Any Military Providers???

[Nickel]

I've read over a ton of posts and seen many many ppl allow a max of ten hours per day... So I was wondering if any providers are involved with the FCC program on base or if they watch military children?

I ask this because my daughter was in daycare sometimes from drop off to pick up 6-6 and I there were times that I couldn't leave work until the absolute last minute and times I had to be at work at 615am... This was one of the reasons I decided to be a sahm when my youngest was born. because I rarely saw my oldest daughter while I was on active duty.

Sooo, my husband is military and I am going to be registering with the FCC program at our base although I don't reside on base. This is the first place i've been that allows providers to be affiliated with the base and live off base... Its hard to explain. In any case, the director of the program is wonderful and is very helpful. I'm allowed to contract any age I want but my hours will be wonky! I now there will be days that drop off will be at 6am and days where it could be 730am. and pick up will be just as varied depending on how late parents work, etc...

So I was planning on just doing weekly rates for ft and pt care. So 0-25 hours per work is part time at x amount and 26+ hours is full time at x amount. I was thinking $125/week for children over 2 ft and $75/week for pt. And I was considering taking school agers in the fall at 40 or 50 per week. not sure yet though.

I'm a little hesitant about taking infants as I want to be able to get up and go and I am thinking an infant would be much harder to lug around with my almost three year old in tow. I was sort of hoping to keep the ages closer together, like one or two 2-4 year old and maybe two school agers (my kids are 10 and 2). This would give me about $1400/mnth and I wouldn't have too many kids during the day even though the hours would be longish. (possibly)

and I was also thinking about accepting state subsidy but I'm having a hard time finding the information for the provider, everything I've found is for the parent to apply. I am going to talk to the FCC director on base next week, but I'm trying to get my high school diploma. It's required before I can complete any paperwork. the benefit of going through the fcc is that they do all the training free of charge, they list my services and refer me to miltiary mbrs needing care, they mandate 3hrs of training per month free, and provide cpr classes, art supplies, toys, books, and even loan outdoor play toys, furniture, book shelves, etc. I think they only think I actually have to pay for is my state fee of $35/yr. But they have tougher guidelines than the state, so I would be inspected by then and the state. Not a big deal because I feel if I'm doing the right thing it doesn't matter how much I'm inspected. She also works with new providers to get them all set up.

Anyway, I started rambling, i'm sorry. I was just wondering if there were other providers who accepted military personnel and if they limited them to ten hrs per day or charged extra or what their thoughts were. Do you also accept nonmilitary children and which would you prefer?

Sorry so long, look forward to hearing from you all~!

[Michael]

There are. I know for one Breezy is. Here are some threads from some of our Military Providers. https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=military

[pootmcgoot]

I am. Will reply later after I get my slave labor done

[Meeko]

I started out on Altus AFB in Oklahoma 27 years ago!

Then I just tended kids during regular duty hours which were 7-4 in the summer and 7:30-4:30 in the winter. I opened and accepted kids 30 minutes before shifts started and closed 30 minutes after they ended. Those on flight status had to make sure they had somebody to pick up if they were still in the air!!!!

[Nickel]

.. good to hear I'm not the only military provider. I currently live near on air force base, but will be pcsing to a usmc base next year. I'm trying to get everything set up while I'm hear because I won't be living on base at our next station and usmc FCC rules say the home must be on base. So I figure if I go through it now and learn the ropes i can use that when we PCS and just get state licensed at our next location. I don't want to alienate any military mbrs who made need the extra care as i completely understand their situation. But I don't want to burn myself out either and I want to be paid fairly for my time. My husband currently works long hours so I'm not concerned too much about interrupting family time but I would like supper to be on the table by 630... So do I have to wait for everyone to leave before I can start supper or can I get it started at the end of the day???

I have so many questions. Like for instance, how do you set up your home? Do you put things out in the living room and then pack them away everyday or do you have a designated day care room? I was thinking of incorporating my youngest daughters room, the living room and dining area as daycare space. I have dogs, so they would be crated in their own room while the kids were here (i literaly have a room with just dog crates ) my youngest daughter cosleeps so we don't use her room much anyway. I've seen some amazing pictures of home providers and they look just like daycare centers. Does everyone's house look like that???

[Breezy]

Hi!

My husband is stationed at Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ. We live off base and I am not affiliated with the base as of right now nor am I licensed (legally unlicensed). I accept both military and civilian families and actually prefer military though I have none enrolled right now. We will be PCSing in October to Grand Forks, AFB where I will be living on base and licensed through the FCC. I have already been in contact of the FCC manager at that base and have gotten some information from her. She said that usually she tries to have 6-8 FCC providers on base depending on the waiting list at the CDC. The AF pays for the CDC so they need to make sure they are full before referring people to the other FCC providers. Usually the FCC providers have infants as the waiting list can be kind of long to get them enrolled. A lot of providers do swings or mids care as well as PCS care to supplement their income when their spots are not full.

