Child Care Grants

Grants of up to $85 per family per conference day are available at most SIAM conferences to offset conference-related costs incurred in the care of dependent children. Attendees are responsible for making their own arrangements for child care. The grants will be given as a reimbursement for expenses. If requests exceed available funding, preference will be given to students and early career attendees who are presenting at the meeting.

Allowable expenses up to $85 per conference day are reimbursable. The information below explains what is reimbursable and what receipts to provide.

Eligible for Reimbursement

• Babysitting or child care services incurred as a result of participation in the conference. The services provided do not have to be in the city of the conference, but cannot be services that would have been provided regardless of the attendee’s participation in the conference. Receipt listing the name and address of the provider is required.
• Expenses incurred in bringing a caregiver (or family member not attending the meeting acting as a caregiver) to the meeting. This includes airfare/train fare and hotel expenses for a caregiver.
• Travel expenses for the child are limited to reimbursement of airfare/train fare.
• Allowable air travel or train travel should be arranged utilizing a combination of the most direct, convenient, and cost effective routing. Only coach class seating is reimbursable.
• Allowable hotel reimbursement for a caregiver is limited to single room rate for night before the meeting, night(s) of the meeting, and night after the meeting.
• Receipts for all child care expenditures must be attached to your expense report.

Not Eligible for Reimbursement

• Child care grants cannot be used to fund travel or other expenses related to the attendee’s participation in the meeting, including meeting registration, meals, travel to the meeting (including private automobile mileage or tolls), or other expenses the attendee would already be incurring by attending the meeting.
• Meals for the child, toys, and tickets to museums, amusement parks, etc.

Reimbursement Policies and Procedures

• Reimbursements are distributed after the meeting.
• Each recipient receiving a grant must complete a SIAM reimbursement form and submit it with receipts to the SIAM office at the address noted on the form. Forms and receipts may also be scanned and sent to the e-mail address listed on the form.
• Reimbursement takes approximately six weeks to process following receipt of complete expense form by SIAM.
• Reimbursements are not distributed before the meeting or onsite at the meeting.
• Reimbursement is paid in U.S. dollars and will be mailed to the address provided on the reimbursement form. Bank transfer can be arranged by contacting the office through the e-mail address listed on the form.
• Reimbursement checks will be made payable to the individual grant recipient.

If you have questions about the child care grants please contact meetings@siam.org.

Attendees are responsible for making their own child care arrangements. One resource is  www.care.com, which provides a web-based resource to connect individuals with vetted babysitters and nannies.