[reesegayla]

so I had a friend lined up to babysit for us when we had foster placements and she cancelled on me the the second day and she says she can't come tomorrow and possible the end of the week!!!! WHAT DO I DO!?!? I don't think I can afford day care and the waiting list in my area is 6 months for subsidized! This stinks! DH stayed with the kids today and I will probably have to take off tomorrow but after that we are going to have to figure something out!!

[Sam-N-Tony]

Call you CW and/or the placement specialists in your area, they may be able to find a foster home who is willing to donate their time. I did this for my first placement and it worked out great.

[jphollen]

Could you call the agency you work with and see if they know any local foster parents who stay home or do at home day care? Sometimes it's cheaper. Yikes on the wait for daycare!

[jphollen]

LOL - I think Sam & I were posting at they same time!

[chevyjewel]

What was your back up plan if one of the kiddos got sick?

I'm not familiar with child care but if say one of them came down with the flu, or if the provider got sick you couldn't bring them then either so there has to be some sort of alternative available doesn't there?

I'd ask what the case worker suggests and hopefully other foster parents here that utilize child care will be of much better help, just know I sympathize. What a pickle!

[CaddoRose]

In Texas they must go to a licensed daycare provider. We can't have friends babysit them. We can get clearance for family or friends to sit with them for less than four hours at our home only, but if it's longer than that it must be a licensed provider. I would call the agency and find out if there is either another foster parent available or a licensed in-home provider, which can be harder to find.

[AmahMama]

If FL we can't have ANYONE that hasn't been cleared watch the kiddos - no matter what! But the ALPI (?) services here can get daycarea approved and most times foster kiddos go to the head of the list. I may have been luckier than most.... I've had great luck with daycare issues here. Call your cw, the placement office, and your local foster parent association liason for contact numbers. I know that the difference between missing work when a child is sick is very, very different than continuous days because of lack of daycare. Many employers are fairly flexible at the very beginning of the foster care ride - the bugs are still being worked out and contacts are still being made. but really, find a contact from your local Foster Parent Association . . they are invaluable for a number of reasons...

Good luck and Bless you for opening your home and life.

[reesegayla]

Thanks for all of your responses. We found a daycare that is somewhat reasonable but it will be just about all of our stipend. There is funding for daycare in my county but you have to go on a waiting list that is currently 6 months. I joined a local foster support group and I am going there next week so maybe someone there will be able to help me figure something out. In the mean time I guess we are just going to have to deal with what we have.

[lovingheart]

I have complained about the $13.54 a day we get to take care of the foster children (includes a .89 cent a day clothing allowance) but I guess I am lucky that the state will pay for day care and that we can have an unlicensed private sitter as long as they fill out the paperwork with DCYF and pass the back ground check. I am also lucky that my supervisor has let me bring the baby to work two days in a row when the siters kids were contagious for 24-hours. We have always found our own sitter but they (DCYF) will make arrangements for day care too. I just find it easier and quicker to do it myself.

[mamachell]

I know what you mean about daycare. Our daycare cost is $135 more per month than our stipend!

[hcg]

I've heard (from a friend who works for DHR, not a SW) that DHR has provides daycare for kids who are sick and can't go to regular daycare. They might also have some sort of emergency backup care list - or someone who can squeeze you in for a couple of days - so it's worth calling.