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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>4 Kids Leaving...Staying...Leaving...Staying.....
jojosmommy 11:03 AM 04-13-2011
I have a daycare family who has 4 kids in my care currently. They are on assistance and thought (despite me repeatedly telling them otherwise) that dad could quit his job and not work and the county would still pay for daycare. So, last week dad quit and now the county wants to drop them.

They recently agreed to an 8 week notice requirement (thanks to some advice on here!) and the county only pays for 2 weeks. They keep telling me that dad is going to get a very part time job just to stay on assistance and keep the kids here until September 1st. I however don't believe anything anyone claims b/c I have gotten burned too many times before.

I have ads out for 3 weeks now and have gotten a couple calls- had 2 people no show me for interviews- and did one interview for very part time family (which would in NO way make up for the lost income here). For the most part no real leads on new clients.

This family said they would leave as soon as I needed them to (if I got more kids starting and would otherwise be over ratio) but I cant afford for them to go until I replace their 4 with 4 new. The whole thing is stressing me out b/c everyday its something new with these people but really I can't term them either.

What else can I do?
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Blackcat31 11:37 AM 04-13-2011
The CCAP program allow parents hours to job search. The dcm or dcd, whichever is unemployed should set up an appointment with the job counselor at their Human Services office and the job counselor can approve them a certain number of hours per week to do job searching.

I have a dcm here who is on CCAP and she gets 20 hours per week to job search and the state pays her childcare while she does this. Her contracted service period for the CCAP is for 6 months so I know for atleast 6 months or until she finds a job she can still recieve the CCAP. There are requirements on the parent's part such as proving that they are job searching and they may also be required to attend a job seeking assistance training class as well but I would let dcd/dcm know to look into this. It isn't county specific but a part of the statewide assistance program.

That way, even if the hours are cut you can still atleast have them on a part time basis. Hope that helps a little bit anyways...
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nannyde 11:48 AM 04-13-2011
Originally Posted by jojosmommy:
I have a daycare family who has 4 kids in my care currently. They are on assistance and thought (despite me repeatedly telling them otherwise) that dad could quit his job and not work and the county would still pay for daycare. So, last week dad quit and now the county wants to drop them.

They recently agreed to an 8 week notice requirement (thanks to some advice on here!) and the county only pays for 2 weeks. They keep telling me that dad is going to get a very part time job just to stay on assistance and keep the kids here until September 1st. I however don't believe anything anyone claims b/c I have gotten burned too many times before.

I have ads out for 3 weeks now and have gotten a couple calls- had 2 people no show me for interviews- and did one interview for very part time family (which would in NO way make up for the lost income here). For the most part no real leads on new clients.

This family said they would leave as soon as I needed them to (if I got more kids starting and would otherwise be over ratio) but I cant afford for them to go until I replace their 4 with 4 new. The whole thing is stressing me out b/c everyday its something new with these people but really I can't term them either.

What else can I do?
You are lucky the State allows two weeks. We have that BUT they MUST be job seeking during this time. They can only bring the children when they are actively physically (not internet job searching) job searching.

Do NOT allow them to bring the kids past the ten days. If they audit them they will see they are not working and you will all be in trouble.

Allowing four kids from one family is very risky. It's good when it's good but not so good when it's not.

The Dad is saying September most likely because that's when the child care expires or has to be renewed... but that's ONLY if he is working. It's over immediately after he quits working and their ten day job hunt is done.

If you allow them to come for the five months when you know the Dad is not working it is FRAUD and grand theft here. There's a chance he just renewed his child care and as soon as it got approved he quit his job. He wants no work and no kids. That's a VERY common scam... The State KNOWS this scam. He isn't the first to try to pull it.

Just don't fall for it. With four kids you are looking at an amount of money that could land you in prison if you are a part of fraud.
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nannyde 11:51 AM 04-13-2011
oh and if he quit last week... whatever day that was... that's the START of the two weeks... not when he tells you. So you most likely just have the rest of this week and a few days next week when he can legally bring them.
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jojosmommy 12:01 PM 04-13-2011
I have been in daily contact with our his assistance worker and yea they allow 2 weeks even if he is not job seeking but they have to provide you with written notification first- which they have not done. And he is eligible for the job seeking thing and he says he is contacting places and filling out apps to find a part time job. They (assistance) allow the kids to come up to 240 hours while they are looking for a job and will then give you a written 2 week notice which should give me a couple weeks to try to find replacements but I just havent gotten leads like I have in the past. All our billing is electronic and they stop showing up online when the family is no longer eligible so there is no way to bill illegally- I never would but atleast I could never get in trouble for billing what I believed to be allowed based on what dad says.

