Changing daycare structure to exclude before and after-school

[sillzy1]

I am a fairly new home daycare provider. Been open since November 2013. I allowed some before and after school care in the beginning, but now with Bill 10 and the fact that I lost full timers last summer, in September this year I will have all before and after school kids in my care. This is causing financial stress for my family now. We cannot afford to live off just before and After school fees only. I have had two of the children since the beginning and recently their Mom moved in with a father and I took on his little girl too. I feel so guilty thinking about changing my structure to only allow full time children. I love these kids like their my own, but my family is struggling now as my husband recently lost his job, and we need a higher income to stay living where we are. I need advice, how do I deal with this? My contracts, some are expired ( as I had out renewal yearly) and I don't have a termination of contract clause - was over sight on my part. What are my obligations here? Help please!!

[Suzie_Homemaker]

You not need to feel guilty or justify your business decisions to client. You simple look for FT replacement and then give current client notice. If you feel must give reason, just say Bill 10 has affected everyone's business and you not able to pay own bills with BAS kids and the Bill 10 restrictions.

Just give notice. If we were closing, you would.

Can't tell you about specific obligations without seeing your contract.

[Lee-Bee]

Your family comes first, not any of your daycare families. You do no one a service trying to help others, and living with the stress and burden of not being able to support your family.

[babydom]

I know exactly how u feel!!!! I have two great longtime tikes here. But both r going on mat leave. Can't hold their spot so ill lose them. It is so heart breaking. But our family comes first. Honestly everyone always thinks of themselves. Even these great families can disappoint us if a better offer comes along and drop us like a hat. Think of your fam and do what u have to. Stay in touch with the littles. Youll still see them around. It's ok. You'll gets through it and get new ones to love for 3-4 yrs .

[CrazyEight]

It sucks letting go of kids, but you don't have a choice. In my opinion, don't make it about your family, make it strictly about the government. I just sent a letter to a family I've had for year, telling them that their spots are terminated as of the end of the school year. I am expecting and have a 2.5 year old, so that is 2 spots that will be taken up by my own youngest kids after the Bill goes through. I have no space, and the older sibling is B/A school. The younger one is a full-timer, but waaaaaay too much work to handle with a newborn around.

Anyways, in the letter, I stressed that this is not something I want to do, that I have been fighting this Bill for over a year and that I was hoping the gov't would listen to the thousands of ICP's across the province. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened, and I am now forced to terminate spaces in order to remain open. If you like the family and know of any other providers in the area, you can always suggest them, but you can't keep B/A school kids with the new limitations this Bill is putting on us.

My clients took it extremely well, which was surprising. You may be pleasantly surprised. You can also mention that the Bill does say that it is the school's responsibility to offer B/A school care "where there is a need." Of course, it doesn't specify what constitutes a "need" (5 kids? 10 kids? 50?) But they should talk to the school asap. Good luck!

[sillzy1]

Thank you everyone. I love the responses. I welcome more too if anyone is reading this. You have made me feel better.

[Busy ECE mommy]

Our schools do offer before/after in our Burlington neighbourhood, but there are not enough spots available. The wait list with the YMCA programs are about 1.5 years long, so parents are stuck until they get in. You do what you need to do to run your business and support your family. I stopped before/after care several years ago, as it didn't pay enough, and I was tired of managing behaviour issues!