New Council is the Latest Step by the Company to Strengthen Industry-Leading Safety Program
AUSTIN, Texas, February 8, 2021 — Care.com, the world’s leading platform for finding and managing high-quality family care, today announced the formation of a Safety Advisory Council. The Safety Advisory Council is a cross-disciplinary group of subject matter experts, advocates, and practitioners who will serve as a resource to Care.com leadership, providing expertise on a range of matters pertaining to Care.com’s safety protocols. The Council will be chaired by Care.com’s General Counsel, Melanie Goins. Today’s announcement follows Care.com’s hire of Megan Poonolly—former Senior Counsel for Safety at Uber— as Head of Safety last October, whose charge is to ensure safety is a primary focus throughout Care.com’s entire organization.
In addition to Ms. Poonolly who will serve as lead coordinator and a permanent member, Council appointees announced today include:
– Janice K. Fedarcyk, President, Fedarcyk Consulting LLC and Retired Assistant Director in Charge, FBI New York Office
– Tom Siegel, CEO, Trust Lab
– Glen Pounder, Chief Operating Officer, Child Rescue Coalition
Care.com CEO Tim Allen said, “Each member of the Safety Advisory Council is a leader in their field of expertise and brings unique and valuable perspective to the safety challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Care.com. I look forward to partnering with them to build on our significant recent progress in our continuous pursuit of safety for our community.”
Mr. Allen continued, “The safety of the Care.com families and caregivers is a top priority, and while our protocols set the standard for the online care industry, as the industry leader we’re committed to continually raising the bar.”
The Safety Advisory Council’s mission is to help guide Care.com as it continually advances safety standards for the industry, striving to create the safest possible environment for families, care recipients and caregivers alike. The Safety Advisory Council will lend its counsel on safety best practices across the care industry, digital platforms, and other similar businesses. The Council’s purview will extend across all aspects of safety from new technology and tools to reporting practices. Additional Safety Advisory Council members will be announced in the coming months. The Council will convene for the first time in Q1.
Care.com has also implemented several additional safety measures including:
– In-platform video interviews, which allow for face-to-face communication before families and caregivers meet in person.
– Plans for the installation of an enhanced ongoing negative media screening and monitoring tool by the end of Q1. The tool will surface concerning, publicly reported information about selective Care.com members faster and more effectively.
– Enhanced blocklist capabilities to help ensure that bad actors cannot re-enter the site.
Last year, Care.com, the largest digital care marketplace, confirmed that all caregivers on the site had been screened and passed a CareCheck, a detailed background check, as part of the Company’s security protocols. All newly enrolling caregivers must complete the CareCheck before they are granted access to the platform.
Additional elements of the Care.com safety program include the monitoring of messages between community members to detect inappropriate behavior, language, and fraud, and a robust education program to encourage members to follow best practices and make use of available resources, among other protocols.
About Care.com
Available in more than 20 countries, Care.com is the world’s leading platform for finding and managing high-quality family care. Care.com is designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s families and caregivers, offering everything from household tax and payroll services and customized corporate benefits packages covering the care needs of working families, to innovating new ways for caregivers to be paid and obtain professional benefits. Since 2007, families have relied on Care.com’s industry-leading products—from child and elder care to pet care and home care. Care.com is an IAC company (NASDAQ: IAC).
Contact:
Nancy Bushkin
SVP, Public Relations
nbushkin@care.com
781-642-5919
Hannah Bergh
925-785-1491