Wwyd?

[STEAMIN MAD MOMS]

So, myself and several other parents pay our DCP in advance.
Lately, she's been calling off a little more, and last week was sick so all of us needed backup care. She ended up watching some kids the day she called off, since not all the parents received her message, but still. I get she was sick, however, it's like 3x per month!

So I haven't been thrilled with this.

YESTERDAY!
OMG

Myself and ALL the other school-ager daycare moms got a phone call from their schools (this person picks up and drops off kids as part of her program from multiple schools). One mom, NO one picks up the kids. The other moms, some weird guy, NOT on the kid's list is reported to try to pick up the kids on the dcp behalf! Of course none of the kids, to my knowledge, went with the man. The school did not release any of the children.

NO one can reach the DCP or her substitutes. When one of the DCM's went to pick up her child, she said a stranger was watching the kids that she'd never seen or heard of, and DCP was nowhere to be found, and no one could explain what was going on.

THIS MORNING:
Only a couple DCM's got a text stating that a month ago, the DCP broke her neck, and she was having neck pain and landed in the ER. She is home today. She said she would be taking the week off.

BUT,
Most of us do NOT want to bring our kids back after this. #1. SOMEONE should have contacted us or the schools to let us know she was going to the ER to give us opportunity to utilize backup care #2. SOMEONE should have let us know they had a backup that would pick up the kids, so we could have the opportunity to clear that and let the school allow for pickup #3. SOMEONE should have NOT left that other lady's children at the school and NO one called her except the school! #4 IF there was a sub, that we didn't know, someone should have told us! #5. SOMEONE should have texted or had someone phone on their behalf, that there was a problem. I am A VERY understanding parent, so is the other one (a former DCP herself), but I don't believe that this woman broke her neck a month ago. If this had happened, why wouldn't she have taken THAT time off, or told anyone til today? WTH??

We are all now wondering:
1. Do we have the right to report to CPS the fact she failed to pick up 3 children, and also failed to pick up the other kids, and instead sent an unknown person in her place? 2. Do we have the right to request a refund since she has been out of contact with most of us just 2 parents got the text and one parent replied to all, and so that's how we got into contact w/ each other and found out that NONE of the kids from any of the schools were properly picked up, and clearly has decided to cease care without notice? 3. How would you go about it. 2 parents want to go knock on the door and request the refund later today and if she refuses, we may need to all go to court.

I and the other moms are so P*ED off that she was this irresponsible. We get if an emergency happens, things need to be changed, but NO one to communicate? She has a son and daughter that easily could have called the parents on the list. Heck, her SUB could have too!

[drseuss]

Is this a regulated daycare, and do you have a contract?

[STEAMIN MA MOMS]

Yes and yes. She is licensed in the state of CO, and we do all have contracts. The contracts do specify notices on all ends (2 weeks for us, 2 weeks for provider UNLESS she terms for nonpay or behavior), and promise safe, quality care. We do not feel her actions yesterday, gave us safe, quality care and even if there were an emergency, she still didn't contact most of us even today, nothing. So far, ALL of the parents have stated they were ALL caught up on payments, which is probably correct as she does not take checks or payments after services are rendered. But I did ask, so that way I don't look stupid if someone didn't pay and we all end up being part of a court case. But I think the worst of it is, she left our kids unattended! Thankfully, most of the kids did know where to go if their pickup person didn't show. (Or the WRONG pickup person)

[NightOwl]

Absolutely report. That's child abandonment, and an extreme case of lacking communication. SHE is in breech of contract, not you guys.

[Play Care]

Wow. So much wrong. I would report to licensing at the very least.

[Second Home]

I am happy that the school was on top of the situation and did not release the children to an unauthorized person and that all the kids are safe .

Sorry you are all going through this . I would contact the agency in charge of regulating child care in your state . Here it is under the dept of education .

[Soccermom]

Wow.....just wow. I could understand all the confusion if DCP had an accident THAT day and was sent injured to the ER but the fact that this happened a month ago makes no sense.

I would certainly be calling licensing about the issue, terminating my contract and demanding my money back. Depending on your signed agreement, she may have the right to not return funds if you choose to term but you could take the matter to small claims court and let them decide what is fair.

Childcare is a huge responsibility and it sounds like this DCP is not prepared for it.

[TwinKristi]

I agree that she should be reported to licensing/CPS or whoever. That's crazy!! Not all providers are like this, I promise!

