Back-up Care. What do You do? California

[lvt77]

I live in CA and am licensed. I recently moved to Northern CA from So CA and have been running my DC for about 2 years. Since I have been open, I have not closed one day for any reason, other than holidays. I have not even left the premises during my daycare hours.
I am the only one here and do not have any hired help. The only person that I have that can help me is my husband, who is a licensed and working paramedic. In CA, licensing allows me to leave the DC for 2 hrs per day. I can only leave them with someone who has DOJ clearance, Infant CPR/First Aid, and TB test clearance, everything that my husband has. (I may have forgotten one)

Now, I have no choice, I need to be able to leave the DC so seek medical attention. Not wanting to get personal with the DCPs here, I just told that that I will need to leave the DC during business hours to attend to personal matters. I told them that my husband is more than qualified and he would be substituting for me while gone. I also told them that I would only leave during napping hours to attend to my matters. Some of the parents were ok with this and somewhere not…..
So now I am thinking well what am I supposed to do? I need to take care of myself.
This was my thought, do I tell them that if they don’t like the backup care then they needed to pick up their child or keep them home?
However, I read somewhere, (can’t recall where) that in the state of CA the parents do NOT have to accept my backup care and may keep their child home. If they keep the child home, they would not be required to pay provider???? Ugh…… what a mess
Any advice here??

[AnythingsPossible]

For the parents that aren't comfortable with the situation, have you asked them why? Maybe you should have a conversation with them to try to find out their concerns on the situation and see if there is a way their concerns can be alleviated. While you don't want to fill everyone in on your personal life, maybe letting them know that you have some medical issues you are having taken care of would be a worthwhile thing to mention, so that they know you aren't just taking off in the middle of the day for frivolous reasons. If they ask for further details, tell them you would rather not discuss it as it is a personal matter, but medically related.
I had a daycare mom who freaked every time I had a sub. I was the only one she wanted watching her children. My husband and sister in law are my subs, so it wasn't like I had random people coming in, but if she knew I would be gone, she was generally here within 15 minutes of me leaving to pick up. I guess if they are truly disturbed by having your husband fill in for you, they could take there lunch hour to come get their kids for awhile. While you may lose some income, atleast it wouldn't be all of your parents.

[littlemonkeys]

I am also in CA and from what I understand, it just has to be someone that is DOJ cleared and is attached to your license. For example, when I need to go to the dentist I notify the dcp's that my sister will be tending to the children while I'm out as my sister is attached to my license. I could also use my DH, but haven't needed to yet. I also reserve myself 10 days a year to either go on vacation or to use as personal days as needed if perhaps I didn't have back up available. If for some reason a dcp refused my backup they would have no other choice than to stay home with their child or find alternate care for them... And if that's the case, because I reserve myself those 10 days they would still be responsible for paying me for that day as I would use a personal day. I've never used all my personal days nor have I ever gone on a vacation, but if the personal days were all used up I would have to take the day without pay.

Hope this makes sense. I'm on my cell and its hard to respond from here sometimes.

[lvt77]

For the parents that aren't comfortable with the situation, have you asked them why? Maybe you should have a conversation with them to try to find out their concerns on the situation and see if there is a way their concerns can be alleviated. While you don't want to fill everyone in on your personal life, maybe letting them know that you have some medical issues you are having taken care of would be a worthwhile thing to mention, so that they know you aren't just taking off in the middle of the day for frivolous reasons. If they ask for further details, tell them you would rather not discuss it as it is a personal matter, but medically related.
I had a daycare mom who freaked every time I had a sub. I was the only one she wanted watching her children. My husband and sister in law are my subs, so it wasn't like I had random people coming in, but if she knew I would be gone, she was generally here within 15 minutes of me leaving to pick up. I guess if they are truly disturbed by having your husband fill in for you, they could take there lunch hour to come get their kids for awhile. While you may lose some income, atleast it wouldn't be all of your parents.

thanks for the feedback.. I did ask why they were not comfortable with my husband, as all the kids love him to death and all the parents see it... they said because he was male and they dont want their daughters left with a man....ugh I have to respect their decision. They have been here for about a year, but what can I do?

I guess I will just have to do it and let those parents that want to pick up their kids come get them. Most of my parents commute far away, we are a small town...

I dont really want to tell them my personal matters, even though I am close with most of the parents and usually can share most information with all of them...

[lvt77]

I am also in CA and from what I understand, it just has to be someone that is DOJ cleared and is attached to your license. For example, when I need to go to the dentist I notify the dcp's that my sister will be tending to the children while I'm out as my sister is attached to my license. I could also use my DH, but haven't needed to yet. I also reserve myself 10 days a year to either go on vacation or to use as personal days as needed if perhaps I didn't have back up available. If for some reason a dcp refused my backup they would have no other choice than to stay home with their child or find alternate care for them... And if that's the case, because I reserve myself those 10 days they would still be responsible for paying me for that day as I would use a personal day. I've never used all my personal days nor have I ever gone on a vacation, but if the personal days were all used up I would have to take the day without pay.

