New App Connects Main Line Families With Babysitters, And Fast
BRYN MAWR, PA — Parents and guardians know how difficult finding quality, and most importantly safe, child care can be. Luckily, a Main Line couple has spent roughly the last year creating a solution for families who are in need of a babysitter.
This week, Ashley and Michael Clark, of Bryn Mawr launched their app FAST, an acronym representing “Find A Sitter Today.”
The app serves as a sort of Uber or Lyft for babysitters along the Main Line. Families who sign on as FAST users can see in real time local sitters who are available for work, just like the popular rideshare apps.
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“The goal is to immediately help people,” Michael said.
Their third child, now 2, was born in 2022 and placed on a waitlist for daycare, the same one their other two children (ages 7 and 4) attend.
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“I had a revolving door of Villanova students,” Ashley said. “Every morning in mid-August in 2023 we’d have cancelations. I was ugly crying to Mike, asking, ‘what is going on?'”
They searched for an app that would help connect them with reputable sitters locally, but found little to no resources.
After a few weeks, Michael, 39, and Ashley, 38, took matters into their own hands.
The Clarks teamed up with an app development company based in India, but whose CEO spends much of his time in the U.S., working with them to create an app that is user-friendly to both babysitters and families.
Some families might balk at the idea of using such a streamlined service to get quick childcare coverage.
But, the Clarks told Patch safety was a top concern in developing the app.
They said parents and guardians who join the app get verified by submitting identification, and prospective sitters receive new background checks via the app.
“Accounts get a flag with any blemishes,” Ashley Clark said.
Even small issues such as parking tickets and traffic violations are caught via the background checks, which are administered by Checkr.
The Clarks said conducting new background checks was paramount as the app came together. While some sitters hoping to join the service may want to provide previously obtain checks, the Clarks said that allows for too many variables, from outdated information to potentially fudged records.
And, the app itself pays for the checks, meaning hopeful babysitters don’t have to foot the bill.
Potential sitters are also interviewed via Zoom.
Anyone interested in booking an interview can do so online here.
Over the last nine months, the Clarks and Dr. Kirby Lynn Wycoff, Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health and Director of the Community and Trauma Counseling Program at Thomas Jefferson University, manually onboarded dozens of sitters.
These onboarded sitters were given access to the app late last week in anticipation of its launch for families Monday.
Now, however, the vetting process and background checks are all done via the app.
Just about three days into the app’s launch, the Clarks have surpassed 200 downloads and said four sitter bookings have already been made.
And so far, the feedback has been great.
FAST has nine five-star reviews on the Apple Store and has received positive commentary from parents. Its Instagram page features user testimonials, as well.
FAST sitters earn $24 per hour via the app, and parents pay $29 per hour. The $5 difference helps keep FAST up and running.
And, FAST does not feature any subscriptions, meaning all bookings are paid à la carte.
The Clarks said FAST is dually beneficial: it provides Main Liners with supplemental income, while giving parents a crucial resource as child care costs increase nationally.
“We’re hoping to provide the village,” the Clarks said, referring to the adage that it takes a village to raise a child. “Not everybody has the village.”
Despite the measures FAST takes to ensure safety for its user families, the Clarks said they expect new families might book a sitter while a parent or guardian is still home a few times to feel out the system.
While there’s no guarantee a family will have the same sitter, the Clarks hope families will find the service more than adequate to book a sitter to be alone with their kids.
So far, sitters on the app are largely women in their early 20s to early 30s. The Clarks said the Main Line is a great area for such an app, with numerous institutions of higher learning nearby. Still, some sitters on the app are parents themselves, nannies, and teachers. Even two men have been onboarded as sitters.
Michael said they hope young people who move to the area for school and sign on as sitters can potentially act as ambassadors in their hometown areas, ideally spreading the app’s reach to new markets.
For now, the service is offered along the Main Line, from Narberth to Devon.
“Like any aspiring venture, we have huge dreams,” Michael said.
For now, the Clarks want to perfect the experience on the Main Line, however.
FAST will be in a quality control period for the next several months, but so far no crashes have been reported by users on either end.
FAST uses ZenDesk for its customer service needs, but Michael is directly sent customer service emails, giving a personal touch to a business aspect that is increasingly automated by chatbots and artificial intelligence.
The app is available for download on the Apple App Store here. The Android version of the app is expected to go live on the Google Play Store in the next several days.
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