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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Anyone In MN Ever Asked For A Variance?
MommyMuffin 08:30 AM 02-04-2011
I will have 3 infants for about a month or so in august and so I need to get a varience as I do not have a dedicated helper.
I found the site to fill out the information and I talked to my licensor. There is a spot where I have to explain what additional safety measures and fire escape plans I will do because I will have 3 infants at once.

To be honest....I have no idea how I would handle a fire with 3 infants? If there was a fire I would get them all out as soon as possible with whatever means I could...put 2 in carriers and take them out with 1 baby strapped to me in a sling....this just doesnt seem like the answer they would be looking for and if there was a fire would I really have time to do that....no I would just take them out as fast as I could and go back in for the other....what are they looking for???
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lil angels 08:49 AM 02-04-2011
I am in MN and I don't think they will give you a varience for 3 under the age of one I have always ran off of a varience till the new rules started in October and all of your parents have to sign it I hate that. I think you can apply for 4 under 2 with no more than 2 being under 1. They don't do 3 under one but if you do try it. In the spaces where they ask how I will care for them better I put down the best I can by supervising them and they have never questioned it. And for the fire thing if you have an older child that could carry one that would be good just put down something like I will carry them and take whatever means nesisary (sorry I can't spell) to get them to safty. That is the type of things they are looking for.
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jen 08:50 AM 02-04-2011
How many kids do you have in care? Can you switch to the infant toddler specialist license? I think any advice will be dependent on how old and how many kids you'll have total.

I'm in MN too, I've heard that getting a varience for infant care is next to impossible. It could just be my county that is strict about it tho.
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SilverSabre25 08:50 AM 02-04-2011
Scoop all three up in your arms at once...? In a pinch, with adrenaline, you'd be able to no problem.
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Little People 08:53 AM 02-04-2011
I hope I don't sound horrible, for this is not what I am doing. But if you were to take 2 out and have to come back for the 3rd, what IF there was no getting back in the house? And if there was a fire of course you would react to what ever babies was near you. Do you happen to have a stroller that you could put all three in at the same time? I know you are looking for a way to get it on paper and my only thought was a stroller for all three.
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daysofelijah 09:16 AM 02-04-2011
I got a 1 month variance a couple years ago. I had four under 2 for a month until one of the kids turned 3. I still only had two under 1 though. I think the kids were about 3 months, 11 months (dd), 21 months, and 23 months at the time. I think it will be pretty hard to get a variance for three infants, but it's worth a try.

I just put something like continuing to follow all safety guidelines or something to that effect on that line, nothing too specific.

eta: if she asked how you would handle a fire, you could say everyone in a laundry basket or something. I know centers guidelines (4 to 1 ratio in MN) is put them all in one crib and roll them out the door.
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AnythingsPossible 09:37 AM 02-04-2011
I am in a similar situation and have 3 little ones for one day a week. My plan for emergencies is as follows;
On the days that I have the three in attendance, the twin stroller will be by the front door. In the case of fire or need to evacuate, 2 will be placed in the stoller and I will carry the other in my arms. The line rope will be out for the preschoolers to hold on to and all emergency supplies will be placed in the bottom of the stroller basket.
I am also considering having this be my main procedure anyway with 2 or 3 infants and when 2 are in care I will keep the stroller at the ready in my garage, but when the 3 are in, I will keep it in the house.
Don't know if this helps, but it is what my emergency plan is.
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MommyMuffin 09:55 AM 02-04-2011
I will have a newborn, 5 month old and 11 month old. Great idea with the stroller because I happen to have a 3 seater stroller!! Great plan.
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KEG123 10:14 AM 02-04-2011
I'd put them all in the pack n play and roll it out. (ours has wheels on one side)
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misol 12:19 PM 02-04-2011
Originally Posted by SilverSabre25:
Scoop all three up in your arms at once...? In a pinch, with adrenaline, you'd be able to no problem.
My thoughs exactly!
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MARSTELAC 03:33 AM 02-05-2011
I have requested variances three times. All three times I never heard back from my county by the dates I needed those variances. All three times I took the kids in anyway. All three times I finally received approval for my requests....months after the fact when it was no longer needed. Poor system.
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Jewels 04:57 AM 02-05-2011
Wow what county are you in, to not hear back for sooo long, I applied for a varience once, and I got it, and heard back in 3 days, but that was for having one more preschooler and only for a month, I think I might have to apply for another one here in the next week, but only for a few hours 2 days a week, and again for a preschooler...............my licensor would never approve me for 3 under 1, I know at least in my county it goes in front of all the licensors at their weekly meeting, and they all have to agree, and I know they rarely ever grant variances in the first year of licensing.
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Blackcat31 02:53 PM 02-05-2011
My licensor is awesome and approves my variance requests over the phone and then sends back the paper copy as soon as I drop it off for her to sign. I have had several variences over the last few years. The last one for the same situation you descibed. I had three under 12 months but only one was full time (6 hrs per day M-F) and the other two just overlapped here and there. I described my extra precautionary actions as having a smaller than allowed preschool group as well as one of the under 1's being a sibling to an older child and all my parents were ok with it as well and my DH being present over the lunch hour every day. Most of the providers in my area that get variances do it to switch up age groups but NEVER to have more than the TOTAL capacity.
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Unregistered 01:25 PM 08-12-2014
My question is: I would like to request a variance that would allow me to care for an infant. This infant is a sibling of another child in care. I have C2 license and currently have 11 children enrolled in my care. I will have one child that is 10 months, one child 20 months, 3 preschool age, and 6 kids considered schoolage (kindergarten). I will be over capacity 3 afternoons a week. This would mean that I would be caring for 2 infants, one toddler, 3 preschool age and 4 schoolage. How likely am I to get a variance?
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Blackcat31 01:40 PM 08-12-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
My question is: I would like to request a variance that would allow me to care for an infant. This infant is a sibling of another child in care. I have C2 license and currently have 11 children enrolled in my care. I will have one child that is 10 months, one child 20 months, 3 preschool age, and 6 kids considered schoolage (kindergarten). I will be over capacity 3 afternoons a week. This would mean that I would be caring for 2 infants, one toddler, 3 preschool age and 4 schoolage. How likely am I to get a variance?
I am in MN.

