This is part of a package of stories, Care for Caregivers. Visit PAALtheatre.com/resources for up-to-date listings or to submit a resource.

GENERAL RESOURCES FOR PARENT ARTISTS

Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) – Best Practices Handbook: PAAL has compiled the first contributions to their Best Practices Handbook for Parent Artists and Employers, to be available nationally to theatres in the United States. The handbook consists of featured interviews with professional parent artists and supportive institutions translated into guide-sheets and principles that can apply to a wide range of institution levels, from Broadway to regional to festival-size theatres. Topics include the intersectional and intergenerational effects of parent discrimination, true stories of individual parent-artist discrimination and job loss, and research recommendations for reducing discrimination.

Directory of Family Friendly Theatres Awarded by PAAL for Best Practices: The PAAL Awards offer national recognition for thea­tre institutions, companies, and organizations that engage in parent-inclusive practices. The awards are rolling and nominations stay open. PAAL will review each submission and notify theatres that qualify for inclusion on the awards list. To apply, go to ­PAALtheatre.com and click on “Family-Friendly Theatres.”

Parenting | Human Rights Campaign: As the number of LGBTQ-headed families continues to grow, so does the need to secure legal equality, fairness, and respect for LGBTQ parents and to provide environments where all children are welcome, supported, and loved. HRC provides current resources that address the many potential paths to parenthood as well as tools for issues facing LGBTQ-headed families or LGBTQ youth.

Family Equality Council (contributed by Statera Arts): Founded in 1979 at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, the organization that grew into Family Equality Council was spurred to action by the same fundamental inequality that drives our work today: that caring, loving parents are being denied equal opportunity to form and sustain families because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

LEGAL RESOURCES FOR CAREGIVERS

Enforcement Guidance: Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers With Caregiving Responsibilities (EEOC.gov): This document provides guidance regarding unlawful disparate treatment under the federal EEO laws of workers with caregiving responsibilities.

Spiggle Law Firm: This law firm, which specializes in litigating caregiver discrimination, explains on its website that “caregiver discrimination, also known as ‘family responsibilities discrimination,’ occurs when an employer discriminates against someone based on their caregiving responsibilities. While there is no single statute that protects those who are subject to discrimination because they have caregiving responsibilities, there are a number of laws that together provide such protection for caregivers. These laws are:

• The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects individuals of all genders who need to take leave to care for a child or a family member.
• The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prevents discrimination against those who provide care to disabled family members.
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prevents discrimination on the basis of any sex stereotype, and it applies to people of all gender identities. This means that an employer cannot deny leave to a man to care for his child because “that is something his wife should do.”
• The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers over 40 and can apply to those with caregiver responsibilities.
• State laws like the DC Human Rights Act (DCHRA): Some states and localities provide additional protection. For instance, unlike federal law, the DCHRA makes discrimination based on sexual orientation unlawful.

PARENT ARTIST GRANTS, FUNDING & RESIDENCIES

PAAL Childcare Grants: These grants go to parent artists working in the United States who seek funding for general artistic and/or general professional childcare support or project-specific childcare support. Union membership is not required. All theatrical disciplines and administrative positions are eligible to apply for these grants. Pregnant Parent Artists and Artists in Late Stages of the Adoption Process are welcome and qualified to apply. Applications open in the fall at PAALtheatre.com.

The grant categories include eight individual divisions (Mother Artist of Color – Leadership Path, Mother Artist of Color – Creative Path, Mother Artist – Leadership Path, Mother Artist – Creative Path, Parent Artist of Color – Leadership Path, Parent Artist of Color – Creative Path, Parent Artist – Leadership Path, and Parent Artist – Creative Path) and one matching childcare grant for an institution.

Sustainable Arts Foundation: This nonprofit foundation supports artists and writers with families by giving financial awards to parents pursuing creative work. Its parent artist residencies and family-friendly retreats for 2020 include the following:

• Abrons Arts Center in New York City. A program of Henry Street Settlement, Abrons will again run their AIRspace for Parent Artists, a six-week summer residency with a generous artist stipend and free summer arts camp for the artist’s child/ren.
• AS220 in Providence, R.I. This community arts center offers tuition fellowships and childcare stipends for parents to attend Practice//Practice, a four-day professional development residency program for arts administrators.
• Aunt Karen’s Farm in Mount Vision, N.Y. This multigenerational arts space will host four families in residence for one week each, with accompanying childcare stipends.
• Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (BETC) in Boulder, Colo. BETC’s Generations program, which supports the development of plays by parent playwrights, is now in its eighth year; the program provides a one-week residency with prize money, childcare stipend, travel, lodging, and a per diem.
• Caldera in Sisters, Ore. This art center will support parent artists with stipends, and will also ensure that at least one parent artist is paid to serve as a selection panelist.
• Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. This residential center in the south of France is formalizing its longstanding support of parents with access to local schools and activities, and additional stipends to support the cost of living and travel.
• Cuttyhunk in Cuttyhunk Island, Mass. The Cuttyhunk Island Writers’ Residency, a semi-annual eight-day writing workshop and retreat, will offer a scholarship to one or two parent writers.
• Elsewhere Studios in Panoia, Colo. Elsewhere Studios, located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, will support four parent artists-in-residence with their families by connecting them to local activities and camps, and offering them generous stipends.
• The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn. Select applicants to the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference will now be eligible for funds to help cover childcare, transportation, food, and lodging.
• Gallery Aferro in Newark, N.J. This artists’ studio and community center will provide six-month studio space residencies, a generous stipend, and a budget for two parent artists or collectives to develop their work.
• Hewnoaks in Lovell, Maine. This residency for writers, visual artists, and performing artists in rural Maine will offer two $500 childcare stipends to parents who are in residence without their children.
• Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, Calif. Kala is now in its eighth year of running a Parent Artist Residency Program, offering studio residencies, classes, children’s art camps, and professional development consultations to selected artists.
• Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) in Tallahassee, Fla. Ensconced in the Florida State University School of Dance, MANCC will expand their previous support for parents and their collaborators by offering an increased number of childcare stipends.
• Marble House Project in Dorset, Vt. This is entering its seventh summer of running a two-week Family Friendly Session; it offers a rich and well-considered camp program for children while their parents are in residence.
• Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing in Aquinnah, Mass. MVICW offers an intensive workshop and supportive community for writers at all stages. Their Parent Writer Fellowship, established in 2016, covers tuition and lodging, as well as childcare stipends for writers with children.
• MASS MoCA in North Adams, Mass. Since 2018 and in response to Hurricane Maria, the Studios at MASS MoCA have committed to fully funding emergency relief residencies for artists currently living in Puerto Rico. This grant will designate one of these awards for an artist with children.
• Movement Research in New York City. Movement Research supports movement-based artists in NYC. With this grant, they will launch a new Parent Artist Residency Program that includes free classes, subsidized rehearsal space, plus a stipend and funds for childcare.
• New Harmony Project in Indianapolis. This 32-year-old residency for writers in film, television, and theatre will formalize and increase their support to parent writers.
• Renaissance House in Oak Bluffs, Mass. A project of the Helene Johnson and Dorothy West Foundation for Artists in Need, Renaissance House has hosted a family-friendly writing residency on Martha’s Vineyard for more than 20 years, and will host two parent writers and offer day care for their accompanying children.
• Santa Fe Art Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. Santa Fe Art Institute will continue to welcome parent artists to be in residence with their families as part of their thematic residency.
• SPACE on Ryder Farm in Brewster, N.Y. This beloved retreat will continue the family-friendly residency they’ve been hosting for six years. It’s one of the most thoughtful programs we’ve seen, where the needs of both parents and children are perfectly addressed.
• Wassaic Project in Wassaic, N.Y. This artist residency in upstate New York will support two artists with families from under-represented communities for free, two-week-long residencies, including a $500 need-based and unrestricted stipend for each artist.
• Watkins College of Art in Nashville. Summer camp tuition with be subsidized for the children of parent residents in its low-residency MFA program.
• Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, N.Y. Located a couple of hours north of New York City, this workshop offers three fully subsidized, two- to four-week residencies for female artists working in printmaking, book making, ceramics, or photography.

ARTIST-CENTRIC CHILDCARE RESOURCES

Note on childcare providers: All parents and guardians are responsible for vetting and hiring care. PAAL is not a caregiver service and assumes no responsibility for caregiver providers hired by parents or guardians.

Artistic Babysitters for DC Parents: This Facebook group gives parents in Washington, D.C., a place to request babysitters, particularly in the case of last-minute requests.
Broadway Babysitters: These vetted, experienced sitters, serving parents in New York City, New Jersey, and beyond, are referral-only, CPR-trained, special needs-trained, and background-checked. Mobile insurance coverage is available for on-site care.
Seed Art Share: Since 2010, this collective based in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, has embarked on a variety of projects to “support parents and families attending  and working in our local theatre  community,” including “feeding your tribe during long production days, providing show-themed drama  programs for kids whose parents are performing or attending  local plays, or finding cast and crew roles for even the littlest family members.”
Creative Caretakers: Located in Philadelphia, this artist-driven co-op “developed to offer devoted, flexible caretakers to families in need while simultaneously offering financially dependable, flexible job options for artists.”

PARENT ARTIST NETWORKING RESOURCES

National: PAAL – Parent Artist Advocacy League (Facebook), Mother Artists of Color (PAAL), PAAL Parent Artists of Children with Special Needs, Single Parents in the Performing Arts (PAAL), Working Theatre Moms (Mothers Only), New Parents in Theater, Theatre Parents, Indie theater parents, Just for Fun Theatre Group Parents, Busy Theatre Parents, Theatre Parents, Theatre Professionals who are Parents!, Theatre Kids – for parents working in theatre, Theatre Parents Network
Chicago: Parents in Chicago Theatre, Industry Families Network Chicago, Chicago Theatre Parents of Wee Ones
Denver: Parents in Metro Denver Theatre
Massachusetts: PAAL (Parent Artist Advocacy League) Boston
Philadelphia: Philly Baby-Theatre Resource
North Carolina: PAAL Raleigh/Triangle, NC
Tennessee: PAAL Nashville
Twin Cities: Twin Cities Theater Parents
Ireland: Mother Artist Makers
U.K.: Parents in Performing Arts – PIPA (official); Parents in Performing Arts

Parent Artist Advocacy League is honored to partner with  American Theatre magazine on this issue for caregiver support.