I charge $140/week for FT care. and $120/week for PT care. If a family only wants a few days per week they generally go drop in and are advised that the spot may not be available depending on my enrollment. Drop in care is $30/week. These rates depend on your area so I would check with your area averages.

As far as set up: I have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home. My 3rd bedroom is used for napping and is also a guest room when I have guests once in a blue moon. I have pack and plays set up in there as well as a queen sized guest bed which is usually used for storage (blankets, burp rags, etc).

My living room and dining room are attached and very open and they are used as my playroom/daycare. I have no kitchen table currently set up in the actual dining room (my kiddos are all still in highchairs or not eating table food) so that is where the toys are. I have a 16 month old son and they are mostly his toys (special ones are put away in his room for his use only) so they are out at all times.

I also have my tv mounted and a thing of fabric drawers with toys and such in them under the TV so it appears as adult furniture but they are really hiding toys! I don't have much on the walls like a daycare (my kids are mostly infants anyhow) because it is still my home and I don't really want to see daycare stuff all the time.

Big stuff gets put away at the end of the day like a bouncy seat, swing, etc.

My sons room is totally off limits as I want him to have a place where just he can go to nap and play with his special toys!

Hope that answers most of your questions!

Welcome to the forum!

[DBug]

I live near a base and most of my families are military. I totally support our troops and am proud to be able to tell the kidlets that "the soldiers are practicing to protect us" when we can hear the gunfire or when we see the helicopters in the air.

However ... because our base is very transitory, many of my families are far from their own family and they haven't been here long enough to create a support system for back-up care when one parent is away for training/teaching. That means that I've been asked on several occasions to stay open late until the remaining parent finishes their civilian shift. I haven't had a problem with that until this past year when I was totally taken advantage of by a family . I hated to have to do it, but I've decided not to offer overtime at all any more, even to military families (who were the only ones I offered it to in the first place).

It's just something to think about when it comes to working with military families. If I were you, I'd decide now what you're going to do when the possibility comes up, and even add it to your contract.

[pootmcgoot]

Sounds like all of y'all are air force. I'm army.

[Nickel]

We are actually Marine Corps. Just stationed near an air force base for now. Should be returning the a usmc base next year. I wanted to start doing FCC now so that when I'm on my own after pcs I'll know what to do. For the marine corps providers can only do fcc if they live on base. We cant live on base because we have too many pets.

Speaking of pets, has anyone had any issues with setting up child care with animals? I plan on crating mine while the kids are awake and letting them out while they nap. I have dogs and while they are all good with kids I don't want to run the risk of someone getting hurt and having to put my dog to sleep. It's not worth it, imho.

Thx for all of the awesome advice! I am unsure how I want to do hours for military families. Saying $125/week is good but when I look at possibly working 12 hour days five days a week and then adding on cleaning and prep time, that's $125 for 60-80 hrs/week. And I only want to start out with one or two children, so I'm not sure I want to work so many hours for so little money:confused:

Also, does anyone receive subsidy from military. I heard that infants were subsidized depending on income but after two years the families have to pay my regular rates. So in that case, how do I get paid? Do they pay FCC director and then she pays me, or do they pay me a portion and then fcc pays the rest?

I know I have so many questions that I need to just go in and talk to her about but I'm not sure she's in today. I heard she does inspections on Fridays and with the holiday I doubt she's even in the office. I guess I should call and set up an appointment but I hate talking to people on the phone. I know, horrible

Another question, I read in the minimum requirements that I must have a listed phone number. Does that mean I need to get a landline? We don't have one and I really have no desire to pay for one. Even the basic service with no features that's suppose to be $11/mnth comes out to $35 with taxes and fees added on.

Thx again for bearing with me. I'm new at this and excited and scared all at the same time! I was attending school using the gibill and the stipend was really nice. I started having some problems with my provider as her son had all these appts and she wouldn't be able to watch him. Then her house was really small and she didn't really interact with the kids much, so I started looking into the cdc on base. But when she finally got a spot I couldn't do it. She was so tiny and little and I didn't want to miss her growing up. And because of my constantly changing school schedule, I didn't want to have to drop her off by a certain time and miss spending time with her...

So I decided to postpone school until she started kindergarten but I miss that stipend money So I thought why not do FCC??? Even with one child I would make up the difference between my stipend and paying for her dc. AND when we PCS we never know how much our new area is going to be (I am soooo hoping for california next. I've never been and would love to "visit") so this way I would at least have references and experience before we PCS and I need to make the additional money.

