TOPS FOR WORKING MOMS
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
A CHILD'S WAITING ADOPTION PROGRAM OFFERS ON-SITE NANNY AND FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES
Author: Kerry Clawson, Beacon Journal business writer
Happy moms are a big part of what makes A Child's Waiting Adoption Program, whose employees are nearly all moms, tick.
The family-owned Copley Township agency has been honored in this month's Working Mother magazine's list of the 25 Best Small Companies for 2007. More than 300 businesses with a family-friendly culture were nominated by readers.
Sisters Crissy Bessemer-Kolarik and Jennifer Bessemer-Marando, who founded the agency in Bessemer-Marando's basement in 2000, are working mothers. The flexible schedule and on-staff nanny service they offer employees of the agency -- now housed in a converted ranch on Ridgewood Road -- sprang from their needs.
A Child's Waiting, which handles public and private adoptions in the United States, specializing in open adoptions, employs 17 women (four of whom are single moms) and one man. All are offered the nanny care at work free of charge.
Parents of older children also may pick up kids from school or the bus stop and bring them back to the office's toy-stocked playroom. In the summer, children who are school-age or younger have numerous activities and field trips and can jump on the trampoline on the wooded lot behind the agency.
The co-founders also offer moms a private nursing room, and provide a crib area where babies can nap.
At this workplace, it's not unusual to see baby equipment near workers' desks. Spouses Kenny and Kendra Crookston -- who work in public adoption and as a birth-parent counselor, respectively -- brought their baby to work when the infant was only 4 months old.
"Kenny has a baby swing right next to his desk,"Bessemer-Kolarik said.
"It's like a family atmosphere, and we're building families through our business," said Bessemer-Kolarik, who like her sister is a licensed professional clinical counselor.
Nearly all employees at the licensed adoption agency work flexible schedules. Some telecommute, while others work compressed weeks or adjust their hours weekly.
"As long as the work is getting accomplished, we don't specify the hours that need to be worked," Bessemer-Kolarik said.
Maternity-leave pay
In other benefits, new moms receive one paid week of maternity leave, and unpaid, job-guaranteed leave is unlimited.
"They're such a small company, and the fact that they're giving any sort of paid maternity leave we believe is very, very valuable," said Susan Gerstenzang, associate editor of Working Mother.
Employees at A Child's Waiting who adopt also receive up to $1,000 to cover expenses.
Bessemer-Kolarik, who has two toddler boys, is looking to adopt a girl. Bessemer-Marando has two school-age children.
Ronda Berger, a mother of three who had stayed home for 13 years, started working as a child recruiter and family service coordinator five years ago. She started out bringing her youngest daughter to work.
"I never would have taken this job if I hadn't had the opportunity to take her here," Berger said.
Berger also enjoys having the job flexibility to attend her children's sports events and to coach soccer.
Two years ago, when Berger had temporary custody of her three nieces and nephews, A Child's Waiting hired another on-staff nanny to accommodate them.
Kim Dobben had adopted three children from A Child's Waiting when she began working there three years ago with children whose previous adoptions have been disrupted. Since then, she has adopted two more children. Her flex schedule at the agency allows Dobben and her husband to home-school their seventh-grader.
"I worked at a corporate office before, and it was very hard if you needed time off for the kids to go to a school function, or a Valentine's party or school awards," she said.
Court cases
A Child's Waiting was in the news in December and again last month after Stephanie Bennett, 17, and her parents, Ranza and Judy Bennett of Canton, fought in two counties to regain custody of Stephanie's baby, Evelyn, after the teen had given up her daughter to A Child's Waiting for adoption.
A Stark County Family Court dismissed one lawsuit in February, ruling that the teen had knowingly and voluntarily signed papers surrendering her daughter to the adoption agency. No ruling has been made on the second case, which was heard last week by Magistrate Diana Stevenson in Summit County Probate Court.
Evelyn is now 11 months old and has been placed with an adoptive family.
The teen had accused A Child's Waiting of encouraging her to run away so she could more easily sign the adoption papers without her parents' knowledge.
"The allegation is ridiculous," Bessemer-Kolarik said. "That's not something we would ever condone, especially for a minor. "Of course, our heart goes out to the birth family. A Child's Waiting always has the best interest of the child in mind."
Bessemer-Kolarik said this is the first custody dispute the agency has experienced in its seven years.
Gerstenzang of Working Mother said she wasn't aware of the dispute and did not know if other editors at the magazine knew of it when they chose A Child's Waiting for recognition.
Caption:
Sisters Jennifer Bessemer-Marando (left) and Crissy Bessemer-Kolarik, pictured with their children, are co-founders of A Child's Waiting Adoption Program, which was named one of Working Mother magazine's 25 Best Small Companies for 2007.
Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or by e-mail at kclawson@thebeacon journal.com