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I have had a family decide to up and leave. They have a load of diapers, clothes etc and I am not sure how long I have to keep them before I discard of them? I have not had contact with them since them telling me they are not paying me my termination notice. I cannot find anything showing me the legal obligations to this so I am wondering if anyone else knows where I can find this?
I have had families leave without picking up their things a couple of times for various reasons. I distributed the diapers and wipes amongst the other children in care and use the few pieces of extra clothing for other children when needed. They come in handy once in a while. Some people donate everything to a charity. Did you send the family an email asking if they are coming to pick up their things? If they don't answer you within a reasonable amount of time you can make the decision what is best for you.
I keep things for 2-3 months as they could have been going on vacation or it gives them time to get settled at the new care arrangement and then remember in their anger and haste to leave they have left things at my house. After that I use the diapers and clothes as spares for those in care. If they were to contact me several months later and I can lay my hands on the clothes I would be willing to give them back - diapers would be gone by then as I would simply have used them on kids in care before telling parents I needed more sent in - used with permission of parent first to be sure they were ok with brand. After 6 months ie the season is over and clothes would no longer fit child they belonged to anyways I have donated them out of my way. That is plenty of time for them to have remembered, calmed down and had a chance to act civil and retrieve their things.
Keep that stuff for you 'back up bin'. I had a good supply of old stuff that I got purged during our move. I regret that! Extra hats, clothes, mitts, etc....super handy :)
i wouldnt be asking them when they want their stuff at all if they left owing me money. I had the same thing happen to me. I was told that i could not withold their stuff in exchnage for payment but i did make sure that I had the stuff ready to go at "my convenience" I think that if you havent hear from them in a couple of weeks, chances are they arent going to contact you. I'd use the diapers as spares when needed and if the clothes are good for other kids in your care, keep them for back up. Otherwise I'd donate them after 30 days.
This is my policy:
Lost & Found and Left Items
Lost & Found
Item(s) that are found without a name on them will be put into the lost and found. The item(s) will be in lost and found for 30 days from the day found. After the 30 days the item(s) will either be donated or thrown out.
Left Items
After your child has left care and you have left some of their belongings here, you can pick then up on the weekend or in the evening. You MUST contact me first to make sure I will be home. For the safety of the children still in care you will not be able to pick up the items during daycare hours.
If the items are not picked up within 14 days from the last day of care, I will consider them abandoned and the items will either be donated or thrown out.
I had a parent do this. Up and left, leaving behind items. I contacted them and she said she didn't care what I did with them. These were some pretty expensive clothing items so I took them to the second hand shop and used the money to buy my dck a treat! worked for me lol