DSHS vs. Private Pay Question

[happykidschildcare]

Ok out of all my years doing DC ive only had 2 clients that were on dshs and they were employed. I currently signed up a new gal with 2 kids and shes a student in college. My question is in my private pay clients I allow a 2 week vaca unpaid per year, but you need to be here a year to get it.
My new client just sent me a email with this info below:

I was just looking at the academic calander for my school and wanted to notify you of the dates that I am going to be on break. Tyler and Kadence are not going to be in daycare while I am on break, because DSHS won't cover it.

September 1, 2010-September 23, 2010
December 20, 2010-December 30, 2010
March 24, 2011- March 29, 2011
June 20, 2011- June 27, 2011

My question is...how do I handle this? This is an all together new one for me.
Any advice???

[momofboys]

Ok out of all my years doing DC ive only had 2 clients that were on dshs and they were employed. I currently signed up a new gal with 2 kids and shes a student in college. My question is in my private pay clients I allow a 2 week vaca unpaid per year, but you need to be here a year to get it.
My new client just sent me a email with this info below:

I was just looking at the academic calander for my school and wanted to notify you of the dates that I am going to be on break. Tyler and Kadence are not going to be in daycare while I am on break, because DSHS won't cover it.

September 1, 2010-September 23, 2010
December 20, 2010-December 30, 2010
March 24, 2011- March 29, 2011
June 20, 2011- June 27, 2011

My question is...how do I handle this? This is an all together new one for me.
Any advice???

Did she discuss that she would not need care for several weeks during your initial interview? I'm not sure what I would do but could you allow her to pay out of her pocket 1/2 rate or give her a break equivalent to a 2 week vacation, then make her pay for the additional days? I'm not sure what I would do if in the same situation.

[momma2girls]

[QUOTE=janarae;30454]Did she discuss that she would not need care for several weeks during your initial interview? I'm not sure what I would do but could you allow her to pay out of her pocket 1/2 rate or give her a break equivalent to a 2 week vacation, then make her pay for the additional days? I'm not sure what I would do if in the same situation.[/
HOLY COW!! THis is more than a vac. have her pay 1/2 the rate for all these dates out of pocket!!!!! Otherwise you will not take her on!! This is definately not fair to you to be without money for all of these weeks, there are alot of them as well!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry I meant to connect with the other one, sorry janarae!!!

[fctjc1979]

I was in this situation. I was going full time to school and was on dshs because I was not going to be away from my daughter all day everyday so I could work on top of going to school. I can tell you, if she gets what I was getting financially, she will not have the money to pay you out of pocket. This is a situation where, unfortunately, you are going to either have to accept what dshs is going to give you or give her notice that she needs to find other care. I understand that this is not going to seem fair to you, but that's just the nature of this situation.

[happykidschildcare]

dshs vs private pay

No she didnt mention this during the interview, but I dont believe she knew at that time, this is her first time on dshs. Taking dshs in the first place is a huge undercut in pay for me, then on top to lose all these days would be a huge blow to my income. I understand both sides, I was once in her place years ago. I'm just wandering if anyone had dealt with this and if this is the case when it comes to dshs? I know in the past they give an allowance of a few days a month pay for days a child is absent. But other then that Im not sure what they allow for large breaks like that?

[fctjc1979]

I don't remember how many absent days were still payed but I remember wishing there were more of them. There were months where I couldn't pay my utilities because I had to pay the center out of pocket for time off school until I found someplace else that worked with me on the time off. In my opinion, it's an unfair system for both the parent and the daycare provider.

[professionalmom]

Ok out of all my years doing DC ive only had 2 clients that were on dshs and they were employed. I currently signed up a new gal with 2 kids and shes a student in college. My question is in my private pay clients I allow a 2 week vaca unpaid per year, but you need to be here a year to get it.
My new client just sent me a email with this info below:

I was just looking at the academic calander for my school and wanted to notify you of the dates that I am going to be on break. Tyler and Kadence are not going to be in daycare while I am on break, because DSHS won't cover it.

September 1, 2010-September 23, 2010
December 20, 2010-December 30, 2010
March 24, 2011- March 29, 2011
June 20, 2011- June 27, 2011

My question is...how do I handle this? This is an all together new one for me.
Any advice???

