I Don't Know Whether To Offer DHS Assistance Or Avoid It As Long As Possible

[Unregistered]

I am so torn between Contracting with DHS to offer childcare assistance or avoiding it like it's the plague. Any advice would be welcome and appreciated! Thank you :*)

[Patches]

^I'm wondering the same thing right now.

[LK5kids]

My thoughts too! I do know providers in my community who dhs clients are working out well for them.

[nanglgrl]

I think the answer would vary depending on your state. In Iowa it's not so bad. We bill online and the money is direct deposited. We get 4 days a month that we can bill if the child is supposed to be in attendance but doesn't come. Really the biggest problems here are the reimbursement rate, abuse of the program and waiting for approval.
Our reimbursement rate is between aprox. $105 for school agers (during school breaks) to aprox. $125 for children under 2. The average rate in our area is $125 no matter what the age of the child but quite a few providers have raised their rates to $150. Most providers here charge the same regardless of age and with the CCA rates you end up making less the longer you watch a child.
The abuse of the system is ridiculous because there seems to be very little oversight. Too many clients bring their children when they are off of work and so many of them can afford to get their hair/nails done and have their children wear all name brand clothes but they pay nothing for their daycare.
I make CCA clients pay out of pocket until I get notice from CCA and then I pay the client back any overlap after CCA pays me. CCA has 30 days to approve someone and they often take even longer. Paperwork gets lost or entered incorrectly all of the time so when they are up for renewal I make them do the same thing. There have been several cases in our area of people saying they have been approved and the provider not requiring payment only to find out later (when they leave and can't be found) that they were never approved or worse that they never even applied.

[Unregistered]

Yikes

Thank you for the replies. DHS sounds like a mess. I am so scared to offer the DHS assistance, but I am sure there is a need for it in my community. I don't know what I am going to do :/

[sahm1225]

It really depends on your state. I have one client on it and won't take any again.

Here are my complaints from my experience

1) they pay AFTER you have cared for the child and its 1 1/2 month lag
2) last year they ran out of funding and the lag went to 3-4 months. But they strongly encouraged you to continue offering childcare
3) they pay 28/day, our average around here is 50/day.
4) they send you lots of letters asking you to not charge the parents their copay and to charge less
5) I still haven't been paid for January
6) they charge me a processing fee of 16 for each check I get

[Meeko]

It really depends on your state. I have one client on it and won't take any again.

Here are my complaints from my experience

1) they pay AFTER you have cared for the child and its 1 1/2 month lag
2) last year they ran out of funding and the lag went to 3-4 months. But they strongly encouraged you to continue offering childcare
3) they pay 28/day, our average around here is 50/day.
4) they send you lots of letters asking you to not charge the parents their copay and to charge less
5) I still haven't been paid for January
6) they charge me a processing fee of 16 for each check I get

Yes...it's so different in each state. Utah pays in advance with direct deposit. Providers can charge what they like and the parent has to make up any difference.

The parents have to fill out a review with the state every 6 months to see if they are still eligible. Problems sometimes arise with parents being lazy and forgetting to send paperwork in on time and then getting mad when you refuse care until funds are available.

Lots of pros and cons. I would prefer to NOT take state as (and I don't care if this seems cruel), but state parents tend to be the worst clients (not ALWAYS...but for the most part) The "I'm entitled" mentality is not a nice one to deal with.

But, there is a need here. I tend 16 children and 5 of them are state. It has been a higher ratio in the past.

You might want to contact other providers in your area and see if they will be brutally honest with you and give you their opinions.

[Twinvillageiowa]

We got state funded care for 2 years while I was in school. I turned in my stuff on time every bloody time. The state would misplace stuff, decide they suddenly needed more info or would be so backed up that they couldn't even get to our stuff for months. I really wish people here would stop looking down on people who need/ previously needed aid.

Yes...it's so different in each state. Utah pays in advance with direct deposit. Providers can charge what they like and the parent has to make up any difference.

The parents have to fill out a review with the state every 6 months to see if they are still eligible. Problems sometimes arise with parents being lazy and forgetting to send paperwork in on time and then getting mad when you refuse care until funds are available.

Lots of pros and cons. I would prefer to NOT take state as (and I don't care if this seems cruel), but state parents tend to be the worst clients (not ALWAYS...but for the most part) The "I'm entitled" mentality is not a nice one to deal with.

But, there is a need here. I tend 16 children and 5 of them are state. It has been a higher ratio in the past.

You might want to contact other providers in your area and see if they will be brutally honest with you and give you their opinions.

[Meeko]

We got state funded care for 2 years while I was in school. I turned in my stuff on time every bloody time. The state would misplace stuff, decide they suddenly needed more info or would be so backed up that they couldn't even get to our stuff for months. I really wish people here would stop looking down on people who need/ previously needed aid.

I didn't mean to offend you. :hug:

I have had many state clients who have turned in paperwork on time, been great clients etc. Yes....I have known the state to lose paperwork a few times too.

