Child & Adult Care

Child and adult care

Finding the right care for your family can be hard, especially when you’re balancing the demands of work. At IU, you have access to Care.com, the world’s largest online community for finding care.

You can use your IU-sponsored premium membership to find, book, and pay for care services including:

  • Childcare: In-home babysitters and nannies, special needs caregivers, tutors
  • Adult and senior care: Personal care and transportation, home health aides, special needs caregivers, tutors
  • Pet care: Pet sitters, walkers, grooming and boarding
  • Home care: House cleaning, errands, odd jobs

Register or access service online

Eligibility

Care benefits are available to:

  • Full-time (75% FTE or greater) appointed academic and staff employees (including IU residents)
  • Student academic appointees (SAAs) enrolled in the IU-sponsored SAA medical plan

Senior care solutions

Personalized adult/senior care planning services with support from an experienced Senior Care Advisor and access to the Family Care Hub

Backup care services

Up to 15 days of last-minute care at a reduced cost when normal arrangements are disrupted

Care discount program

Unlimited access to hundreds of discounts for services, essentials, or major purchases through LifeMart

Using Care.com

Start by creating an account at care.com/yourbenefits.

Online platform and mobile app

Use the website or Care.com app to keep your Care benefits at your fingertips. Find caregivers, schedule services, access resources, and more. Download for Android or Apple.

For phone support, call 866-814-1638.

Virtual care talks

Join expert speakers each month for advice and guidance in childcare, senior care, financial literacy, emotional health, and more. Register on the IUHR Events Calendar to register, or view the archive of past Care Talks.

Safety

Care.com provides background checks on providers at no cost to employees. You can also access reviews and ratings from other users, and contribute your own.

Visit Care.com’s Safety Center for information, tips, and tools to help evaluate risk and make smart decisions when searching for a caregiver.

Important tax information

The IRS may consider backup care services provided through Care.com as a taxable benefit. At Indiana University, we report taxable benefits as follows:

  • Adult care services: The value of adult care services is considered taxable income. The amount will be added to your paycheck at the end of the calendar year.

  • Backup care and child care: These services may also be considered taxable if you use them alongside a dependent care flexible spending account (FSA). Indiana University will report the value of the care provided on your Form W-2 in Box 10 as dependent care benefits.

    If the total of your backup care benefits plus your dependent care FSA contributions exceeds $2,500 (for those married filing separately) or $5,000 (for those married filing jointly or filing as “Head of Household”), the amount over these limits will be treated as taxable income.

It’s your responsibility to handle any federal, state, or local taxes, fees, or gratuities related to using this program. For more detailed guidance, we recommend reaching out to a tax professional or visiting the IRS website at www.irs.gov.

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