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Illegal Daycare, Two Week Notice, and Other Chaos
My three children started attending a home daycare part time (Tuesdays and Thursdays) three weeks ago (their ages are 5,4, and 1). The first week every thing flowed smoothly, but beginning the second week I noticed that the provider was caring for more and more children. The first day I noticed the problem she was caring for 9 children including my three! She told me that she accepted too many drop ins and that her niece had been helping her that day, but it would not happen again. (I asked her who else would be around my children and a niece was never mentioned, but that's not the worst of it). That Thursday I kept my children with me and they returned the following Tuesday (beginning week 3 of care). When I dropped them off there were only 2 other children present so I thought things would be fine, but when I picked them up she had 5 other children including a 5 week old baby! I was upset to see so many children, but even more my 5 year old and 4 year old told me that she didn't even feed them that day (they were there with her from 9:30 am-4pm), and my 4 year old was crying about having to use the restroom because he was too afraid to go to the restroom because he said there were men upstairs (where the restroom was). Not only was the care extremely unsatisfactory, her operation is illegal. Despite my fury, I intended to pay her for two weeks (while keeping my children with me of course) and file a complaint with the state, but this morning she sends me a message saying that I would be charged for three weeks because I put in my notice on a Tuesday even though the week had always started on a Tuesday for my children. I'm so upset about all of this I can't even think clearly. Any insight anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.
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Well I would call and file a complaint with the state (they will go and shut her down and tell her to get a licence at which point she will then be regulated) and as for the payment, If you feel the need to pay your two weeks, then pay it. As for the extra week. NOPE! She doesn't have a leg to stand on because she is operating illegally. -
If you are sure she's illegal, then skip this first part, but if you need to know for sure, I would call the Department of Social Services and ask if it is legal in your state to babysit from your home. If it is, ask how many children they are allowed to watch at a time.
If you find out that she is operating an illegal daycare, I would call her and let her know that she will not be receiving payment from you as you have learned that what she is doing is illegal therefore, you had to immediately remove your children to place them in a legal childcare. I would then tell her that I do not want any further communication with her. If you would like, you could also inform her that you have already filed a complaint with the state for her operating an illegal childcare and since she is doing so, you certainly will not pay her. If you think she might continue harassing you for payment, instead of calling her, you might want to call a lawyer and get advice from them. I would think that writing all the above information in a letter to her and to your lawyer would help you in court if she tries to sue you for the money. And, a letter stating that you know she's illegal and therefore do not wish to hire her or pay her for illegal services might help to keep her from trying to sue you.
And, in the future, even if babysitting is legal in your state, I would definitely only hire licensed home providers, a licensed daycare center or hire a nanny to come to your house to care for your children.Comment
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If she's actually illegal, I wouldn't have paid for the 2 weeks notice. As soon as I learned that she was providing illegal services, I would have ripped my kids out and not paid her one more penny. When I picked up my children, I would have been livid ( pis**d off) and pretty much reprimanded her for offering illegal services. I would have said something like, " I can't BELIEVE you are offering illegal childcare. I had no idea you weren't legally allowed to babysit my children! Since you are offering business services to the general public, I expected that you would know the rules and regulations of the services you are offering and would have made sure to offer LEGAL services! My children WILL NOT be back! And I will contact the authorities regarding your ILLEGAL operation here!
If you do decide to call her and she gets mouthy with you about her 3rd payment, maybe you can say something like that to here then.Comment
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I put in the complaint this morning, I really don't understand how she thinks she can extort an additional week from me on top of the two weeks when she didn't even feed my children, not to mention the fact that her operation is illegal. I'm wondering if I should hire a lawyer.Comment
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Regarding not feeding the children, if you hire a lawyer, I would tell him/her that your children said they weren't fed. But you can't prove or disprove that. But, if her business is illegal, you can prove that. I wouldn't hire a lawyer at the moment. I would only do so if you get a letter from her lawyer or a bill in the mail from her for the 3rd week's fee. Right now, it's just her trying to annoy you enough that you will pay her to make her shut up and leave you alone. You might be best off just not contacting her at all. Maybe after a few days she'll give up and leave you alone.Comment
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permanentvacation
I did not see your response before I replied. I have not paid for the two weeks yet. I paid her through last week when I dropped my children off last Tuesday morning, but I did not put in the notice until I picked them up that day and saw all of the children there again. I was only going to pay because I felt obligated due to her notice clause in the contract but if I am not obligated I certainly do not want to pay her a penny more. I did look at the regulations for my state (Virginia) and it stipulates that she is not allowed more than 5 children.Comment
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IF she is operating illegally, call it in and do not pay her any more money.
Did you sign a written contract?Comment
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contract
yes I did sign a contract when my children started which stated that I would provide two weeks paid notice, nothing about being charged for additional time depending on when the noticed was received.Comment
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I wouldn't pay her and I wouldn't communicate with her any further. If she wants to get the money from you, she'll have to take you to court for it. Then you can get a lawyer involved. Honestly, I operate a legally licensed daycare and I've had a couple of people leave without any notice and not pay me my contracted 2 weeks notice. However, it's such a pain to go to court about it, I didn't even bother. I am a legal provider with a legally binding contract and I didn't bother to take them to court for the money. I know plenty of legal providers like myself who haven't bothered to take parents to court for the money just because overall, it's just not worth the hassle we have to go through. I really doubt that she will take you to court.Comment
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thank you, this lesson has been costly enough. Even though things started off fine, with her not being licensed I just did not have any assurance that she would maintain a proper child to provider ratio and she clearly did not. I'm not going to pay her and I doubt she will take me to court, hopefully when the DSS completes their investigation she will be shut down.Comment
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If you didn't have a contract and handbook with her, make sure you do with your next provider. I tell my parents these protect both parties. I expect to be pre-paid, but what happens if you pre pay me and on Monday morning I just decide I am to tired to answer the door? The contract then works in your favor. The handbook gives you a clear idea of how I run things and answers a ton of questions for you. And it keeps me consistent among all children and families.Comment
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She was in breech of contact as of the first day you took your kids and there were 9 children present. Don't pay her another dime.Comment
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