Wwyd?

[Sugar Magnolia]

I also read the update. Ok, emergencies DO HAPPEN, BUT.....if her father does not have a background check, it's still a major problem. And the communication breakdown does seem to fall on the provider. NO EXCUSE FOR NOT HAVING AN EMERGENCY PLAN, never ever.

[Play Care]

I also read the update. Ok, emergencies DO HAPPEN, BUT.....if her father does not have a background check, it's still a major problem. And the communication breakdown does seem to fall on the provider. NO EXCUSE FOR NOT HAVING AN EMERGENCY PLAN, never ever.

[STEAMIN MAD MOMS]

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.

Oh, I hear you. I wasn't very happy with the call-off's. I had mentioned it to the provider a last week when some of us ended having to take another day off, and we talked through that --as far as ME and HER only, not the other parents, I do not know exactly the situation with them and her regarding the absence issue. As I stated, I wasn't thrilled, but we weren't opposed to working things out with her as that was the only issue we really had...Until yesterday.

I definitely tried to text, email, phone, facebook and even I drove by, as did the other moms. Some had their kids there and went to pick up. While the absences are seemingly excessive, it's not that alone that is 'concerning', inconvenient yes, but didn't raise any real red flags to lead me to believe that yesterday would ever happen. It's the complete lack of judgment in leaving kids unattended at school, or making sure someone could get to them in this case. I get emergencies happen, but I don't get not having a proper plan in place. That's just the part that blew our minds.


As far as background checks, the law states only people 18+ residing in the home need a background check. Here, you could pick your neighbor to be a backup in an emergency and not need a background check. She may very well have been within the law, but that still left a bunch of kids left alone after school. Some were kinders too.

None of the moms are very happy and most are leaving. My husband did say to maybe give her one last chance, but as a parent, you can see why we are all concerned about this. Now, summer isn't an issue, school's out this week, thankfully. But come August? What then? I'm afraid to hire ANYONE because a situation could happen like this again with ANYONE. Unfortunately, we're not in any real position for us--and I KNOW most of the other moms-- to be able to leave our jobs.

[craftymissbeth]

When you specifically asked her before you enrolled your child in her care about her emergency plans, what did she say?

[Second Home]

If the kids were not picked up at school like normal shouldn't the school call the parents?
I know that at our schools if a child is not picked up the school would begin calling their emergency contacts for pick up and not leave the child unattended .

Were these kids left alone at school or was the school watching them ?

[butterfly]

When you specifically asked her before you enrolled your child in her care about her emergency plans, what did she say?

::::::::

I keep coming back to see the OP's response...

I wish more parents would actually think to ask about this before there was a crisis situation. I've only ever had this question asked 1 time in my daycare career.

[STEAMIN MAD MOMS]

I never asked specifically about the emergency procedures; she just went over them in the contract as part of our interview. She is a large center/home and so explained she had 2 helpers,, who we met, one always stays with the kids and the other can transport. Yesterday, however, it did not seem like one of the helpers was ever there (a girl) and IDK what happened w/ the other because the man that was there was not the other helper, from what the other non-school aged moms said.

The school is who alerted us. The kids usually meet outside, so they were alone for a bit til they went back to the office to say "Um, no one is here!" and then they called all our contacts, no one could be reached, so they called us to come get the kids. So we did. I believe the Kinders' moms said their contacts got called to get the kids and I don't believe at that other school, that kinder's are allowed to wait outside. I'm not sure. The other kids (1st and up) were outside waiting and eventually, each of the children/groups of children figured out no one was coming. At the school where the man showed, I believe 2 of the kids ran inito the school and told them a man was trying to pick up; he was not on the lists and so the school did not release them. The schools all kept the kids safe, thankfully.

[TwinKristi]

But if her home is a licensed childcare SHE by law cannot leave them with an unlicensed person in her home. I can't hire a babysitter for my daycare kids while I go somewhere. They have to meet the same certifications I do.

As far as giving her another chance, no way. From personal experience, this will never be far from your mind and when it happens again you're the one left looking like a fool. There are other providers out there who don't do this.

I had an emergency last summer and was hospitalized mid-day and had to have my dh take over until kids could get picked up. I was texting parents from my hospital bed and texting my dh their numbers. He had all of them here on the roster and in their files but would have a harder time finding them then if I just texted them to him. It was not fun but I surely wasn't going to leave kids hanging at school if I had to get them. That's ridiculous!!

[craftymissbeth]

Ok, this is what I think now that I've had time to think it over.

I think you need to find a new daycare and move on. There's really nothing to report to licensing... you yourself said that her dad as an emergency back-up isn't against any regulations. EXCEPT that we don't know if emergency back-ups are allowed to transport. That would be the one thing that I'm having an issue with. He didn't actually transport any daycare children, though, from what I'm reading. He just tried to.