Variances will NEVER be granted for MORE kids than you are suppose to have.

You can NEVER go over capacities/ratios.

Variances are suppose to be for situations where you are needing a 20 month old to be moved to the 24 month and up age category and similar situations but never so you can take MORE kids than your license allows.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Also what area are you in? I've heard variances are virtually unheard of in certain areas of the state.
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Unregistered 01:58 PM 08-12-2014
I'm not going over my capacity. My license is for 12 children. I will be asking to have the 20 month old moved to the preschool category and the 10 month to move to the toddler category. By doing so I would have 1 infant, 1 toddler, 4 preschool and 6 school age (total of 12 children). And as I posted previously it would only be 3 afternoons a week. Does that make more sense when I put it this way?
Or are you saying that I would be operating under a C1 with license capacity of 10 and would NOT be granted the variance because I would be asking to add 2 more children to my care?
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Unregistered 02:10 PM 08-12-2014
I'm not going over my capacity. My license is for 12 children. I will be asking to have the 20 month old moved to the preschool category and the 10 month to move to the toddler category. By doing so I would have 1 infant, 1 toddler, 4 preschool and 6 school age (total of 12 children).
What I actually would have is 2 infants, one toddler 3 preschool and 6 schoolage (all kindergarten). Which is my license capacity of 12 but with one more infant then I am suppose to have.
And as I posted previously it would only be 3 afternoons a week. Does that make more sense when I put it this way?

Or are you saying that I would be operating under a C1 with license capacity of 10 and would NOT be granted the variance because I would be asking to add 2 more children to my care?
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Blackcat31 02:34 PM 08-12-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I'm not going over my capacity. My license is for 12 children. I will be asking to have the 20 month old moved to the preschool category and the 10 month to move to the toddler category. By doing so I would have 1 infant, 1 toddler, 4 preschool and 6 school age (total of 12 children).
What I actually would have is 2 infants, one toddler 3 preschool and 6 schoolage (all kindergarten). Which is my license capacity of 12 but with one more infant then I am suppose to have.
And as I posted previously it would only be 3 afternoons a week. Does that make more sense when I put it this way?

Or are you saying that I would be operating under a C1 with license capacity of 10 and would NOT be granted the variance because I would be asking to add 2 more children to my care?
Sorry... I know how confusing our ratios can be.

Any time you have 2 infants in care (with only one adult) you are limited to 10 kids total.

IF you did move the kids (the infant as an infant, the 10 month old to toddler and the 20 month old to preschool) age, you would still be in ratios. BUT, I am pretty sure that you would have a better chance of getting a variance if you were only looking to move one of kids. (like the 20 month old to the preschool age group) as I've heard that variances for infants are not all that easy to get because of the strict rules we have in place regarding safe sleep and all that.

I know different factors come into play when variances are issued. Things such as sleep spaces, program structure, length of time you've been in business, past correction orders and your ability to adjust your day to accommodate the needs of the kids you have.

I hope that makes more sense.

You can always put in the request. The worst case scenario would be no so it can't hurt to try.
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KarenMN 03:29 PM 08-12-2014
Thank you for your reply. I have done daycare for over 35 years and have never requested a variance before. I don't need it until April 2015. I don't care for kids during the summer (families are all teachers) so I only need April and May. I was hoping since it was only for those 2 months and only for 3 afternoons a week I would be able to get it. I guess I can try and see what happens, I just wasn't sure if it was worth trying. Thanks again.
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Angelsj 05:05 PM 08-12-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I am in MN.