But I have been at this for nearly 3 decades now. MANY, MANY, MANY times I have had parents admit that they just didn't turn in their paperwork. They just shrug and tell me "it's coming" when I ask for money....as if that should be good enough and I should keep watching their kids until then. They get mad when I tell them "no pay/no stay". I have to explain to them that "it's coming" doesn't work from the self-pay parents and it doesn't work from them either. THEY are responsible to make sure I get paid. Too many of them have the opinion that everyone is supposed to work with them regardless and that they should have no responsibility at all.

These same parents expect me to magically provide diapers if they don't bring them.

These same parents "can't find" their kids shoes in the morning and then have a hissy fit that their child doesn't get to go to the park that day....as if I am supposed to provide shoes.

These same parents can't find one single penny to pay me while they wait for state funds to be processed, but will show me their new I-phone a day or two later

Yes....I am jaded.

I am thankful for state parents, who, like you....have used the help and been grateful and made sure they did whatever they needed to do.

But for everyone of those, there are 10 who couldn't care less.

[Blackcat31]

I really wish people here would stop looking down on people who need/ previously needed aid.

Any time someone talks about assistance you seem to take offense. :confused:

I don't think anyone is looking down on the individuals who need or have needed aid or government assistance.

What I do have issues with is the way the system works....NOT necessarily the folks who have needed it and used it properly.

My state works like Meeko's with families on assistance. I get paid direct deposit, the parent makes up any difference in rate and I am notified in advanvce if someone's case is going to be suspended or closed.

I have had parents upset with me for not allowing them to continue receiving services after their case has been suspended but it is all just part of the business and only one of a hundred different reasons I have had a parent upset.

I have NO issues with my state's child care assistance program.

[JLH]

Re:

I am very big on "paying it forward". That being said; I have had my new license for 6 months and the only turnover I have had is from the 3 dshs clients I have taken in. One promised she was going to the store to get my money that was past due and never came back (she still hasn't paid me and probably never will), one had a new boyfriend every week and would leave her son with them for them to bring him to my daycare (virtual strangers to the child) and he was a mess when he would come in with them because he was scared, and one refused to give me her work schedule which varied from week to week so I never knew what days I could get paid for and she lied to me at the time of enrollment (said she needed full time care but once I agreed to watching her child it ended up being less than one day per week). BUT... I'm a big softie and agreed to another dshs that is still with me. So far the only downside has been that mom wanted full time but the state will only pay 3 and a half days per week. That means I make $77 per week off of a spot that others pay me up to $150 for. It just seems like a lot of hassle that isn't worth it to me but it is good karma.

[sahm1225]

I don't look down at the parents on the program at all. It is meant to help families and it does. For me as the provider, it's really not worth it.

I think it's a great program but there are a lot of things that are screwed up and allow parents to take advantage of good providers. The parent signs the form stating the days I watched the child, BUT I only get paid if they were actually at work those days (meaning my check can be shorted). The parent can lose their job and not tell the provider, who in good faith is watching the child and them doesn't get paid the right amount because they weren't working.. Too much opportunity to get burned.

That being said - I love the family that I have that is on assistance. The mom is amazing and always updates me. All of the hiccups on payment error were NOT her fault, but it ****ed not getting paid, then spending hours getting it corrected. She appreciates everything I do and always tells me, she brings me coffee, had volunteered here for reading times, and always gives me good faith payments when she finds out they are behind schedule on paying.

[Candy]

Do you have to be licensed to contract with them?

[Twinvillageiowa]

Because the people on this board seem to hate people who need food stamps, who need childcare assistance or who are in a bad place financially. People are judged solely on their financial merits. Almost all of the people I know who need assistance are educated, two parent households. People talk about wanting to cut programs that assist these people but don't seem to want to offer any strategies for people to become self sufficient. There is such a high level of disgust for daycare clients in these type of situations. Do any of these providers think about how heartbreaking it would be for their clients to hear/read the way providers talk about them?

Any time someone talks about assistance you seem to take offense. :confused:

I don't think anyone is looking down on the individuals who need or have needed aid or government assistance.

What I do have issues with is the way the system works....NOT necessarily the folks who have needed it and used it properly.

My state works like Meeko's with families on assistance. I get paid direct deposit, the parent makes up any difference in rate and I am notified in advanvce if someone's case is going to be suspended or closed.

I have had parents upset with me for not allowing them to continue receiving services after their case has been suspended but it is all just part of the business and only one of a hundred different reasons I have had a parent upset.

I have NO issues with my state's child care assistance program.

[Lyss]

I don't take it, for me it has nothing to do with a prejudice or "looking down" on people that get assistance. It's just more paperwork and headache for me than it is worth. Plus I had very negative experiences with it when I was a center director and that's also a major part of my unwillingness as well.

Do you have to be licensed to contract with them?

I'm sure it varies from state to state but in mine you don't have to be registered/certified, you just have to take a DHS class.