For many working parents, balancing work with getting kids to school or activities is an all-too-familiar and even overwhelming challenge.

It might mean arranging a carpool or taking time off work to get one or more kids home from school or soccer practice or drama club. But what if arranging a ride was as easy as the click of a button?

That's the idea driving Connecticut-based company VanGo, which strives to be the “Uber for kids.”

Unlike other ride-sharing apps, VanGo’s features are tailored specifically to parents, with heavy background checks on drivers, GPS tracking of rides and advance scheduling.

Starting Monday, Dallas parents will be able to use the app to schedule rides for kids, ages 8 to 17, for after-school practices, trips or visits with friends. Families not quite ready to give up carpool schedules can also arrange multiple house pickups.

“We’re a company built for working moms,” founder Marta Jamrozik said.

For Jamrozik, it’s close to home. She was inspired by her own mother, who served as both primary breadwinner and the person doing the majority of child care and housework.

VanGo founder Marta Jamrozik started her business, which she wants to be the "Uber for kids" to help working parents (Courtesy: VanGo / Courtesy: VanGo)

The service is designed to help parents with preteens and teens who need one-off help, rather than a full-time babysitter or nanny.

“We wanted to be that in-between solution,” Jamrozik said.

The app launched a year ago in Fairfield County, Conn., before expanding this summer to Phoenix, Houston and now Dallas. Thousands of parents use the app, with peak times before school and after school between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Pricing runs about 15% to 20% higher than other ride-sharing apps such as Lyft or Uber, but Jamrozik said the pricing supports features like a stricter vetting process.

Drivers are required to have at least 3 years professional child care experience and undergo an extensive background check, fingerprinting, reference checks and vehicle inspection. All drivers are independent contractors and 85% are moms.

Through the app, parents can track live locations from pickup to drop-off. Once a ride is booked, it also shows the driver's full profile and contact information. Favorite drivers can be selected, and they're offered ride requests first.

A layout shows different screens of VanGo, an app designed to help give working parents transport solutions. (Courtesy of VanGo)

Dallas will have new drivers added every week, in part to ramp up for the upcoming school year. For now, parents should book at least 24 to 48 hours in advance, but Jamrozik expects this time frame will reduce as the company expands.

Jamrozik has lofty goals for the service, hoping to be in every major metropolitan area within a few years. She's raised $270,000 in seed funding from well-known accelerator Y Combinator, according to Crunchbase, a database that tracks startups.

New locations are being added based on interest levels. Users in locations where the service is not yet available can download the app to express interest. VanGo is available on both Apple's App Store and the Google Play store.