Parents Night Outs
 

I have read about many providers offering things such as a parents night out for a little extra money once in awhile.. is it legal to provide care after hours? I suppose it differs by state.. I am in MN. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Dabill:
I have read about many providers offering things such as a parents night out for a little extra money once in awhile.. is it legal to provide care after hours? I suppose it differs by state.. I am in MN. Thanks!

We are required to submit our hours of operation to licensing. Technically, you can only operate during your stated hours of operation but I do know several providers that offer parent's night out so I don't know.

I am not sure there is anything specific about it in our regulations but another thing to consider is your insurance. Your liability/business insurance is only going to cover you during your stated business hours.

Also if you have parents pay for the care, I think it makes a difference. Such as you can't accept state funding for care outside your stated business hours. This includes CCAP and EL scholarships.

I guess what I would do is ask your licensor and maybe even DHS themselves (we have a nice "ask DHS" function available to us as providers now) but get it in writing so you know for sure.

I am in MN and recently asked my licensor about this. She said there is not any legislation on it yet but said to follow daycare license rules. Technically I don't think they can make you follow the rules as it is not daycare nor in legislation, but I would see what DHS or your county said. I have not offered it yet but am contemplating it.

I think most providers, at least the ones I know of, offer it under camp (occasional, under 4 hours) or respite (24 hour care, one family) rules, not daycare licensing.

I just shoot my licensor an email letting her know I'm changing my hours for one weekend. :) and my insurance company never asked what my hours of operation are, nor are they printed on my license. My licensing unit just wants to know so they can show up for inspection if they feel like it.