You stated that you "signed up a new gal". Does that mean that you have a written contract that she signed? Do you have a vacation policy in that contract? Has she signed or agreed to the vacation policy? This will be the best answer to your question. If she signed a contract with a written vacation/holiday/absence policy, then she agreed to those terms.

My contract & vacation/absence policy is that IF at least 2 weeks notice is given (in this case it is, because she is giving you notice now), then they only pay 50%. I do not have a limit on it. Some providers have 1 or 2 weeks off where they do not pay and anything beyond that is full pay.

Here in MI, DHS pays for holidays, like Labor Day and Christmas, so if she were my client, she wouldn't need to pay for those days out of pocket, but the rest she would pay 50%. I think it's fair because 1) she is getting a break but 2) you are not taking a total loss. Plus, it appears that she has months to adjust her budget to set some money aside for this. Maybe she can pay an extra $10 copay each week, so she would have a credit that can be used for those weeks off.

I feel for her situation, but times are very tight for everyone and I know I would not be able to continue in home daycare if I didn't charge for "breaks" like this.

Maybe a frank discussion with her would be best. Explain that you can't afford to just hold a spot for free during these "breaks" but you are open to compromise and are willing to listen to her thoughts and solutions.

[GretasLittleFriends]

You stated that you "signed up a new gal". Does that mean that you have a written contract that she signed? Do you have a vacation policy in that contract? Has she signed or agreed to the vacation policy? This will be the best answer to your question. If she signed a contract with a written vacation/holiday/absence policy, then she agreed to those terms.

My contract & vacation/absence policy is that IF at least 2 weeks notice is given (in this case it is, because she is giving you notice now), then they only pay 50%. I do not have a limit on it. Some providers have 1 or 2 weeks off where they do not pay and anything beyond that is full pay.

Here in MI, DHS pays for holidays, like Labor Day and Christmas, so if she were my client, she wouldn't need to pay for those days out of pocket, but the rest she would pay 50%. I think it's fair because 1) she is getting a break but 2) you are not taking a total loss. Plus, it appears that she has months to adjust her budget to set some money aside for this. Maybe she can pay an extra $10 copay each week, so she would have a credit that can be used for those weeks off.

I feel for her situation, but times are very tight for everyone and I know I would not be able to continue in home daycare if I didn't charge for "breaks" like this.

Maybe a frank discussion with her would be best. Explain that you can't afford to just hold a spot for free during these "breaks" but you are open to compromise and are willing to listen to her thoughts and solutions.

Great advice especially the extra $10 a week in advance!

[QualiTcare]

I was in this situation. I was going full time to school and was on dshs because I was not going to be away from my daughter all day everyday so I could work on top of going to school. I can tell you, if she gets what I was getting financially, she will not have the money to pay you out of pocket. This is a situation where, unfortunately, you are going to either have to accept what dshs is going to give you or give her notice that she needs to find other care. I understand that this is not going to seem fair to you, but that's just the nature of this situation.

you're right - if she's getting assistance, she won't be able to pay out of pocket. if she could, she wouldn't be getting it in the first place.

are you operating at maximum capacity? i mean, if she weren't there, would you have someone else taking that spot that would be paying during those times?

if not, i say give her a break. do you need any help with caring for kids? maybe she'd be willing to come in and help you out during her breaks to make up for it?

[alyssyn]

Gosh! I really don't know what I would do in this situation, but 50% sounds fair to me.

[happykidschildcare]

dshs vs private pay

I am not at capacity, I will be losing 1 dck here in mid june (her moms a teacher) then Im losing another 3 dck's to school in late august and am currently advertising those spaces. I also have an assistant that I pay 4-5 hrs per day at least 4 days a week. It would be really hard to fill the gaps when they arent suppose to be here, maybe the christmas break one's a possibilty. But thats usually a time a few of my families take a vaca so thats really gonna hurt...Since shes on dshs am I even able to ask for pmt out of pocket? and it would be for her 2 children, if I charged her out of pocket it would be the rate that dshs pays, not my regular rate right? I dont think it would be fair for her to pay full rate and like you said I dont even think she would be able too, I know she had to borrow the enrollment fee from her parents. She is a very nice person, referred from previous clients, and she has very sweet kids. So Im sure we will be able to work something out, I just want to be fair to her and I both. Theres been so many times I've shorted myself and regretted it. Im always reminding myself this is my business...

