Daycare Subsidy

[allsmiles]

I will add, that we have had 2/3 wonderful daycare families who were on subsidy. But as a whole, much more no-shows or families who just drop off the planet and never call, or who come inconsistently (and in Oklahoma those days arent paid for), and you aren't allowed to charge the family for the difference. I think a lot of the problems we have had with subsidy families comes from the way OK state subsidy works.

From Reading Everyone else's responses here, I can see that our state subsidy works very differently from most. We are not allowed to charge the family the difference between subsidy reimbursement and our actual rates - so the family pays very little if anything toward their childcare and are typically a lot less invested and have very little to lose by pulling no-shows/no-calls etc.

..
i totally understand..thats why i didnt reply specifically to you because i didnt want you to feel i was scolding you, just putting info out in the atmosphere .. im sure the longer im in this business, i will have a lot more different kind of experiences myself LOL but I really like getting paid up front alot better so i dunno how many more i will have

oh and its like that where i live too.. we are not allowed to charge the difference between our tuition and what the State pays..
some parents do have copays though because they are only eligible for a certain level of assistance with their income.. so like for her age child they only allow me to charge $90 for subsidy families, even if my tuition is $100.. but they will only pay $80 of that amount for her income level, so she has a copay of $10/ week.. and im not allowed to terminate her untill after she is 5 days behind on her copays..

[dave4him]

Of course the downside is you can do nothing if they call and decide they want to keep their child home with them that day cause they are do lazy to go get a full time job and are inconsiderate that their child is your income source! Like my niece's mommy today.

[melilley]

I love my subsidy fam.. i know some can be problems, but they are a young couple and they are VERY much on top of things for their son, diapers, communicating with me, paying their copays on time etc.. ALOT better than some of my paying customers who sometimes feel they can push the rules i guess cuz they are paying??? i dunno. I was actually a subsidy participant while i went to college, my future husband and i were just starting and used the assistance as long as we could WHICH REALLY helped.. I was a young mother so im sure i wasnt as great as a seasoned mom, but we took care of our business.. and this fam does too..
I agree you do have to stay in the know when it comes to their case because of their renewals and things like that. but my main complaint is getting paid after services.. Ive only been in business a few months so I guess i will get used to it.. but i keep thinking that i could have a cash paying customer paying now while im waiting on the State LOL.. HOWEVER.. i dont have any calls right now soooooo LOL
that alone is why i will stay on their list.. If ever i have trouble filling a spot, at least i know i dont have to turn down someone because i dont take subsidies.

I too had to be on assistance when my daughter was little because her dad chose alcohol over us and didn't pay anything, but I was one to pay what I needed to pay..in MI parents have to pay the difference. On another hand, I just came out of working for a center for 14 years and where I am at there are a lot of people who are on assistance and do not pay what they are supposed to and some can get very angry because the state won't pay all of it. I was just wondering if it was different for homes. Good point though, why not be on the list just in case! Thanks!

[dave4him]

Well she didnt have gas for her car today to drive her to daycare.... guess ill accept that. Since she did help me with the twins while i went to the dentist.