Variances will NEVER be granted for MORE kids than you are suppose to have.

You can NEVER go over capacities/ratios.

Variances are suppose to be for situations where you are needing a 20 month old to be moved to the 24 month and up age category and similar situations but never so you can take MORE kids than your license allows.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Also what area are you in? I've heard variances are virtually unheard of in certain areas of the state.
BC, I am in MN and I have a current variance for 14 (four over my capacity/ratio) so it can be done. Mine is specific, however to the overage being school age only. The younger ratios must be in compliance in order for the overage to occur.
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Blackcat31 05:12 PM 08-12-2014
Originally Posted by Angelsj:
BC, I am in MN and I have a current variance for 14 (four over my capacity/ratio) so it can be done. Mine is specific, however to the overage being school age only. The younger ratios must be in compliance in order for the overage to occur.
Wouldn't 14 kids be in ratios? Wouldn't it be a C3 license?

I've had 14 kids many times. The 4 extra's have to be school agers.

What is your variance for... not having the second adult?

I don't think that is what they mean when they say over capacity. I've always understood it as over max capacity as in you can't have a variance to have 17 kids. like that

I also think they are way more lenient with the SA'er and are pretty tight with the infants/toddlers due to what I mentioned above. At least that's how my area has always been. I've had 4 or 5 variances in my time and those were just sticking points we'd been told.

Wonder if it's an area thing?
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SignMeUp 05:35 PM 08-12-2014
I think it can go county-by-county or even licensor-by-licensor.
I have had quite a few variances over the years, sometimes like what the poster asked about. (More recently, no variances were allowed in my county, although now there is a variance form on my county's website, so who knows? It's not like they tell us anything ) Anyway, this is a bit historical, since variances have not been allowed here for probably 10+ years.

The way I looked at the ages/numbers was this:
Within my license that allowed 12 children, 10 under school-age, I was asking to have 1 extra child under age 1 year.
That would also be 3 under age 2 instead of 2 under age 2.
There was no "moving one child up to this category" and "moving another child to this category". It was simply having one extra child under age 2, within my normal license capacity of 12.

We were always limited to a variance request of no more than 30 days. They let us count the actual days, so three days a week for ten weeks would be okay.
I believe that they would ok a longer variance, but then it had to be vetted by the state as well as the county.

And we always had to state how/why this would not affect safety or the care of the children.
Under this I included items such as:
Children and parents were all familiar with me and my childcare.
Children would all remain on the first floor during all childcare hours.
Evacuation crib was in an accessible location.
No additional children would be accepted into care during the course of the variance, even if they fit within my license.
Also I always had a very clean record. No safety/ratio/supervision violations ever.
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Blackcat31 05:56 PM 08-12-2014
Originally Posted by SignMeUp:
I think it can go county-by-county or even licensor-by-licensor.
I have had quite a few variances over the years, sometimes like what the poster asked about. (More recently, no variances were allowed in my county, although now there is a variance form on my county's website, so who knows? It's not like they tell us anything ) Anyway, this is a bit historical, since variances have not been allowed here for probably 10+ years.

The way I looked at the ages/numbers was this:
Within my license that allowed 12 children, 10 under school-age, I was asking to have 1 extra child under age 1 year.
That would also be 3 under age 2 instead of 2 under age 2.
There was no "moving one child up to this category" and "moving another child to this category". It was simply having one extra child under age 2, within my normal license capacity of 12.

We were always limited to a variance request of no more than 30 days. They let us count the actual days, so three days a week for ten weeks would be okay.
I believe that they would ok a longer variance, but then it had to be vetted by the state as well as the county.

And we always had to state how/why this would not affect safety or the care of the children.
Under this I included items such as:
Children and parents were all familiar with me and my childcare.
Children would all remain on the first floor during all childcare hours.
Evacuation crib was in an accessible location.
No additional children would be accepted into care during the course of the variance, even if they fit within my license.
Also I always had a very clean record. No safety/ratio/supervision violations ever.
^^^ This is how it is here except we have been given variances freely in the past and present and the time limit has usually been 12 months.
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Angelsj 07:02 PM 08-12-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Wouldn't 14 kids be in ratios? Wouldn't it be a C3 license?

I've had 14 kids many times. The 4 extra's have to be school agers.

What is your variance for... not having the second adult?

I don't think that is what they mean when they say over capacity. I've always understood it as over max capacity as in you can't have a variance to have 17 kids. like that

I also think they are way more lenient with the SA'er and are pretty tight with the infants/toddlers due to what I mentioned above. At least that's how my area has always been. I've had 4 or 5 variances in my time and those were just sticking points we'd been told.

Wonder if it's an area thing?
I don't have to have a second adult...yet my dh is always home (he works nights) so... lol
Honestly, I don't know how to answer that. Not sure if that means over capacity or not. It is very confusing.
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