Wondering What's Going On

[rmc20021]

I have a subsidized mom who was completely taking advantage of the system and me. I gave her a letter last week stating that although the state pays up to 40 hours of care, that I provide 50 hours per week of care at no additional cost to her so I expect her child to never be here more than 10 hours in any one day or there would be late fees at a cost of 2.50 per 5 minutes.

The next day she came to me with questions regarding what happens if she gets stuck on a call (customer service) and can't get here until after her scheduled pick up time. I had already snooped on her facebook and found out she had been going to the gym after work and was often getting here 45 minutes late for pickup...thus the letter.

It happens this family lives right next door to me and did not show up Tuesday...no call or anything, then was here yesterday and did not pick up until 30 minutes after pick up time. Today again, no show, no call. She was pretty good all last week after I gave her the letter about getting here on time.

When I had my other dck's outside after lunch, dcb from next door came over just before they were leaving and said they were going to the 'pumpkin place' I thought it was odd since it's no where near Halloween and then it dawned on me that there's a center in the next town called The Punkin Patch.

So now I'm wondering if she's changing providers and if so, since she is state pay whether she plans on paying the last two weeks of care, for which the state won't cover.

I don't want to leave on bad terms as she's my neighbor, but I can't just have a full time dck drop with no warning. Dcm said she would see us Monday as they were leaving...

[MyAngels]

I'd just come right out and ask her. There's nothing worse than not knowing what's going on.

[daycarediva]

I'd just come right out and ask her. There's nothing worse than not knowing what's going on.

I would just say "Hey dcm, dcb told me today that he is going to The punkin place. Any idea where he got that from?"

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

I hope you have a signed contract with two week notice in there. I would probably call the county and ask if she was switching providers.

[rmc20021]

I hope you have a signed contract with two week notice in there. I would probably call the county and ask if she was switching providers.

I think I'll do that...

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I would just say "Hey dcm, dcb told me today that he is going to The punkin place. Any idea where he got that from?"

For sure.

[Heidi]

In our state, we can't even call the caseworkers anymore and find out anything. We've had case workers cancel authorizations retroactively for care already provider. nice, eh?

In the meantime, 10 million dollars over 2 years are spent on a stars program to improve quality care for (subsidized) children.

[Blackcat31]

In our state, we can't even call the caseworkers anymore and find out anything. We've had case workers cancel authorizations retroactively for care already provider. nice, eh?

In the meantime, 10 million dollars over 2 years are spent on a stars program to improve quality care for (subsidized) children.

Thankfully here we have DIRECT access to the family's caseworkers and are instructed to listen to them and NOT parents when it comes to finding out if a family is authorized for care or not.

Also in my state, the assistance program WILL pay for a families two week notice if the family did not give written notice to the provider. (IF a written/oral two week notice is required in your policy book.)

I've had a couple state assisted families try an "no show" me and then simply try and switch providers. Thankfully my state supports the providers.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Thankfully here we have DIRECT access to the family's caseworkers and are instructed to listen to them and NOT parents when it comes to finding out if a family is authorized for care or not.

Also in my state, the assistance program WILL pay for a families two week notice if the family did not give written notice to the provider. (IF a written/oral two week notice is required in your policy book.)

I've had a couple state assisted families try an "no show" me and then simply try and switch providers. Thankfully my state supports the providers.

Wow, that is wonderful!

[Blackcat31]

Wow, that is wonderful!

NOW. Our state assistance program used to be horrible but luckily we had a complete over haul of the system and it is now VERY provider friendly (as well as parent friendly too).

Other than not trusting the state to have enough funding to always pay the provider, I would prefer to have all my clients be state paid since getting payments through the assistance program is much simpler and easier than trying to collect from parents sometimes.

A while back our state government shut down and all funding for assisted programs were out on hold. It was a financial disaster to those of us with more state assisted clients than self-pay clients.

Since that fiasco happened, I will never have more than 20% of my clients be on assistance.

[AmyKidsCo]

NOW. Our state assistance program used to be horrible but luckily we had a complete over haul of the system and it is now VERY provider friendly (as well as parent friendly too).

Other than not trusting the state to have enough funding to always pay the provider, I would prefer to have all my clients be state paid since getting payments through the assistance program is much simpler and easier than trying to collect from parents sometimes.

A while back our state government shut down and all funding for assisted programs were out on hold. It was a financial disaster to those of us with more state assisted clients than self-pay clients.

Since that fiasco happened, I will never have more than 20% of my clients be on assistance.

Wow - what state are you in? I've had subsidized families in the past but haven't in almost 5 years (and now I can't because I'm not participating in our rating system). Even 5 years ago it was a huge PITB because I'd get letters stating that the authorization was changing, and both the postmark and date the letter was written were AFTER the date the change was to go into effect. I wish WI would take a look at what your state is doing and overhaul our system too.

[rmc20021]

Did somebody say something about KARMA recently???

Yup, got a new dcb to start next week. I will then be completely full with 3 full timers and 4 part timers (who fill 3 spaces) so if I lose this other dcb, I really won't be losing anything and can be more selective in who I replace him with.

[Blackcat31]

Wow - what state are you in? I've had subsidized families in the past but haven't in almost 5 years (and now I can't because I'm not participating in our rating system). Even 5 years ago it was a huge PITB because I'd get letters stating that the authorization was changing, and both the postmark and date the letter was written were AFTER the date the change was to go into effect. I wish WI would take a look at what your state is doing and overhaul our system too.

I'm your neighbor.....I'm in MN

Funny that you should say that your state should take a lesson from mine because our star rating system is currently in the beginning stages and it was completely based off of Wisconsin's Young Star. We studied your system in depth so we knew exactly what was coming down the line for us.

We do get authorization letters and service agreement letters with different dates and sometimes after the fact too, but like I said, I have direct and easy access to the caseworkers so I usually just call them and verify what the facts are since the system for sending out service authorization forms and paperwork is usually automated by the state and the county workers have no control over that.