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Unregistered 09:09 AM 06-02-2015
Hello Everyone I am so excited to be on this forum sharing thoughts, experience and advice with a pool of knowledge woman about child care. I am here because like most of us we come across situation in our child care and we simply don't know what to do or where to turn to. There is no book with all the situation which we can face or how to handle it, so we turn to the internet and find a forum like this and all we say THANK YOU GOD!!!

A little about me : I have been a NYC - Bronx home child care provider for about 7 years . I am currently pursuing my associates in Early Childhood Education and I am also becoming CDA accredited. I have worked in this field for about 12 years and I loved it. I have learned many things in school but experience in the best teacher and it has definitely modeled my child care business.

That said, I have a situation that I'm pretty sure most of us have faced. I have just discovered one of my DcParent is a Day care hopper ( parent who goes from daycare to daycare ranking up a bill then creating a problem and leaving the bill unpaid). I have several policy in place to avoid or catch these parent , like :
1. Parent must be made Friday before pick up or Monday morning before care,
2. Late payment fees are in place and added when no payment is made.
3. A copy of the parent state id and signed contract
4. A collection company that I use in case non- of the above work , they get sent to collection.

But even with all of these policy the parent left the childcare with a balance. I will still be submitting this parent to collection agency , but to be sincere I like to avoid getting there just because once it goes to the hands of a collection agency it takes longer to get paid. It is because of this I want to come up with a new policy . The policy is" A two week deposit is needed start of Child Care. This two week deposit will be used towards your last weeks of childcare. " .
I have several families who are financially struggling as it is, so to be able to implement this I have come up with option for the current families to pay the two week deposit.
-One option is a lump sum deposit
- The other is like a piggy bank , they make small deposit during 3 consecutive weeks until the full deposit is in the account.

I have the letter made but I feel scared that my families might get scared off and just find other child care. I feel that maybe I am being to harsh on the parents and not giving them the benefit of the bought by implementing this. I'm unsure of their reaction or how to explain this new change. I really don't want to tell them " I'm doing this because I want to avoid parent hopping " because it might sound like a accusation .

Please help me I just want to hear the different options.

Thank you
Reply
Blackcat31 09:16 AM 06-02-2015
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Hello Everyone I am so excited to be on this forum sharing thoughts, experience and advice with a pool of knowledge woman about child care. I am here because like most of us we come across situation in our child care and we simply don't know what to do or where to turn to. There is no book with all the situation which we can face or how to handle it, so we turn to the internet and find a forum like this and all we say THANK YOU GOD!!!

A little about me : I have been a NYC - Bronx home child care provider for about 7 years . I am currently pursuing my associates in Early Childhood Education and I am also becoming CDA accredited. I have worked in this field for about 12 years and I loved it. I have learned many things in school but experience in the best teacher and it has definitely modeled my child care business.

That said, I have a situation that I'm pretty sure most of us have faced. I have just discovered one of my DcParent is a Day care hopper ( parent who goes from daycare to daycare ranking up a bill then creating a problem and leaving the bill unpaid). I have several policy in place to avoid or catch these parent , like :
1. Parent must be made Friday before pick up or Monday morning before care,
2. Late payment fees are in place and added when no payment is made.
3. A copy of the parent state id and signed contract
4. A collection company that I use in case non- of the above work , they get sent to collection.

But even with all of these policy the parent left the childcare with a balance. I will still be submitting this parent to collection agency , but to be sincere I like to avoid getting there just because once it goes to the hands of a collection agency it takes longer to get paid. It is because of this I want to come up with a new policy . The policy is" A two week deposit is needed start of Child Care. This two week deposit will be used towards your last weeks of childcare. " .
I have several families who are financially struggling as it is, so to be able to implement this I have come up with option for the current families to pay the two week deposit.
-One option is a lump sum deposit
- The other is like a piggy bank , they make small deposit during 3 consecutive weeks until the full deposit is in the account.

I have the letter made but I feel scared that my families might get scared off and just find other child care. I feel that maybe I am being to harsh on the parents and not giving them the benefit of the bought by implementing this. I'm unsure of their reaction or how to explain this new change. I really don't want to tell them " I'm doing this because I want to avoid parent hopping " because it might sound like a accusation .

Please help me I just want to hear the different options.

Thank you
Welcome!

If you require parents to PRE-pay before ANY services are provided leaving with a balance due is impossible.

How did this family accrue a balance if you require pre-payment?
Reply
firstbloomdc 09:31 AM 06-02-2015
Thank you for the reply

The parent make online payments with us and parent made the payment online and then cancelled the payment after the child was picked up. I called Paypal and they said they could not do anything about the payment , which left me with an unpaid balance.
Reply
Blackcat31 09:43 AM 06-02-2015
Originally Posted by firstbloomdc:
Thank you for the reply

The parent make online payments with us and parent made the payment online and then cancelled the payment after the child was picked up. I called Paypal and they said they could not do anything about the payment , which left me with an unpaid balance.
Ugh, that's a bummer...

I'd consider pursuing that one. The fact that she made the payment shows intent to pay and the fact that she cancelled shows her intent to screw you over.

I'd definitely consider sending her a final attempt to collect notice and threaten her with collections or small claims courts.

Sorry you had that happen to you.

I don't know anything about on-line payments but I would maybe insist that parents initiate the payment in enough time that it is posted and available BEFORE providing additional services....if that is a possibility.

Or perhaps require a deposit equal to two weeks care that is applied to the final two weeks of care or as payment if they skip out on you.
Reply
childcaremom 10:05 AM 06-02-2015
I have tuition payments due on Friday by 9 am. Email money transfers or cash. That way, I can accept it before my daycare day begins and know by the end of that day that the money is there. No money, no care on Monday.

I don't know how paypal works but I don't think you can do that with an email transfer. Or if you can cancel it, at least you would know by end of Friday that it didn't go through. And then only accept cash on Monday morning or else refuse care.
Reply
firstbloomdc 06:29 PM 06-02-2015
That will sound like a good plan, thanks
Reply
hellokivv 02:02 AM 09-15-2015
Originally Posted by firstbloomdc:
Thank you for the reply

The parent make online payments with us and parent made the payment online and then cancelled the payment after the child was picked up. I called Paypal and they said they could not do anything about the payment , which left me with an unpaid balance.
Or perhaps require a deposit equal to two weeks care that is applied to the final two weeks of care or as payment if they skip out on you.
I agree .
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