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Parents and Guardians Forum>Signing In and Out of Daycare Question
Unregistered 02:04 PM 06-14-2010
So my boyfriend's son does not attend daycare on Fridays but is brought in 5 minutes before my boyfriend is to arrive to pick up his son because that's where the parenting plan says he has to pick him up. No problem there. But, this past Friday when my boyfriend went to pick up his son he had to wait for his son's grandma to drop him off from home. My boyfriend's son got out of his grandma's car and into my boyfriends truck and as my boyfriend was getting ready to leave someone came running out of the daycare with a clip board and insisted that my boyfriend sign his son out of daycare. My boyfriend is a very mild mannered guy but refused to sign his son out since he hadn't been AT daycare and had not been signed IN that day either. Can anyone tell me how to find the laws or regulations on signing in and out of daycare in Washington State? I have searched and searched and searched but have not had any luck. We're having some horrible issues with the daycare billing situation so I'm not sure if that's why the daycare wants him to be signed in and out on a day when he's not even attending but.... And what I mean by that is that he only attends before and after school daycare and yet they're charging my boyfriend for half days 5 days a week (he's only there 3 days per week) and generally he's there no more than 1 full hour each of those 3 days. We've already agreed to pay for the full weeks HOWEVER during the summer when my boyfriend's son is with us for a week they want my boyfriend to still pay for a full month of full-time care (again he's only there 3 days per week anyway) and then when he's going to be with us for 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in August they again want us to pay for a full month of care. So this signing in and out thing may be a part of this. We just want to do the right thing and any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
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grandmom 03:34 PM 06-14-2010
I'm thinking there are several issues here.

First of all, I also am in WA.

Is this kid subsidized by the state? And was the kid at daycare at all that day?

If subsidized, and at daycare, the signature is required.

If the child was not even there that day, then his dad did the right thing by not signing out. If this is the case, you may be dealing with a provider who is billing for more days than allowed by the state.

If the child is not subsidized, I'm not sure what the problem is. Who cares if the child got into the house or not. As for paying for time you don't use, I have a family that comes 2.5 days a week but pay for all 5. I only have full time available, they only need half of it, but they have to pay for it all.

As for the rules, go to del.wa.gov and look for rules for providers. There is a separate rule book for subsidy. I can find it for you if you pm me.


If the child is at daycare, even for a short period of time, the provider can bill the state for the time period subsidized. Please remember that the kids "uses" a slot even if he's there for 5 minutes. We can't legally go over our limit. So a child who is there 5 minutes is worth the same, financailly, as a child who is there 3 hours after school.
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Unregistered 04:09 PM 06-14-2010
In answer to your question, no. He wasn't inside the daycare at all that day. He was not signed in that day so we assume there would be no need to sign him out that day when he went from one car to another and never went into the daycare. And no, it's not subsidized by the state. We are pretty sure we're paying for 100% of the daycare when mom should be paying 44% of it.

I completely understand what you're saying about paying whether he's there for an hour or for 4 hours or all day. We even pay for him to be there 5 days a week when we know he's not there 5 days per week. We do understand what the cost of running a business is. But, when he's with us for visitation for a full week in June (the daycare knew about it more than 6 weeks prior) they're still charging us for a full month. In July and August he will be with us for 2 weeks each month and in daycare for 2 weeks each month and the daycare still wants us to pay for a full month. Our problem with that is that we have to pay for daycare when he's with us also.

Thanks for the response. We're doing our best not to make waves but this daycare has done and said some things that are raising some red flags for us and we just want to do the right thing.
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Unregistered 06:37 PM 06-14-2010
I think the reason he is being charged for 5 days is because they are holding that spot for your bf's son even when he is not there.

They would probably otherwise have that spot filled with a full time child but since they are saving it for your bf's son, they would be losing money for the weeks that are off weeks and would be to odd of a schedule to fill.

I personally wouldn't take in such a situation because it sounds like a lot of on and off stuff and can be a little hard to keep up with when we're juggling a million other things.