So that's my story I guess. I seem to get side tracked so easily lately! .. I just don't have many friends here that I can talk to about this. Most of them are from school and i didn't tell them that I'm not going anymore. And my other friends are marines or vets so it's not like this would make interesting conversation for them... So please excuse my rambles!!! It's just so nice having a group of individuals who are supportive and kind. lovethis

[pootmcgoot]

I am on post so take this with a grain of salt...

Most military families expect the 5-5 or 6-6 daycare schedule at the price of a regular 9 hour day. It's just the lifestyle. I had to choke that down. It ****s honestly. A lot of my military interviews are from single parents or dual military. I am hoping for a family where the non soldier goes in at 8 am...LOL. Hasn't happened yet.

As for pets, we have to take our dog to the vet to have a behavior assessment and then the vet has to sign off on him, even though he is crated while children are here at all times. Banned breeds are non negotiable.

But honestly, daycare around a military base is grossly underpaid for the hours and availability they work. Once you are FCC certified you will be paid on a sliding schedule by income categories. I was told I have no choice. I can take a e3's child for 350$ a month and then be paid 600$ a month by a o-5 for the same hours/childs age. And if I "rank" shop as my director put it, she will shut my daycare down.

All in all, it's a pain. Really it is. And you will always have your rates compared to the centers. Though they are more expensive for higher ranks the lower, the lower ranks seem to want to pay HALF of what the center charges because "well you're just baby sitting and this isn't really a job!"

And yea, I was told that recently...

[Nickel]

hmmm. I wonder if every place/service is different. I know here I talked to the director last year and she said we set our own rates. But there was something about subsidy for infants. I just can't remember what.. Guess I'll find out next week

as for the animals I don't have restricted breeds. Just huskies, labs, and a beagle mix. But I have several dogs and two cats I know they have to have proof of rabies and distemper, but if I do need an assessment hopefully my vet will sign off without me having to take them all in. Normally he comes to the house once a year for rabies, etc and we take the dogs in individually if they have a problem. Guess I'll need to find out more about that too....

I am expecting to work 6-6 although with lucky i'll get an active duty with a civilian spouse but i'll keep my fingers crossed. expect the worse and hope for the best is what my hubby says...

And wow! Someone actually said that to you! I think I would have thrown them out of my house right then and there. Excuse me? a babysitter is someone who orders pizza and plops your kids in front of the tv while you go out on a date. A child care provider is the person who teaches, interacts, plays with, and cares for your child more hours a day then the parents do! I hate that people think that way. It's like wow, I'm working 60 hours a week for $125.. how much do you work a week!!! I know that I can take more kids, but that's not always the best answer kwim???

People are rude and inconsiderate and I have no problems putting someone in their place. Rank stays at the door and honestly since my husband is a recruiter and not even affiliated with the base (or the air force) Im not worried about what you think of me or playing nice for him. I don't have to and I'm not ****ing up to no one!!! Although I think when we move I'll refrain from taking any kids that are in my husband's command. I just don't want to mix my business with his business, ya know???

Wow... I am still blown away by that comment, just a babysitter. I mean, I don't think too highly of a parent saying that. I'm really picky who I let take care of my children, but obviously they don't care what their child does all day if they are just looking for the cheapest babysitter. grrrrr... drives me nuts!!!

[Breezy]

Majority of military families I have had work 7-430 so I have never had to do 12s unless thwre was an exercise.

[pootmcgoot]

Wow...breezy. Your dcps are fortunate. My husband is up at 5, pt from 6-8 then at work by 9. Home by 6. With out fail, 5 days a week.

The dcb I just termed, his dad was loosely my husbands superior. He pulled rank on my husband in my driveway before pt about my husbands uniform. AT MY HOUSE. Then handed me his kid, didnt say a word to me and left. So glad I termed.

[MNMum]

My husband is National Guard. When he deployed, my children attended a daycare center on a drop in basis when I picked up hours. With my commute time, my kids were sometimes there past the 10 hour time limit. The center was very nice and understood the situation, and never gave me a problem.

But that was a center. It wasn't one person stuck with my children 11 hours. Personally, running a home daycare, I don't think I would allow kids here that long. I've found kids tend to get crabby if they are in my care for long hours (probably just me getting crabby and them shadowing my behavior, kwim?)

[Breezy]

My DH is workinga weird schedule now based on the flight schedule which Is sometimes 5am and sometimes 9am. Usually though its work at 7 gym after and home by 6. No organized pt here anymore in his squadron