Worker Assistance Office Facing Possible Closure : Labor: More sponsors are sought for an agency that assists employees with personal problems like finding baby-sitters.

They call in sick, take a lot of time off, come to work late, make too many personal calls, complain about stress and--finally--quit.

Is this a problem employee, or an employee with a problem?

David Yates and Michelle Moser of the Alliance for Family Solutions say many work problems can be traced to problems at home.

The nonprofit alliance, which operates out of space at Ventura City Hall, helps businesses help employees solve work and family problems.

It offers information on thousands of local child-care providers, youth programs ranging from Boys & Girls Clubs to pregnancy counseling, support groups, elder care and bereavement guidance and support.

Yates said the alliance would like to help more people but may fold if it doesn’t get more members soon. Aside from the city and county, about 30 businesses participate in the group, paying annual membership fees that range from about $50 to $600 per year plus $1 per employee.

This month, the service hopes to launch a registry of substitute teachers for child-care centers. It also hopes to start the Cuddle Club soon, where working parents can drop off mildly ill children up to age 12.

Lynn Young, co-owner of the Peppermint Junction child-care services in Ventura and Oxnard, used the service to find help for her hard-of-hearing mother and plans to take advantage of the teacher registry when it goes into effect.

“Substitutes are really a prime problem for our business,” Young said. “You can’t just have anyone. You have to have someone with all the documentation and all the clearances from the state Social Services Department.”

*

The database goes beyond the local. For example, Yates and Moser can assist employees trying to arrange elder care for out-of-state relatives.

“The whole idea here is to cut down phone use and absenteeism in the work force,” said Yates, the alliance’s executive director. “If someone calls us and we don’t have it in our database, we will find out.

“One out of four employees have problems with child-care issues, and one out of four have problems with elder-care issues, and some are dealing with both at the same time,” he added.

“If that person quits, how much does it cost to have another person to get up to that level of proficiency? Employers need to be flexible. That’s what work/family is about.”

Formerly the Alliance for Child Care Solutions, the group changed its name in January to reflect its broader function. Yates and Moser estimate that the organization, which receives an annual city subsidy, has assisted as many as 6,000 people during its six years of existence.

Child care makes up the bulk of referral requests--about 90%, Moser said. Most callers are single parents who have tried other agencies before contacting the alliance. Moser said the alliance provides detailed written information about each provider--not just a phone number.

As of January, the alliance began offering monthly workshops on work and family issues. A March 1 workshop titled “The Hurricane Hour” addressed the travails of getting ready for and returning from work. An April forum will cover aging parents.

Ventura resident Alison Whitney came to the alliance 2 1/2 months ago to find someone she felt she could trust to look after her three children while she was working.

*

Whitney said she’d looked for people through the newspaper to baby-sit her 8-, 7- and 6-year-olds and encountered a lot of “flakes.”

“It’s helpful,” she said of the service. “It’s hard to find a good baby-sitter.”

Businesses interested in joining the alliance may call 658-4744 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.