The only calls I get are for weekend care or overnight care- both of which I am not willing to do. Is there a drought b/c people are out of jobs or is this a bad time to be looking. I thought spring fever would get some people moving about....
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Blackcat31 12:04 PM 04-13-2011
Originally Posted by nannyde:
oh and if he quit last week... whatever day that was... that's the START of the two weeks... not when he tells you. So you most likely just have the rest of this week and a few days next week when he can legally bring them.
Here they begin counting the two weeks on the day the provider is given written notice of care ending regardless of when parent's job ended or was terminated. If the provider is paid for days or hours the state should not have covered, the state goes after the parent to recover any lost monies as it is the parent's responsibilty to inform the state of any changes in income or job losses. The provider is NOT responsible for informing the county of changes in the family since it is also NOT the provider's responsibilty to police the families, only to provide care/services. This change ocurred when the state overhauled the child care assistance program in a way that better meets the needs of the family and never "punishes" the provider or ever with holds payment due to the provider due to a parents fraudulant actions.

I used to hate taking anyone on state assistance but I now love the new program and wouldn't hesitate to accept a new family who is using it.
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jojosmommy 09:43 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Here they begin counting the two weeks on the day the provider is given written notice of care ending regardless of when parent's job ended or was terminated. If the provider is paid for days or hours the state should not have covered, the state goes after the parent to recover any lost monies as it is the parent's responsibilty to inform the state of any changes in income or job losses. The provider is NOT responsible for informing the county of changes in the family since it is also NOT the provider's responsibilty to police the families, only to provide care/services. This change ocurred when the state overhauled the child care assistance program in a way that better meets the needs of the family and never "punishes" the provider or ever with holds payment due to the provider due to a parents fraudulant actions.

I used to hate taking anyone on state assistance but I now love the new program and wouldn't hesitate to accept a new family who is using it.
Thankfully thats how it is here too. It becomes the parents job to be honest and not our job to make sure they aren't lying to us! One family I had did have to pay back money b/c of maternity time that was unapproved off time. They sent kids anyway and assistance said no way. I got paid as I usually do and they had a certain amount of time to pay it back or they would lose assistance all together. THANK GOD ITS NOT OUR JOB TO MONITOR THEM!
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Blackcat31 09:49 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by jojosmommy:
Thankfully thats how it is here too. It becomes the parents job to be honest and not our job to make sure they aren't lying to us! One family I had did have to pay back money b/c of maternity time that was unapproved off time. They sent kids anyway and assistance said no way. I got paid as I usually do and they had a certain amount of time to pay it back or they would lose assistance all together. THANK GOD ITS NOT OUR JOB TO MONITOR THEM!
Agreed!! ....and your "here too" is my 'here' also... I am 4 hours north of you.


When Me2 was first implemented, I actualy got called into the DHS offices and asked to provide proof that I was only billing for work hours and not other hours. I had just got out of state training on the program and KNEW the rules inside and out....the fraud people in our local DHS department actually apologized to me verbally and in writing for their error.

Now, several of the case workers call me on a regular basis and ask me to mentor new providers on how the program works.
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jojosmommy 10:21 AM 04-14-2011
Interesting. Now you are making me nervous,

I bill for the hours the kids are in care and do not care what mom/dad etc are doing. I hope that doesnt get me in trouble but how am I supposed to know mom didnt get off work early and goof around for 2 hours? Plus my one family mom works on weekends and I am not open. She sends her kids 5 days a week and has dad home on the weekends to watch the kids when she works. I hope that doesnt get me in trouble but how am I to know- without looking at her pay stub- when she is actually at work?

I bill the hours they attended, period. I have talked to her worker 100 times atleast about various things and they have never said anything to me, hopefully they dont ever bug me about it.
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Blackcat31 11:23 AM 04-14-2011
Originally Posted by jojosmommy:
Interesting. Now you are making me nervous,

I bill for the hours the kids are in care and do not care what mom/dad etc are doing. I hope that doesnt get me in trouble but how am I supposed to know mom didnt get off work early and goof around for 2 hours? Plus my one family mom works on weekends and I am not open. She sends her kids 5 days a week and has dad home on the weekends to watch the kids when she works. I hope that doesnt get me in trouble but how am I to know- without looking at her pay stub- when she is actually at work?

I bill the hours they attended, period. I have talked to her worker 100 times atleast about various things and they have never said anything to me, hopefully they dont ever bug me about it.
Oh, don't worry the little encounter I had was a case worker who was po'ed about the changes the new program had (providers/state losing the ability to track work vs play hours) and figured she could "scare" me into basically tracking parents for the county. You are corrct in how you do it. We are to bill according to what the parent schedules, whether they are in attendance or not. We must write absent ifhtey aren't physically present but we are to go according to the hours/days the parent schedules and add any additional hours they use above that amount. Whether they worked those hours or not isn't our problem.

I have a family now in care who bring their child 6 hours per day, 5 days a week, every week with out fail. Neither parent has had a job since Christmas. I told the worker during a casual conversation we were having and her response was "Well, it will catch up to them". The worker said it isn't my job to report that stuff even if I am aware of it.

I like the new system alot!!!
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Tags:lingering parents, notice, subsidy
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