qualified home care attendant to fill in.
- Your spouse or partner is in the hospital; and you need help taking care of the children. Back-up care can arrange for an in-home sitter or care at a child care center until he or she is able to help again.
Adult Care
- A parent, spouse/partner, or in-law lives alone. He or she has a change in health status - a stroke, a fall, a progressive illness - and will no longer be able to live independently. While you are helping to find a permanent care solution, Back-up care can provide an in-home health aide, so that you do not need to miss work.
- You are the caregiver for a disabled adult at nights and on weekends and you need to go to a conference out of town. Back-up care can provide an in-home caregiver to provide care while you are away.
- A parent, relative, or in-law lives in another state and their usual care attendant is on vacation for a week. Back-up care can arrange for a substitute until the attendant returns from vacation.
How to best use the back-up care program
- Register in advance! Registration is free but required prior to using the program to schedule care. You can register online or by phone, 877-BH-CARES (242-2737). Upon registering, you can search for care options both close to home and close to work.
- Advance reservations are strongly encouraged whenever possible. Reservations can be made up to 30 days in advance of the day care is needed.
- Same-day requests for care may be difficult to fill. This is especially true during school holidays when centers fill up quickly. Please refer to the High Demand Dates List to note the days that are particularly busy. You may make a reservation online, by phone or with the mobile app. The call center is available 24/7/365.
- If you have made an advance reservation and then realize that your plans have changed, you can always cancel your reservation with no fee provided you do so by 5:00 pm on the business day prior to the day of scheduled care.
- When placing a reservation you can prioritize your care options by letting Bright Horizons know what centers or providers you would like to use. It is best to provide several options for care in the event your first choice is not available.
- When scheduling in-home care you can ask for an introductory phone call between you and your in-home care provider and/or request that the care giver come early on the day you need care. This will give you an opportunity to become acquainted.
- You are also welcome to tour one of the centers used for drop-off care.
High demand dates refer to those days throughout the year when local public or independent schools are closed and therefore demand for Back-Up Care is higher than usual. If you know you will need care on a high demand date, it is best to arrange care as early as possible, up to 30 days in advance.
JANUARY
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Third Monday of January)
FEBRUARY
Presidents Day (Third Monday of February)
Mid-winter Recess for Public Schools (Week of Presidents Day)
Lunar New Year (Varies Year to Year)
MARCH
Spring Break for Columbia University (Third Week of March)
Spring Break for NYC Independent Schools and some Private Schools (Last Two Weeks of March)
Good Friday (Varies Year to Year)
APRIL
Spring Break for Public Schools (Varies Year to Year)
Good Friday (Varies Year to Year)
MAY
JUNE
Summer Break Begins for NYC Independent and Public Schools (Dates Vary)
JULY
Summer Break for NYC Independent and Public Schools (All Month)
AUGUST
Summer Break for Independent and Public Schools (All Month)
Summer Break for Many Child Care Centers (Last Two Weeks of August)
SEPTEMBER
Rosh Hashanah (Varies Year to Year)
Yom Kippur (Varies Year to Year)
Eid al-Adha (Varies Year to Year)
OCTOBER
Rosh Hashanah (Varies Year to Year)
Yom Kippur (Varies Year to Year)
Columbus Day (Second Monday of October)
NOVEMBER
Election Day (Tuesday following the First Monday in November)
NJEA Conference for New Jersey Public Schools (First or Second Thursday & Friday in November)
Veterans Day (November 11)
DECEMBER
Winter Break for NYC Independent Schools (Typically Week before Christmas through New Year’s Day)
Winter Break for Public Schools (Week between Christmas and New Year’s Day)
New Year’s Eve (December 31)
Bright Horizons Care Advantage®
This program offers additional family support through a comprehensive online care database for ongoing child and adult care, evening, weekend, and pet care needs. Employees are responsible for costs related to care for these new services:
- Free, unlimited access to regular, non-urgent child and adult care, pet care, and housekeeping services through Sittercity’s online caregiver database, free basic background checks, and free access to the site
- Preferred enrollment at select Bright Horizons centers nationwide – includes registration fee credit
- Tuition discounts at partner centers – up to 10% for children ages 2-12
- Discounted tutoring and test prep for students of all ages available through BrightStudy™
- Free general elder care planning support through Years Ahead online assessment tools
Visit this website for access and more information.