Hope this makes sense. I'm on my cell and its hard to respond from here sometimes.

thanks for responding from your cell.... I checked with my county licensing and they told me that no one can be left alone with the kids without all of the items I posted. They can help with the kids with DOJ clearance, but not left alone. There has to be someone staffed with infant/cpr first aid at all times..... It could be different per county. I would call your site worker and ask....

[littlemonkeys]

However, I read somewhere, (can’t recall where) that in the state of CA the parents do NOT have to accept my backup care and may keep their child home. If they keep the child home, they would not be required to pay provider???? Ugh…… what a mess
Any advice here??

I have never heard of this and will definitely find out. From what I was told as long as my contract clearly stated the details regarding vacations and time off I was covered.

[littlemonkeys]

thanks for responding from your cell.... I checked with my county licensing and they told me that no one can be left alone with the kids without all of the items I posted. They can help with the kids with DOJ clearance, but not left alone. There has to be someone staffed with infant/cpr first aid at all times..... It could be different per county. I would call your site worker and ask....

I'm still covered because we're all certified with CPR/First Aid, but it would probably be a good idea to find out just in case. Thx!

[lvt77]

I'm still covered because we're all certified with CPR/First Aid, but it would probably be a good idea to find out just in case. Thx!

wow that is great... Because I am some what new to the area still, I dont know anyone that I could trust to not only be left with my kids, but left in my house....
I guess I have some thinking to do today.... Thanks so much for yoru help.... you're a doll...

[littlemonkeys]

You're welcome!

I just called my representative at my licensing agency and it must be different per county because she told me they just have to be DOJ cleared and attached to her license... They do not need to be CPR/First Aid certified unless you were leaving the dck's with them for more than 20% of the time. I also asked her regarding the parents refusing the back up provider I had assigned and she said whatever is in my contract with that family is fine and the licensing agency does not get involved with the fees. So if I require them to still pay that's up to me.

Hope all this helps. Good luck to you and hope you get to the Dr soon. (((Hugs)))

[lvt77]

yes the same here.... Sorry I guess for me 20% would be 2 hours....which since my doctors office is about 35 min away, I would need this full 2 hours....
Looks like I need to change my contract......AGAIN uuuggghhhh....

[Live and Learn]

All of my dc parents are cool with my husband holding down the fort occasionally. He has more first aid training than I do! Since it is ok with regulations I would let them know what your choice is. ....hubby will be watching kiddies during nap time doc visits. If they have a problem with it they can come get their kids. I rarely need to rely on my hubby for doc visits or anything else. But a couple of years ago I had some ob/gyn issues and my hubby watched for about an hour at drop off a couple of times a week for 2 or 3 weeks..... It is these parents choice if they want to pick up early but you still should charge them for the full day. I hope your health issue is nothing serious. Make sure to take care of your needs first.::

[lvt77]

All of my dc parents are cool with my husband holding down the fort occasionally. He has more first aid training than I do! Since it is ok with regulations I would let them know what your choice is. ....hubby will be watching kiddies during nap time doc visits. If they have a problem with it they can come get their kids. I rarely need to rely on my hubby for doc visits or anything else. But a couple of years ago I had some ob/gyn issues and my hubby watched for about an hour at drop off a couple of times a week for 2 or 3 weeks..... It is these parents choice if they want to pick up early but you still should charge them for the full day. I hope your health issue is nothing serious. Make sure to take care of your needs first.::

My husband is the sweetest man ever and he is way over qualified to cover me.... But if someone does not want him watching their child I guess I have to respect that.
I think I am going to have to revise my PHB...
As for medical issues, it is serious and I feel so stupid because if I were to have gone to all of my check ups, it may have been resolved or caught a long time ago......
Live and learn is right... I need to take care of me first.....tough lesson for me to learn while trying to run this business successfully....

[jen]

Hmmm...well, first of all, I'm really very sorry to hear about your medical issues. I hope that you are taking care of yourself and are on the road to a full recovery!

I think I would just tell your parents that you have a medical issue that requires you to have *** amount of doctors visits over *** period of time. I would go on to explain that your husband is fully trained and meets the requirements of licensing and will be operating as your backup. If they are uncomfortable with that, you will give them your schedule of appointments and they are welcome to pick up their children during your absence.

I'll bet ya $5 that not one of them takes you up on it.

[Live and Learn]

Some of the parents were ok with this and some where not…..

Any advice here??

How many of your families are ok with hubby and how many against?

[littlemonkeys]

Hmmm...well, first of all, I'm really very sorry to hear about your medical issues. I hope that you are taking care of yourself and are on the road to a full recovery!

I think I would just tell your parents that you have a medical issue that requires you to have *** amount of doctors visits over *** period of time. I would go on to explain that your husband is fully trained and meets the requirements of licensing and will be operating as your backup. If they are uncomfortable with that, you will give them your schedule of appointments and they are welcome to pick up their children during your absence.

I'll bet ya $5 that not one of them takes you up on it.

This is worded perfectly!