How Much Do You Charge For Drop-Ins?

[jenny31052]

I don't usually have space for drop-ins, but a dcg is finishing this week (Mom is a teacher), and I would like to temporarily open her spot for drop-ins -

I was thinking about $5/hour, or $10 the first hour, and then $5 for each consecutive hour...

How much do you charge?

[Mydaycare]

I'm in AZ and I charge $30 per day (8 hrs)

[momma2girls]

I used to charge $30.00 per day. I now charge $35.00 per day, per child for a drop in.

[MarinaVanessa]

I'm in CA and I have both an hourly rate of $5 per hour (minimum of $20) and a daily rate of $40 per day (for 10 hours). I love doing drop-in care because it fills up my gaps that my FTers and PTers leave, so why not make a little extra money . I would just suggest that you consider some of the following:
1. Have a drop-in contract
2. Require that clients pay in advance (at drop-off or before)
3. Charge partial hours like a full hour (charge 8:30am-4pm like if it were 8am-4pm)
4. Make it first-pay first-serve.
5. Make fees non-refundable, once you pay for a day you don't get a refund.
6. Can't change a reservation with less than 24 hours notice.
7. Late drop-offs don't allow for late pick-ups.

My drop-in clients (I currently have 2) will call me as much as a week in advance to reserve their days for the following week. DCM1 will immediately pay for her days to lock herself in ... DCM2 doesn't always but she'll reserve her days and if DCM1 requests the same day(s) then I'll let let DCM2 know and she has to pay for those days within 2 hours. If she doesn't pay for them within 2 hours then I'll let DCM1 know that the day(s) are available but that there is someone else interested and then at that point whoever pays first gets it. It takes all of the hassle of clients asking for days and then not actually using them and me losing out on that money.

[Blackcat31]

I have 3 options for drop ins:

#1 whole day care (max 8 hours) at $50 per day. (no care during first and last hur of the of the day)

#2 Morning block (7:30 a.m. -11:00 a.m.) does NOT include lunch at $25

#3 Afternoon block (2:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m.) does NOT include nap at $25

I usually don't take any "new" drop ins or families I am not already familiar with and take only families/kids I have had sporatically over the years or kids who ar eno longer enrolled and 2 that I am their back up provider for.

I decided to offer drop in care for only the options above as the last two options are available for moms (or dads) who may just need a couple hours for an appt or an errand and not need the whole day. I separated the time into blocks to avoid lunch and nap times which are the two hardest parts of the day with a child who is not a regular.

I offer the whole day option but at a premium price so it more than makes up for the nap and lunch time stress.

I also find the first and last hours of the day are hard too for a drop in so I dont allow them to be here those two hours so I limit care to 8 hours per day.