Childcare

[African Tulip]

Help! I've never had to do this.  I'm going to be giving a family notice that at the end of the month I will not be providing care for them any more.  I'm giving notice for two reasons.  First, I changed my hours at the start of Sept. from 5:30pm to 5:15pm.  In these 4 days the mom hasn't been on time yet.  She struggled to get here by 5:30pm before but she figured she'd be able to get here on time.  Second, I have to pick up dcg1 from school.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem but one of the days that she goes to school falls on the same day that my boys have a school activity.  They aren't done till 3:30pm which means I wouldn't be back in town till 4:30pm and dcg1 needs to be picked up by 3:15pm.  My kids have given up a lot in the last 4yrs due to my dayhome and I'm just not willing to do that to them this year.  I purposely signed them up with this school for these activities so I'm not going to give them up now.  There is a third reason but the family doesn't need to know about it (having the girls stresses me out too much).

So, how should I go about writing up the letter?

[African Tulip]

I do have a contract and it states that I need to give 2 weeks notice to terminate care unless there are extenuating circumstances.  I let the agency know today that I plan to give notice and asked them who's to give the notice.  I just found out that there is going to be another provider starting up with the agency and should be ready to go by the end of the month.  I'm thrilled with this as this way it doesn't change for the mom in regards to fees and expectations.  It's great for the new provider as she'll have kids right away.  I know her and actually the kids have played with her daughter a few times now as well.  This will make giving notice easier.  I also plan to let the new provider know that if I can I will be a back up for her with the girls.

I'm thinking I won't even mention the lateness and just say that my family schedule does not work with her needs for care.  Then of course how great the kids have been. 

[African Tulip]

too that it's 2weeks.  I thought it was a month.  It's the contract that the agency makes up so has nothing to do with me.  I've been able to find 3 providers with open spaces.  One that I thought was full has some spaces open.  The kids know her well as well as her kids (we play together often) and she now uses the same pre-school program I do so even that wouldn't change.  Her hours are till 6pm which is perfect for this parent too.

I will be giving my parent 3weeks notice with a list of the providers with spaces.  She may use one of them or she may try to find a nanny (was talking about it before).

[alpinemom]

I would just say that due to a change in your family's needs the arrangement is no longer working out, and pass along the contact info for the new provider. Nothing more has to be said.

[AlpineAlli]

Congratulations on making the right decision for you!

Dear Mom-lady,

In light of your frequent late pick-ups and a schedule conflict in my own family, I regret to inform you that I will terminate care as of September 30th, 2011.

It has been a pleasure to care for (names) and I wish you the best of luck in finding a caregiver whose schedule is a better match for your needs. 

Yours sincerely,

African Tulip

Oh, meant to add, if you do have a contract, point out how this termination follows the guidelines. If you have set guidelines for termination as a consequence of x number of late pick-ups, I wouldn't mention your other reason.

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[alpinemom]

2 weeks is pretty standard, don't forget it goes both ways.Would you like to be stuck in an arrangement longer than that if it does not work out? I also have a clause in my contract that it can be immediate, if there is abuse or danger to me, my family or the other families in care.

[AlpineAlli]

2 weeks is such a short time to find care! I don't think I would have ever agreed to that, no matter how amazing a DCP I'm sure you are. By extenuating circumstances, do you mean it could be less (like if you break a leg or something) or more (like there's no way she could find someone)? Or either?

Anyway, sounds like it should working out well for everyone (unless the new DCP has the same scheduling issues), so that's great. And I agree, don't mention the lateness if you don't have to (but you might want to mention it to the new DCP).