Oh baby, there's a sitter site A Green Bay man starts an Internet child-care directory By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle About two years ago, Rick Kops of Green Bay and some friends wanted to go out for the evening. But he didn't have a baby sitter, and didn't know who to call. So there was no night out. Instead, the talk turned to child care. "No one knew who to call, and there wasn't much in the paper along those lines," he said. The discussion led, earlier this month, to a new Web site, www.wisconsinchildcare.com. Kops had considered doing just a listing of baby sitters, but it evolved, he said. "What we want to do is make it a primary resource for parents to turn to for baby sitters and child care," he said. "We wanted to make it a quick, easy place for parents to go." The site provides two primary services. First is a directory of child-care and day-care providers. Parents can search the directory for free. State-licensed providers can have a free listing or a more detailed paid listing. "They can purchase a premier listing with names, contacts, a description, a Web site link, e-mail link, even a map and driving directions," Kops said. "Or if they don't have a Web site, we can put a page together for them." There is a section of free baby-sitter listings on the site, both for sitters and for parents looking for sitters. "That's aimed at baby sitters who work weekends or nights, moms who stay at home," he said. The site, for now, is focused on Northeast Wisconsin, but Kops said he wants to extend it throughout the state. "We'll go through Appleton, the Fox Valley and eventually statewide. That's where we'll stop," he said. "Maybe in the future we'll have separate sites for other states." For more information, call 884-9041 or e-mail [email protected].