No child in all of this was ever left alone. They were in the school's "possession" the entire time until the parents picked them up. In my area, no child 1st grade and under is ever left alone until they're picked up. There is at least one teacher or aide outside (and actually it's EVERY teacher. Every single teacher here waits for his/her student to get to their adult safely).

IDK, I think you just need to move on. It sounds like she had a plan in place, but the stuff hit the fan and it didn't work out the way she needed it to. If her neck was really broken and she's really in as severe pain as she's saying then I'm sure the last thing she's thinking about in the hospital is contacting everyone... because it looks like she thought this was going to all work out just fine with her dad helping.


Don't take your child back, I will say that much. But your decision has nothing to do with the other parents' decisions... I'm not sure why you're all banding together and trying to make decisions as a unit. You're not a unit... you're individual parents who need to make the best decision for your situation.

[craftymissbeth]

But if her home is a licensed childcare SHE by law cannot leave them with an unlicensed person in her home. I can't hire a babysitter for my daycare kids while I go somewhere. They have to meet the same certifications I do.

I didn't catch what state OP is in, but here in Kansas we can in emergency situations. For example, my emergency plan (that is approved by licensing AND my dcp's) is to call all parents and whoever shows up first takes over while I go to the hospital. They wait until the next parent shows up and they can choose to stay in charge or they can hand the reigns over to the next person. I do only have two families at the moment and I do have a lot of trust in them as far as supervising for a short period of time.

(Just wanted to say that as my daycare grows I will be hiring an assistant, but they'll only be here part-time. If an emergency happened while they weren't here I would still need to follow the above policy)

[butterfly]

I'm not sure why you're all banding together and trying to make decisions as a unit. You're not a unit... you're individual parents who need to make the best decision for your situation.

[Heidi]

I also read the update. Ok, emergencies DO HAPPEN, BUT.....if her father does not have a background check, it's still a major problem. And the communication breakdown does seem to fall on the provider. NO EXCUSE FOR NOT HAVING AN EMERGENCY PLAN, never ever.

In our state, the EMERGENCY back-up doesn't need any of the training or even a back ground check. It's for emergencies only, though, not a hair appt or something.

Although I have someone listed as my official emergency contact, I would probably call one of my daycare parents and have them call everyone else. The only odd situation I could think of is if I were unconsious. I'm not sure what would happen then. It depends on who finds me, honestly! I have a binder with all the contact info, but what if no one looked for that? :confused:

[cheerfuldom]

I wouldnt worry about what the other parents are going to do (although I understand your concern!). I would leave the daycare immediately and also report to your daycare licensing agency (this is not the same as CPS). She completely failed in every way on this and that is not the parents fault. I would start researching new childcare options now and present this issue to each future provider. What is their backup plan should emergency come up? Who will they send? What if these backups are not available? Do they have numbers for all parents, all schools, all assistants, all backup contacts for families in an easily accessible place?

this woman's story is sketchy at best. She isn't being transparent about what is happening, where the assistants were, why there was not a backup plan in place, what is going on with her health......missing so many days and now suddenly sharing a major health issue that is unrelated to the other days she has taken.....makes me feel that there is a lot she is still not sharing. I would not send my kids back. This doesn't mean that you can't trust any other provider or program out there. thankfully the schools did their jobs and all the kids are safe. time to find a new provider or quit your job, there are only two options.

[cheerfuldom]

In our state, the EMERGENCY back-up doesn't need any of the training or even a back ground check. It's for emergencies only, though, not a hair appt or something.

Although I have someone listed as my official emergency contact, I would probably call one of my daycare parents and have them call everyone else. The only odd situation I could think of is if I were unconsious. I'm not sure what would happen then. It depends on who finds me, honestly! I have a binder with all the contact info, but what if no one looked for that? :confused:

yeah but the difference is that you work alone and this woman has two assistants and someone would have been at the house while the other transported. Why was the provider the only one there? the only one aware of what was happening? where were the assistants? why was the husband not informed of emergency numbers and school route? She should have been prepared!!!!

[TwinKristi]

yeah but the difference is that you work alone and this woman has two assistants and someone would have been at the house while the other transported. Why was the provider the only one there? the only one aware of what was happening? where were the assistants? why was the husband not informed of emergency numbers and school route? She should have been prepared!!!!

This is my line of thought as well. And even if you don't ask, I feel it's only right that parents are informed of who will be staying with their kids when there is an emergency back up there. She should have a roster with all the kids info there for this exact reason. I have one and would hand it to whoever to call parents of the kids on the calendar if it was a true medical emergency and I couldn't get someone here in time.