[gbcc]

I would call your county dss. Here they allow 12 paid days off for each client in a 3 month period. I have it written in my contracts that DSS clients have the same rules as paying clients. They are to pay the same rate. If DSS pays less, the parent pays the difference so they pay what everyone else pays. If they get more vacations because of school I use the 12 days DSS allows and the parent pays the rest.

I understand she is going to school to better herself, but is there a reason she is unable to work part time to help pay her own way? I understand many of us have been in this situation, including me. But honestly, depending on the government and using that as an excuse to not pay what a contract or what everyone else is expected to pay is not admirable.

[professionalmom]

I would call your county dss. Here they allow 12 paid days off for each client in a 3 month period. I have it written in my contracts that DSS clients have the same rules as paying clients. They are to pay the same rate. If DSS pays less, the parent pays the difference so they pay what everyone else pays. If they get more vacations because of school I use the 12 days DSS allows and the parent pays the rest.

I understand she is going to school to better herself, but is there a reason she is unable to work part time to help pay her own way? I understand many of us have been in this situation, including me. But honestly, depending on the government and using that as an excuse to not pay what a contract or what everyone else is expected to pay is not admirable.

I agree with checking with DSHS, DSS, DHS, or whatever it is in your state. Here in MI, we can only charge DHS for a day the child has off IF the child is sick or it's an approved holiday. We cannot charge it to DHS if it's just a break or the child and his/her family are on vacation. That would be fraud here. At least that is my understanding. Although they do have a set number of days off that DHS will pay for, that is only for holidays and child sick days.

[fctjc1979]

I would call your county dss. Here they allow 12 paid days off for each client in a 3 month period. I have it written in my contracts that DSS clients have the same rules as paying clients. They are to pay the same rate. If DSS pays less, the parent pays the difference so they pay what everyone else pays. If they get more vacations because of school I use the 12 days DSS allows and the parent pays the rest.

I understand she is going to school to better herself, but is there a reason she is unable to work part time to help pay her own way? I understand many of us have been in this situation, including me. But honestly, depending on the government and using that as an excuse to not pay what a contract or what everyone else is expected to pay is not admirable.

I can't say if there is a reason this mother can't work to help pay her own way, but I suspect that it's the same reason I had. When a mother goes to school full time, most of the time spent is not in class, but after class at home doing homework. On average, a person going to school full time can spend a total of 9-12 hours a day doing school work - unless they are just trying to float through school. Of course, this is hard for children to understand. They just know that they want to spend time with mom/dad. And when you're the only parent there, you're trying to be mom and dad in the little time you have everyday to REALLY interact with your child. Most daycare centers won't watch a child for longer than nine to ten hours a day for a reason - that's really all the time a child should be away from their parent(s) on a daily basis in order for that child to grow and mature in a healthy way. So, yes, I chose to accept government help so I could be there for my child as much as I could. Working part time on top of this would have made me an irresponsible parent - or not a parent at all depending on how you look at it. I suspect that it is much the same for this mother. I guess if that makes me someone people can call not admirable - so be it.

[gbcc]

I'm sorry if I offended you by that statement. I'm not saying it is easy by any means and most people would rather not receive assistance. I was there once myself. I decided to return to college and found myself pregnant. I was determined to finish out my degree so my last year of college I went to school full time, did an internship part time and worked part time. I divorced during this period as well so I had no other income, not even child support. I am not saying I am perfect of noble. Just letting you know I was there. No, it certaintly wasn't easy but it had to be done. I worked overnights while my son slept and I slepted when he napped. I wish that on no one. I don't find that irresponsible parenting nor was I a less attentive mother.

Either way as a mother we make choices that we feel are right for our family. I don't believe anyone on here is a bad parent. I think we have very different backgrounds, opinions, and cultures. They make our decisions different obviously. My point was simply that DSS should not be a reason for us as providers to suffer financially. It's also technically not fair to the other clients who have to follow the handbooks. I don't have the financial means to cut people slack because they are DSS clients. I think that is wonderful if you can, but if you can not you need to do what your business and family needs dictate. At first when I started I was a soft heart that wanted to help everyone. Then I looked and found that as the reason I was struggling.