ILAS is providing grants to ILAS members who are parents of young children so as to make it easier to attend an ILAS Conference.

The grants up to the amount of $500 can be used to pay for childcare either at the conference city, or the home city of the ILAS member. In the latter case, it is for any additional childcare expenses incurred because the ILAS member is attending the conference. The grant can also be used to subsidize the travel of a person who would take care of the child during the conference.

Applications need to be sent at least two months in advance of the conference dates indicating:

Name of the ILAS member
Name of the child/ren and their ages
Expected budget and type of expense

Applications can be sent directly to the ILAS President.

The ILAS President will communicate the decision to each applicant no later than one month after the application is received.

Reimbursements will be sent to the applicant after the applicant has attended the conference and once appropriate receipts for up to $500 have been submitted to the ILAS Secretary/Treasurer.

—

Other initiatives that ILAS is putting into place include:

Aiming to have a break every two hours or so during the ILAS conferences to allow parents see their children if necessary.

Invited speakers with young children could stay in apartments and not necessarily in a hotel.

If the caretaker/companion is traveling with the parent, ILAS will facilitate free registration to the conference if such caretaker wishes to attend a few lectures.

The ILAS President will aim to put in contact parents of young children in case they want to coordinate activities.

Children will be welcomed at the coffee breaks, excursions, or other social activities.