Child Care Assistance Letter Needed

[nanglgrl]

I need help!
I have a family that I've been watching for a couple years off and on when mom is working. Their last day is February 1st because mom's schedule is changing to later hours that I'm not willing to accommodate.

Anyway, their last day is coming up but she wants me to watch them until then. The problem is that her CCA was up on Monday and I have not received a renewal voucher yet. In the last few years since everything has become more streamlined It seems that as long as someone turns their stuff in on time they get renewed as soon as they are due again. Her's did not renew leading me to think she didn't hand something in, DHS lost something or things got to them late.

The only time I haven't been paid for my services was by a person who had CCA. She didn't hand something in on time (or it was lost etc.) and although she did eventually get renewed CCA only back paid to the day that they received all of the requested documents and I was out a weeks pay. I could have taken it to court but this person was living in a shelter so it would be a long time (if ever) before I received anything. I chalked it up to helping someone out that was in dire straights.

My usual course is to make CCA clients pay out of pocket until I receive notice that they are approved but this mom can not afford it. She wants her kids to be able to come back tomorrow! I quickly put this letter to send her by e-mail. Any help with it would be appreciated!

~I know I explain myself to much for some of you and I could just say "no pay, no stay" but it's just not my style in this situation I need to use kid gloves.

Dear X,
The letter I received from DHS on December 7th says:
"If this family fails to complete their eligibility review, the Department will assume they no longer need child care assistance and their case will be closed effective 01/21/2013. If you do not receive certificates renewing CCA eligibility for these children by 01/21/2013, the family will be responsible for payment of any child care used after that date."
I understand that your worker told you she is only on the 28th for files received which means she probably would not be able to determine your eligibility until next week at the earliest. We both know that you will be approved eventually but the problem arises if they don't back pay. The worker could start processing your paperwork and determine that she needs something else from you or say she didn't receive a requested document (which we both know happens a lot) and then DHS would only back pay until the day they say they received everything they requested.
Unfortunately I've been in this exact position before and it did not work to my advantage. DHS didn't go back to the day the previous assistance ended and I was out a weeks pay. After that situation I changed how I handle CCA clients and now parents are required to pay out of pocket until I get approval for eligibility from DHS. Once I am paid by DHS I reimburse the client for all dates that overlap their payments to me. You are a great client so please understand this has nothing to do with you, it's a problem with Child Care Assistance.

I should add that the mother who was living in a shelter that I ended up giving a week of free care for her 2 children didn't deserve it. When it was time for her next renewal the same thing happened. She wasn't being responsible and handing her stuff in on time so she wasn't renewed right away and I wasn't about to give her more free care. She left and about 6 months later it was discovered that she was leaving her 2 1/2 year old home alone while she went to work. It was discovered when he was found walking down the side of the road alone. Luckily he was unharmed, physically anyway.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I think your gut instinct is correct. You should discontinue care unless they pay in advance at your regular rate. I know it's tough, I am a softy when it comes to state funded kids. I can afford a little charity, but not much. The state raised how much one of my families had to pay out of pocket by $15 a week. I let it slide, she is a very hard working single mom and is struggling. But I think you should definitely make it clear you can't do free care for that week, or play wait and see with the state, not fair to you at all. Stick to your policy!

[Sugar Magnolia]

I would die a million times over if one of my former kids was found walking down a street and was home alone because mom couldn't afford daycare without subsidy....a subsidy she blew because if failing to turn in documents. Mad, sad, heartbroken.

[nanglgrl]

I think your gut instinct is correct. You should discontinue care unless they pay in advance at your regular rate. I know it's tough, I am a softy when it comes to state funded kids. I can afford a little charity, but not much. The state raised how much one of my families had to pay out of pocket by $15 a week. I let it slide, she is a very hard working single mom and is struggling. But I think you should definitely make it clear you can't do free care for that week, or play wait and see with the state, not fair to you at all. Stick to your policy!

Thank you Sugar! In the past I have given a lot of breaks to single moms and dads, single parents that are students and state pay clients. I had one child who was being raised by his dad who was a single college student, I loved that kid and pretty much watched him for free. It felt nice to know that I was helping the dad get ahead and that the little guy was getting quality care. Another parent was a single mom and I loved her and her child to pieces. Her daughter lived with us for a month after mom graduated from college so mom could go get set up in the state that she got a job in (daughter was 9 and in school, she didn't want to pull her at the end of the year). There were others over the years and out of all of my clients in the past 10 years it's clients like these clients that still keep in touch with me. One thing every single one of them had in common is that they would have never asked for or expected me to give them special treatment, reduced prices etc. They would have struggled and done whatever they had to to keep their child with me and I think understanding that made giving more to them effortless.

I sent the letter and didn't let the family come last week. It was hard but I knew it had to be done, your words helped me know I was making the right decision. I don't know how mom took it because she didn't respond. On her Facebook page she flat out said she couldn't afford to pay cash and that she was mad at CCA. She never responded but she also never deleted me as a friend on her Facebook. I think maybe she is mad but a part of her realizes why I have to do this.

It's a good thing I sent the letter because I still haven't received a notice from CCA about renewal. It wasn't the end of their world either, Mom has family and friends and she figured it out and was able to get to work so that makes me feel better about everything.

[nanglgrl]

I would die a million times over if one of my former kids was found walking down a street and was home alone because mom couldn't afford daycare without subsidy....a subsidy she blew because if failing to turn in documents. Mad, sad, heartbroken.

Yes it was unbelievable. I gave the mom chance after chance after chance and for months believed all of her excuses. The first time her renewal was late I believed her when she said she sent everything in and her case worker was just being difficult. I talked to her worker and had her mail everything from my house and we got it done pretty quick. I was out a week of pay for 2 kids but I let it go because she seemed like a good mom who was trying to get her life together after a divorce.

The second time she was up for renewal it was the same thing again, she faxed the papers, she sent the papers, she never received the papers DHS sent her because they sent them to the wrong address...need I go on? She used so many excuses she couldn't even keep track. I was actually watching her kids for free AGAIN and waiting on the funding for about 3 days when she said something that contradicted something else she said and I knew without a doubt that she was lying so I told her I wouldn't be able to watch them anymore until we got the papers.

The end of the week came and I received paperwork saying she was denied (because she didn't hand in her paperwork at all). I text her what she owed and that I would be more than happy to do payments (I didn't charge any fees, only what I was expecting from the state) but I never heard from her again.

When I saw her mug shot and read the story in the paper I was shocked but SO glad I hadn't been her daycare provider for about 6 months. The original story she told the police was that she couldn't be late for work but her daycare provider was running a few minutes late to pick up her son. She said thought he would only be alone for a few minutes (as if that's any better). The police called the daycare provider she named (luckily there was one after me). The daycare provider hadn't talked to her in months. I would not want to be wrapped up in all of that!

The child was lucky, a good Samaritan found him instead of a creep and although he was found walking down the road near a body of water he was unharmed physically. The crazy thing is this just happened 6 months ago and she already has her son back, from what she says on her Facebook it doesn't look like he was ever removed from her custody.