In 1987, Kids’ Corner at the Pines opened, which is licensed for 44 children between the ages of 1 month to 7 years both for the community and our staff: this promotes the attraction, retention, and longevity of some of the top professionals in the industry. Our program allows our staff to return to work earlier because they are able to look in on their infants during the work day. We have fewer callouts because Kids Corner does not close for snow days and is only closed for 6 holidays, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve. Knowing that you can have consistent staff (Early Education Teachers and aides) caring for your child through a Licensed Program Certified through the Office of Children is a tremendous benefit. Having it subsidized by SPEC has given us the ability to be selective in who we hire to care for your child. We have a great many nursing candidates interested in working in our child daycare program as well as our other departments.
The children in Kids Corner join in with activities with the residents such as crafts, music, fashion shows, Trick or Treating, etc.
On occasion some of our residents and their families visit the children. The exposure to the infants and toddlers as well as the pre-schoolers creates a non-threatening relationship and many of our lower functioning residents become very responsive and start engaging the little ones in conversation, stirring old memories of their prior lives. The families are able to see the parent they remembered as a child who is now responding to the toddler. We see role reversals where the children become the caregivers who watch out for the memory impaired residents and help them wherever they can.