Hutchinson ? His name badge labels him the agency’s Morale Improvement Officer, but he isn’t pulling a paycheck.

Instead, he sat in his playpen, smiling at passers-by while playing on his toy computer – his mother just a few feet away typing on her own machine.

His name is Wilson Alan Hagerman, and when he recently turned 6 months old, he became one of the first in South Hutchinson’s Social and Rehabilitation Service office to graduate from the state’s Infant at Work program.

Wilson’s last day on the job was bringing a little sadness to his fellow employees, who brought cookies and milk to celebrate the infant’s last day.

“We’ll miss him,” said the agency’s Human Resource Director Kathy Mattison. “It really adds to the morale around here. He even goes on breaks with people.”

Those breaks come at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., to be exact. And Wilson doesn’t miss his lunch hour walk with some of the office’s crew.

The state’s SRS officials modeled Wilson’s six-month employment after a program Gov. Kathleen Sebelius initiated during her term as Kansas Insurance Commissioner. He and his mother, Melody Hagerman, a child-support enforcement attorney for SRS, are among the first participants since the program began at the agency’s south-central region building two years ago.

“People have been really good about it,” Hagerman said. “Everyone’s been so supportive and helpful.”

The program does have rules, Mattison said. To keep productivity at an optimum level, two co-workers must agree to provide care when the infant is fussy or if the parent is occupied with work.

Infants can stay at the office for up to six months after birth, she said. And by all accounts, the program has been a success.

Hagerman’s own office includes a portable crib and toys, as well as a filing cabinet filled with diapers and formula – its top was turned into a changing table. While co-workers admit they don’t lend a hand in the dirty-diaper department, most don’t mind having a baby to cuddle.

“No one minds helping out,” said Carla Buckwalter, senior administrative assistant for Hagerman and Wilson’s alternate care provider. “I think it’s fantastic.”