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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Yikes!!!
Unregistered 07:51 AM 05-25-2012
i am extremely stressed out and could use lots of advice from you all. So i started my in home childcare about 1 year ago and was clueless as what to charge families, so i have one DCK who comes M-F 7-12 AND only charge him $60 a week!!!!! so low! live in Los angeles county. i have another child who comes about 27 hours a week and i only charge $70 a week for that one! so i want to raise my price to $100 a week on both of these parent is that too drastic? also these parents like to come early and then pick up early so that they dont have to pay me should i still charge them for the early drop offs even though the pick up early? do you all give make up days if a child misses a day? PLEASE HELP! THANKS IN ADVANCE
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DCBlessings27 08:17 AM 05-25-2012
When I first started, I only charged by the day that they showed up. Parents take advantage of this, so I quickly learned to charge a weekly fee regardless of if the children are present or not.

In your situation, I would definitely raise your fees. I consider 5 hours (7-12) of care to be ft, so I'd charge my ft rate. I'd charge my ft rate for 27 hours a week as well. My ft rate is $130/week for 18months-5 and $175 for infants. Your rates would be low here in KS, and I'm sure that I likely live in a much lower cost of living area than you.
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Willow 08:19 AM 05-25-2012
I don't even charge $100 a week for my FTers lol (FT being 35+ hours a week).

But what one charges is entirely dependent on your area specifically.


Is $100 for part time pretty standard in your area? In comparison to other providers are you licensed? Well trained? Been doing childcare for a long time? Have a stellar home set up? Offer a preschool program? What do you offer the kids in your care?
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Kym2098 08:22 AM 05-25-2012
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
i am extremely stressed out and could use lots of advice from you all. So i started my in home childcare about 1 year ago and was clueless as what to charge families, so i have one DCK who comes M-F 7-12 AND only charge him $60 a week!!!!! so low! live in Los angeles county. i have another child who comes about 27 hours a week and i only charge $70 a week for that one! so i want to raise my price to $100 a week on both of these parent is that too drastic? also these parents like to come early and then pick up early so that they dont have to pay me should i still charge them for the early drop offs even though the pick up early? do you all give make up days if a child misses a day? PLEASE HELP! THANKS IN ADVANCE

I live on the east coast and I'm really new, just started a week ago!
I have one family right now 2x a week for a total of 16 hours and charge $45.00 a day.
It does in your case seem slightly drastic to raise rates from where they are right now, but you have to do what you have to do...
Also I work under contracted hours, so if they say drop off is at 8:30 I will not accept the child at 8 unless with prior arrangements made/extra fee.
Also I would charge extra if they picked up past the contracted time, if they are 15mins late for example.

And lastly I would not allow any make up days! Under the contracted days and hours the child is expected to be at daycare, so if the child is out sick or stays home with mom and dad but was supposed still be with you, I would stipulate in your contract that care is based on contracted hours/days not attendance. And you should still be paid.
Everyone has different ideas and thoughts on this matter, and that's why this forum is so great, lots of feedback and good advice.

I wish you the best!
Kim
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littlemisssunshine 08:38 AM 05-25-2012
Originally Posted by Willow:
I don't even charge $100 a week for my FTers lol (FT being 35+ hours a week).

But what one charges is entirely dependent on your area specifically.


Is $100 for part time pretty standard in your area? In comparison to other providers are you licensed? Well trained? Been doing childcare for a long time? Have a stellar home set up? Offer a preschool program? What do you offer the kids in your care?
I called around other place and they said 100-130 a week so i believe my price is fair, i am licensed offer all meals, have a nice set-up, inside and outdoor play area. i don't offer preschool im a family childcare
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littlemisssunshine 08:39 AM 05-25-2012
thank you for you help =) glad to know im not the only newbee =)
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MarinaVanessa 08:42 AM 05-25-2012
I would consider charging PTers for the hours that they are there vs a general rate that you charge PT clients. Figure out what you want to charge your PT clients hourly and then figure their rate based on that instead. For example if you wanted to charge $3.75 an hour for PT then

DCF 1: M-F 7am-12pm, 25 hours = $93.75/wk
DCF 2: 27 hours = $101.25

I used to charge a flat weekly fee but now I prefer to charge clients based on the time that they are here. Of course the only restriction is that they have a set schedule of hours and then have to stick to it. If they only want to pay for the days and hours that they come and want to be able to switch the days and hours around etc. that's called drop in and that costs $5 an hour with no guarantee that I'll have a spot for you KWIM?

That being said my only concern is that they might freak out when you tell them that you're raising your rates that drastically all at once. If you have openings right now I'd try to fill those first at your higher rate and then I would talk to your current clients about raising rates to see what their thoughts are. If it looks like they want to bail because of the higher rates then I'd work with the parents and keep them at their current rate (or raise their rates by a little) and then try to find replacements at your higher rate.

I'm sure that when you break it down for them they'll get a better understanding that $2.60 an hour is VERY LOW but that doesn't mean that they won't freak out over a $1 an hour rate increase KWIM? But the only way to find out is to ask them. Good luck. KUP
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Blackcat31 08:51 AM 05-25-2012
Originally Posted by Willow:
I don't even charge $100 a week for my FTers lol (FT being 35+ hours a week).

But what one charges is entirely dependent on your area specifically.


Is $100 for part time pretty standard in your area? In comparison to other providers are you licensed? Well trained? Been doing childcare for a long time? Have a stellar home set up? Offer a preschool program? What do you offer the kids in your care?
Say I just wanted to mention to you that $105 standard for weekly rate for full timers in your county. I would definitely consider raising your rates to at least match what the state reimburses.

If you have your CDA, your degree and/or are accredited, the standard rate is even higher at $120 per week.

Just wanted to throw that out there for you. I give my parents a printout of this information to show them that I am at the same level as the state reimbursements so they can at least feel that I am fair in what I charge.
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Willow 09:10 AM 05-25-2012
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Say I just wanted to mention to you that $105 standard for weekly rate for full timers in your county. I would definitely consider raising your rates to at least match what the state reimburses.

If you have your CDA, your degree and/or are accredited, the standard rate is even higher at $120 per week.

Just wanted to throw that out there for you. I give my parents a printout of this information to show them that I am at the same level as the state reimbursements so they can at least feel that I am fair in what I charge.
I might have to look that up....

I JUST got re-licensed (after moving) in this county in February, to say my town is a small very tight knit community is a serious understatement. After networking I learned all the providers in town charge $2-$2.50 a kiddo per hour (there are only 5 of us total). I'm educated, well trained, have a great set up and am very experienced but I'm also the only one that's really out of town...and essentially a stranger in a town where no exaggeration literally everyone knows everyone.

I settled on smack dab in the middle at $2.25/kid/hour at least until I get more established within the community.

I couldn't imagine coming in and charging higher rates than what other local providers do who have been up and running for decades you know? Wouldn't be a good foot to start off with lol.

I do plan to raise my rates for new clients after I wrap up year one, but not until at least then. Moving to this county jumped me from being tier 2 to a tier 1 on my food program so it actually offsets what I was charging before ($3/hour) quite nicely. If you can believe it my operating costs have actually gone down and my net income is up despite charging less because cost of living here is soooo much lower.
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Tags:rates, rates - fair and reasonable
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