Part Timers Coming Out Of The Woodwork! Capacity Issue

[MG&Lsmom]

Since my website went live I've had a lot of traffic. Email & phone calls. Some people just don't read do they? Mostly infants or people wanting care starting at ungodly hours. The ones that have panned out into potential interviews are part timers, one with a variable schedule, ugh.

So now my dilemma. One family of 3 (2yo, 7yo, 9yo) needs b/a for older 2, full time for 2yo 2-3 days/wk variable or rotating nurses schedule. Hours outside my hours by 15 mins in the am. 2nd family is one 20mo needing Wed-Fri full time with 30 mins outside my hours at pickup, occasionally needing M/T. With my current dck and if I take both families, I will be over capacity by 1 child for 30 mins on TH/F *if* the SA/2yo family needs care those days . And during April vacation week I would be over all day. The SA will not be attending during the summer. I really would love to take both families and just be full already! WWYD? I don't think MA allows for exceptions in capacity, but I could be wrong.

[Sunny Day]

That ****s! Finding enough kids to be full, but not going over capacity is always a challenge. Personally though, I NEVER, EVER go over capacity, even for 5 minutes. It's just not worth it if something would happen. I would choose the family that I thought would be the best fit and tell the other's that you're sorry, but the space just isn't there. If you're having as much traffic on your site as it sounds like you are, you'll find another child/family to fill in the missing days. Good luck!

[lvt77]

What state are you in??

I have a 3yr old and we are putting him in preschool. Same thing I would be over my cap. by 30min. i talked to my SS worker and she said NO you cant do that.

also awhile back, I had a mom drop her kid off on an unscheduled day without permissio. Knowing that I would be in back room with the class teaching she left him at my foyer in my front room and left.

I came to the front of the house to have all the kids go to the bathroom and theres little Johnny.... I was like what in the world are you doing here. It put me over my cap. so I called the duty officer of the day at SS office and said I cant belive this happened and I am over my cap. I tired to call everyone on his list to pick him up. He ended up being here for 5 hours before anyone picked him up. DCM never answered her phone. The duty officer of the day said to me that there is never a reason that you are allowed to be over your cap. She said if I were out there that day i would have sited you. She then went on to say that i would have to appeal it if that were to ever happen.....

I guess you would have to be willing to take any matters that came your way if you were found in noncompliance of the rules...
But your situation does sound very tempting. Is there any way that you could talk to the other parents to see if they can pick up 30 min earlier??

[e.j.]

I don't think MA allows for exceptions in capacity, but I could be wrong.

I have heard of variances being granted in some situations but anytime I've heard of a provider asking for a variance for capacity, they've been turned down. It might be worth calling your licensor just to see what he/she would say, though. It can't hurt to ask, right?

Any possibility the family with the s/a kids would be willing to enroll the kids even if you couldn't take them on April vacation or on a Th/Fri? It sounds as though Th/Fri is "iffy" for them anyway and there are so many programs now that offer s/a child care during vacation weeks that they might easily be able to find an alternative for April vacation. Maybe a classmate's parent or a friend or relative could watch them on a Th/Fri that might come up? At least most of the hours they need would be covered by you. Because of my hours, I tend to get a lot of part-timers and making their hours mesh always feels a little like doing a jigsaw puzzle. I've been amazed by how willing parents are willing to work with my schedule in order to get their kids in to my day care - even when they didn't seem to have any flexibility at first.

[misol]

What state are you in??

I have a 3yr old and we are putting him in preschool. Same thing I would be over my cap. by 30min. i talked to my SS worker and she said NO you cant do that.

also awhile back, I had a mom drop her kid off on an unscheduled day without permissio. Knowing that I would be in back room with the class teaching she left him at my foyer in my front room and left.

I came to the front of the house to have all the kids go to the bathroom and theres little Johnny.... I was like what in the world are you doing here. It put me over my cap. so I called the duty officer of the day at SS office and said I cant belive this happened and I am over my cap. I tired to call everyone on his list to pick him up. He ended up being here for 5 hours before anyone picked him up. DCM never answered her phone. The duty officer of the day said to me that there is never a reason that you are allowed to be over your cap. She said if I were out there that day i would have sited you. She then went on to say that i would have to appeal it if that were to ever happen.....

I guess you would have to be willing to take any matters that came your way if you were found in noncompliance of the rules...
But your situation does sound very tempting. Is there any way that you could talk to the other parents to see if they can pick up 30 min earlier??

WOW! This is outright dangerous and disrespectful. This would have been this little boy's last day! On the spot termination! What if after mom left the boy turned around and walked right out the door. You would have never even known he was there and could have been held liable if something terrible happened to him.

[lvt77]

WOW! This is outright dangerous and disrespectful. This would have been this little boy's last day! On the spot termination! What if after mom left the boy turned around and walked right out the door. You would have never even known he was there and could have been held liable if something terrible happened to him.

yup he was term on the spot.. When the gma came to pick up DCB I told her the situation and she was so mad at her gdaughter. I handed her the letter and that was it

[MG&Lsmom]

yup he was term on the spot.. When the gma came to pick up DCB I told her the situation and she was so mad at her gdaughter. I handed her the letter and that was it

Oh thank goodness! I was going to say that is horribly disrespectful and dangerous.

I talked to a friend in the business. She doesn't think it's a huge issue since it's going to be a rare occurrence. Counting how many weeks are left and the fact that mom works a 2 week rotating schedule, there are only 8 times that this could possibly be an issue for the remainder of the school year, plus April vacation. Mom is only 5 mins away and gets out at the time the bus rolls up, so in reality it could only be 15 mins of overlap. Our school system does have an AS program and if it really is an issue I'm going to suggest that she talk to them about enrolling the 9yo for those days so I stay under capacity. We'll see what happens. There's always the chance the other family doesn't enroll. She doesn't know about my preschool driving yet. Not going to make a big deal out of it, but I never mentioned it to her. Mom of 3 knows and doesn't care.

[Abigail]

What is your preschool driving? I would offer to both if you really need them enrolled right away and just state to the family that you are adding they must pick up by *This Time* so you're not over ratio or else you could lose your license. If it's only 15 or 30 minutes, maybe they can do a work schedule change or give up overtime because they will have to find some daycare to work for them and if you offer this or this is your choice, they might take you up on it. They might even respect you move for being upfront about being over capacity and that is why you are telling them the only options they will have.

BTW, if you have a lot of traffic now, I would consider raising rates.

[MG&Lsmom]

What is your preschool driving? I would offer to both if you really need them enrolled right away and just state to the family that you are adding they must pick up by *This Time* so you're not over ratio or else you could lose your license. If it's only 15 or 30 minutes, maybe they can do a work schedule change or give up overtime because they will have to find some daycare to work for them and if you offer this or this is your choice, they might take you up on it. They might even respect you move for being upfront about being over capacity and that is why you are telling them the only options they will have.

BTW, if you have a lot of traffic now, I would consider raising rates.

I take kids to preschool every day and pick them up. Most of the full timers that chose not to interview did not like that fact. I think that's why I'm getting mostly part timers.

Unfortunately the schedule for the mom of 3 can not change. Nurse's 7-3 shift. No wiggle room. The other 2 families work until 4 or 5, and my overlap will be from 3-3:30. Nurse mom could potentially be here by 3:15 if she runs out the door and doesn't get stuck behind any buses on the 3 mile ride to my house. But knowing the bus route, she's going to be behind at least 1 if not 2 buses.