I have done back up care for another provider while she has doctors appointments a few times. Today one of her parents questioned me about my weekly rates, hours and such, and asked if I would have a spot open full time for their child. Mom said her provider has just taken off so much time lately for appointments, and the last one was very short notice. I informed the parent that I do have space available, but I don't want to step on anyone's toes. I know the other provider, not well, but I see her about once a month. Should I talked to the other provider, and see how she feels about it? I don't want to take her kids. And I don't want her upset if she finds out I have them.

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I am leary of daycare-hoppers!

I have found that if they talked about the other dc, they will talk about me, too, and leave over something they don't like at my dc, too.

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I would honestly ask the parent if they'd discussed with their current DCP, and then ask for premission to talk about it... I don't nkow, I would be leery. They might really have problems and need something more stable.... but at the same time, they might just be fishing for a better price - which is sad, because these are kids we are talking about who get attached to care givers

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You say you don't know the provider well, but you knew her well enough to provide back up care? if you had an arrangement with this provider to be her occasional back up I would pass on the client. Personally I would not have told her you had the space, and would probably tell her it was filled if she asked again. I honestly don't know I would mention anything to the other provider - because depending on how she handled things it could get ugly

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We are all military providers (about 6 of us) and rely on each other for back up care. I have only met her a handful of times.

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I don't think she's a daycare hopper at all, she's been with her provider since her oldest was 18 months old, and they are school age now. With both parents being military, I think all the new appointments are just hard for them to work around.

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I am registered but my phone logged me out. I am military provider as well. I had a similar situation happen to me several times. We are so close as providers that we feel bad. If you like the family and it is truly a need of them needing consistent care then explain to them you have a right to discuss everything with the previous provider, they must terminate according to their contract with the provider, and that a same situation including sudden pcs could happen to you. Sometimes providers understand sometimes they don't.

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If she's providing backup care and you are all state approved I'm not understanding the concern over her having so many appointments? If she has something medical going on I think thats terible to knock her while she's down so to say.

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I was the response logged out. I am sure this case is not that extreme, BUT if a service member does not have reliable child care, they will receive negative paperwork, or their child may need to go to another family member. I have seen this happen in rare circumstances mind you, mostly with infants. So I can understand that if the original provider is now having so many appointments, the dual military family is starting to get nervous. The OT should talk to the original provider to see if everything is ok between her and the family. Maybe the original provider wants to let go of the family but feels bad because they are dual and it may be a hardship to find care. On base CDCs are usually full and/or the couple may need shift care which is usually outside normal duty hours. The OT should just protect herself by getting the whole story before agreeing to take care.

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