MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- “Welcome” chimes from a terminal as parents scan their cards one after another to enter the office, but one parent is stopped, pulled to the side and spoken to by a clerk about something in their record.
No this isn’t some scene out of a futuristic Stephen Spielberg movie this is the Children Youth Management System that began being used at Tarawa Terrace, Brewster, Stone Street Youth Pavilion, and Tarawa Terrace Youth Pavilion child development centers Aug. 28.
The Children Youth Management System provides services members, government workers and their families with a barcode tagged identification card, which is used track usage of the facility, said Marla Talley, Children Youth and Teen Programs administrator. “Congress requires reports of information like how many people, what ranks or what ages utilize our services to properly appropriate funds necessary for these programs. This new system allows fast access to that information.”
Appropriation is important, but this system benefits parents by allowing the CYTP to keep better track of their emergency contact information. It automatically flags parents as they scan into the center if their child’s medical records need to be updated; parents can file their annual health assessment at their child care center and all of the bills can be paid at one location even if parents have children in different centers. Lastly the centers are now accepting Star Cards to make payment more convenient, said Talley.
The new system has already come in handy, according to Tally. It was utilized during the recent power outage at the Stone Street Youth Pavilion. “We had to relocate the after school care to the Lejeune Education Center Gym because they had power. With the old system we would have had to go through filing cabinets in the dark with flashlights to retrieve parents’ emergency contact information, but the system is networked so we printed up the information at a different location and called the parents to inform them of the change of location and everything worked out.”
Ensuring proper contact information is just one part of keeping children safe. The CYMS maintains an escort list, which means if a person comes to pick up a child and they are not recognized they are immediately stopped and asked to produce identification and referenced against the list, said Tally.
This system began in 2004 beginning with Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. with Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga. and MCB Hawaii to be implemented by the end of 2006, said Susan M. Moore, program analyst for Personal and Family Readiness Division of Headquarters Marine Corps.
"The eventual goal is to have a system in place that allows service members to easily transfer from duty station to duty station without having to redo all the register paperwork each time”, said Moore.
A Marine Corps Community Services organization, the CYTP provides affordable programs such as child development, social, recreational, and athletic activities according to the MCCS Children, Youth, and Teen Programs website.
To register a child visit the Youth and Teen Resource and Referral Office in building 1966 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
“You must have your child’s shot records to register”, added Tally.