Good luck to you guys, I hope everything works out.
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mismatchedsocks 08:13 AM 06-15-2010
A couple things. The daycare may want him to sign in and out because it is in the parenting plan that he be picked up from daycare, and who is to say that the boy even showed up at daycare for dad to pick up? I think he shouldve signed that he was in and out the same times and maybe make a note next to it stating the situation.

Also if your child is there 3 days out of a 5 day week, (is it always same 3 days?) if so when you signed him up did you agree to pay for full weeks care? I know in my daycare I only allow one week unpaid that the families may take. How hard would it be to fill those few weeks off with someone to supplement the income? I do give my family an option. If you find a child to fill your childs spot for the week, then you do not have to pay. Otherwise you pay for the slot he is there.

You may want to look for a part time daycare that just charges you when the child is there. There are still some out there. Good luck!
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Unregistered 08:42 AM 06-15-2010
Thanks for the replies. I hadn't thought about the signing in and out thing the way the last poster poised it. Maybe signing him in and out at the same time is a great way to document it all. We're just worried that something is inky here with this daycare. I've been through this with my own kids and completely understand the day care side of things. We know that his spot needs to be held when he's with us for visitation so we pay for the 5 days. But, when he is with us during the summer (1 week in June, 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks in August) we have to pay for daycare in our area for him. We would be paying almost $ 1,200 a month for 1 child if we had to pay both daycares for a full month each month. Luckily the daycare we have for him in our area is working with us and only charging us for the weeks he is with us. We didn't sign him up for the daycare he's at when he's with his mom. We did some research and found that the DEL (Department of Early Learning through Washington State) won't refer that daycare because of the complaints and "valid issues" they've had so we're not thrilled with that daycare to begin with. We'll have to look at the fee agreement again. We want my boyfriend's son to be in a safe, happy and healthy environment when he's at daycare so we really don't want to make waves with the daycare. It's just that there's no financial way to pay for the full months when he's only there for 2 and 3 weeks during the summer because we have to pay for another daycare during those weeks too. Anyway, thank you all for giving me the provider aspect of things. It helps me to see both sides of this a little better!
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professionalmom 04:29 PM 06-15-2010
It appears that most of this was resolved with other posters. As for the sign in part, did the child step even one foot onto the provider's property (lawn, driveway, etc.)? If so, he was actually AT daycare, because if something happened in those few moments, the provider and her homeowner's insurance would be held responsible. So, I think signing in and out with the exact same time and making a quick note would be the right thing to do to cover everyone.
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Liliya 04:58 PM 06-15-2010
Originally Posted by professionalmom:
It appears that most of this was resolved with other posters. As for the sign in part, did the child step even one foot onto the provider's property (lawn, driveway, etc.)? If so, he was actually AT daycare, because if something happened in those few moments, the provider and her homeowner's insurance would be held responsible. So, I think signing in and out with the exact same time and making a quick note would be the right thing to do to cover everyone.
Seems like they were waiting for him to show up,why would you go outside and ask to sign him out??? No meter what,how did they know that he was going from grandmas car to dads car? This is weird situation.
I do not think that we are responsible for a child,while his/her parent with them.
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Unregistered 09:32 AM 06-16-2010
We have a pretty good inkling that he's being hassled to sign his son out of daycare so they can charge for that day but since we already pay for Friday's it doesn't make alot of sense to us. We're actually concerned that we're paying 100% for daycare when we're supposed to pay 56% and mom is supposed to pay 44%. We we feel like the the signing in and out thing has something to do with that but were not connecting the dots. And please don't think we're just daycare haters or anything. I personally have never had any problems with any daycare my sons attended. But we do believe mom and daycare might be working together to "stick it to dad" during a rough divorce situation. Anyway, thanks again for all the insight. Signing in and out at the same time every other Friday is what we'll do I think.
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Unregistered 03:46 PM 09-20-2010
If I understand your situation correctly, you are concerned that you & your boyfriend are having to pay more for the daycare costs than what Mom is paying(sounds like this payment arrangement might be a court order?). Either way, this sounds like an issue for family court if you suspect that Mom is not following court orders and not paying her fair share of the daycare costs. I realize you have to pay another daycare at the time he is with y'all, but the fact thay y'all are having to do this is not the other daycare's fault. I hope this makes sense & helps.
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