Sorry you all are going through this.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Did you leave your child with her today? If not, super, but if you did, GO PICK UP and do NOT RETURN! Worry about your money later,.safety first. This is a very unsafe situation. IF this "stranger" does not have a background check on file, this is a MAJOR.VIOLATION. REPORT..IMMEDIATELY.

[Unregistered]

FINALLY got in touch with her.
She said that her father was the "strange" man and that she was pretty sure all the kids have met him before. I said "Mine haven't and even if they did, he was not put on the list, so not only would the school not have known that he should pick up, they wouldn't have even let him. Additionally, he wasn't ever mentioned as a back up provider at all, so still, there was a LOT of confusion> She said she injured her neck a month or so ago, and was told of symptoms that can occur that mimic an emergency or a heart attack, so that's why she was transported to the hospital. She said the dad didn't know WHERE to go, and got lost, didn't have the list of the kids parent's #'s and wasn't sure exactly what to do. She said it all got screwed up. Said she's losing her families now, and she admitted her fault. She said she would have a new system put into place to prevent any future issues and understands if everyone leaves, why they did it, but for future families she would have a system in place to avoid confusion. The thing Is, yesterday, our area had an attempted kidnapping and so this has heightened all our anxiety! This is exactly why we hire someone to be able to get our kids safely, and do not allow kids to go with unknown persons. She said she understood that and stated that anyone who stays, she would intro all the kids to anyone who might possibly have to pick them up in an emergency. She stated in 10 years, she's never had this problem. She said the call-off's have had to do with some other issue with pain and illness that the kids bring in from time to time, and that she has been feeling a lot better and would not feel the need to call off unless serious.

IDK but I just cannot fathom the kids alone. What if that abductor was watching and waiting for this very type of situation?

[craftymissbeth]

Did you leave your child with her today? If not, super, but if you did, GO PICK UP and do NOT RETURN! Worry about your money later,.safety first. This is a very unsafe situation. IF this "stranger" does not have a background check on file, this is a MAJOR.VIOLATION. REPORT..IMMEDIATELY.

And if you did happen to leave your child there today that may affect your outcome should you go to court over this.

Sorry you guys are going through this. Like a PP said, we're definitely not all like her!

[STEAMIN MAD MOMS]

No, our kids are still in school right now. I am home the rest of the week.

[Leigh]

Obviously, my opinion is not the popular one here, but if she had a true emergency, I'd cut her a break. It sounds like she TRIED to get things covered, and obviously did not have time to call each parent. I'm sure that her dad told her not to worry about it, and offered to handle things for her.

She now is aware that she needs to plan better and have an emergency binder with contact information and instructions for what needs to be done.

I can understand the parents' point of view, for sure, but I also know that in an emergency situation, chaos can erupt.

Whether you decide to pull your children or not is up to you, and no one could fault you either way, but it doesn't sound like negligence or malicious behavior, just an emergency situation that fell apart.

[Play Care]

Obviously, my opinion is not the popular one here, but if she had a true emergency, I'd cut her a break. It sounds like she TRIED to get things covered, and obviously did not have time to call each parent. I'm sure that her dad told her not to worry about it, and offered to handle things for her.

She now is aware that she needs to plan better and have an emergency binder with contact information and instructions for what needs to be done.

I can understand the parents' point of view, for sure, but I also know that in an emergency situation, chaos can erupt.

Whether you decide to pull your children or not is up to you, and no one could fault you either way, but it doesn't sound like negligence or malicious behavior, just an emergency situation that fell apart.

I just saw the update which I think explained things better. That said it sounds as if these families need a new provider (as they were having issues before this) and the provider needs to come up with a better back up plan for emergencies.

[butterfly]

Obviously, my opinion is not the popular one here, but if she had a true emergency, I'd cut her a break. It sounds like she TRIED to get things covered, and obviously did not have time to call each parent. I'm sure that her dad told her not to worry about it, and offered to handle things for her.

She now is aware that she needs to plan better and have an emergency binder with contact information and instructions for what needs to be done.

I can understand the parents' point of view, for sure, but I also know that in an emergency situation, chaos can erupt.

Whether you decide to pull your children or not is up to you, and no one could fault you either way, but it doesn't sound like negligence or malicious behavior, just an emergency situation that fell apart.

I agree. And where was the communication at on your end OP? If all these things have been building up and you were so unhappy, why didn't you approach your daycare provider sooner? Why keep bringing your child to that daycare? I wouldn't have ever let it go on that long if I were that unhappy.