Emergency Childcare: What is an affordable back-up childcare solution?
We have all been there, in that pinch where we need the childcare but just cannot find what we need. The imperative word in this recent request is "affordable". An urbanMama Becca recently emailed:
I am a single mom who works full time, no child-support. I make a good income, but I can't afford traditional childcare, so my son (4 months) is staying with the neighbor, who is a stay-at-home dad, until I can find childcare that fits my budget. They are great and its been really helpful, my only problem is when their baby gets sick, then my son can't go over to their house and I am stuck home. I went 4 days in the hole on sick time for my unpaid maternity leave just a few months ago, have stayed home with my son a couple days when he was sick, and now their son has been sick a few days as well; I have gone WAY over my limit on staying home and I cannot find a single drop-in center for infant childcare in the whole city of Portland (close-in). Kindercare says they will take a drop-in IF one of their normal babies is out sick, but that is rare. I can't anticipate a child getting sick, so it isn't something I can plan for. So what is a single parent supposed to do in a situation like this? Thanks for any advice.
This is a tough one. I suspect this doesn't meet the criteria for affordable (roughly $12/hr), but a service like Caregivers Placement Agency will arrange a nanny to care for your child with same-day notice. Perhaps (in the bigger picture) it's more affordable than the ramifications of taking too many days off from work?
Posted by: Elle | May 10, 2010 at 03:25 PM
I'm sorry about your situation, that's really difficult and stressful.
I'd suggest contacting Multnomah County and/or Metro Childcare resources. I think Grandma's Place does drop in care.
We have our younger child (an infant) at the YMCA. I was surprised that our income qualified us for a scholarship from them. I mean, I wasn't surprised because it felt to me very steep in comparison to my income, but I wasn't sure what the guidelines were. We're not at the poverty level or anything, but are well enough below the median income that we don't have much of a life outside of hanging out with each other and working/going to school. We're very grateful for the discount, and happy with the care.
Best wishes, I will try to find some links for the Multnomah County and Metro; you might find some through the OR State government website, too. http://www.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/CCD/ForParents.shtml
I think the more this issue is raised (cost, quality, and availability of childcare in Portland), the better. It is ridiculously stressful even for average folks. I'm looking at the candidates in the election with this in mind.
Posted by: Rosemary | May 10, 2010 at 04:32 PM
http://www.wevillage.com/
But like first post, this one is even pricier at $15/hour.
Posted by: helping? | May 10, 2010 at 04:53 PM
Hello this is Karen, I am othe owner of WeVillage! I wanted to let you know we have a member rate that is affordable at 9.25 and hour! this is pretty amazing!
Please email me as well for our single parents! member special.
Happy to help!
karen@wevillage.com
Posted by: karen@wevillage.com | May 10, 2010 at 05:06 PM
What about for the parents who find that even $9.25/hr is not "affordable?" Ever since we had our son (16 months ago) we have been unable to find "affordable," quality care for him by someone other than family or close friends (who we luckily have living close-by and have been generous to help us out- but we also run into the same sick child problem as Becca). I know it is a lot of work to take care of an infant/toddler and thus a caregiver should be paid well, but at the same time how DO you pay for it? To me, my idea of affordable is $5/hr. or under...which would have to be for someone watching multiple children. All the nanny ads I've seen on Craigslist want $10/hr even for watching multiple children! I would stay at home if I could, but we need the health care my employer provides.
I understand your struggle, Becca. Hang in there!
Posted by: Lisa | May 10, 2010 at 05:19 PM
This is Becca. Thanks for all the support. I did look into WeVillage, called them just today, but they don't take infants. I wouldn't even mind paying $15 for the 1 or 2 days every few months that it happens, but nowhere will take an infant. I also called Grandma's Place and they have stopped taking drop-ins at all their locations. I am thinking about Caregiver Placement, but they charge $100 just to register with their site, in addition to the daily cost of childcare - so that has been my barrier in doing so thus far. I will keep watching the responses and let you know if I find any hidden gems out there.
Posted by: Becca | May 10, 2010 at 06:58 PM
Becca, I was in a similar place as you 4 years ago when my daughter was an infant. I am a single mom with no child support and my daughter was in in-home day care. The only thing that eventually made things better was putting her in a center when she was 3. But I know I posted in uMamas at that time. Maybe do a search for that post and see if there were any other ideas back then? I always ended up either taking time off or using a friend if one was available. Not much out there. But also, look into the yahoo group PDX-SMC to see if you meet the eligibility requirements. It's a support group for single, 24-7-365 moms, and the moms in the group often have great ideas or can do some sort of child care exchange from time to time. Good luck!
Posted by: Debby | May 10, 2010 at 07:40 PM
Becca, I own Care Givers Placement Agency and would like to assure you that we do not charge $100 for membership with our temporary service. Registration is $25 for a 12-month membership. We also charge a per-day placement fee of $15 ($20 when it is for same-day or when you reach us afterhours to make the placement). Nannies earn $12 an hour for 1-2 children.
Granted, this might not fit the definition of "affordable." But, like other posters have said, even the candidates on craigslist are asking for at least $10. What an agency or a qualified drop-in care facility offers is professional screening and ease of scheduling.
Some families use our service regularly and for others we are their last resort; after they have used up their sick leave, grandparent's good will, etc. But your children need to be safe. When someone needs EMERGENCY back-up care there are few options - especially for infants. We do same-day placements and sick child care and will take good care of the children entrusted to our service.
I encourage parents to register with a back-up care nanny agency like Care Givers ahead of time. If you mention Urbanmamas we'll waive your $25 membership fee. Call us at 503-244-6370 or register through our website, http://www.cgpa.com/temp_app.htm
Posted by: Sharyn | May 11, 2010 at 09:28 AM
Not totally the answer to your question, but there are non-profit centers who offer scholarships for families that need them.
Our child goes to Fruit & Flower, which has a commitment to working parents and making sure that families can afford childcare.
The benefit of a center is that unless *your* child is too sick to attend, caregiver illness does not require missing work -- F&F has substitute teachers for that situation. And because it is geared to working families, there are only a few no school days, often tied to quasi-holidays (inservice occurs on Veterans Day and Columbus Day, for example).
Posted by: SusanOR | May 11, 2010 at 09:53 AM
You poor thing. I don't know how single parents do it...
If you want to contact me, we could talk about me/my husband being an emergency back up for you. We alternate with our 2 boys (8months and 2 years) so one of us is always home with them. I am a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, so I know a little bit about taking care of kiddos :)
Hope that helps. Good luck any which way,
Jenny
jebevacqua@gmail.com
Posted by: Jenny B | May 11, 2010 at 02:11 PM
I feel you. I am not a single parent, but my husband I both work and go to school. We are on an extremely tight budget. We have our son in a center right now, which costs us $567 for two full days a week. We have no family/back up support system. We are pulling our son out in June because we can't afford it anymore and I have been searching for an alternative. Not sure what we are going to do.....good luck - post if you find something!
Susan - I have looked into F&F, isn't the wait list years long? That is the problem I keep running into...every good option seems like they have no openings, or won't until my baby graduates high school
Posted by: anonamama | May 11, 2010 at 02:53 PM
Becca, sounds like you need some referrals for good babysitters who can care for an infant, without the extra cost of using an agency or the age restraints of using a drop-in service. It's probably hard to find those resources when you're working full-time and caring for a child alone, but there are a lot of great babysitters out there who would charge less than $15/hour to take care of your child--and for a child that young, I think having a dedicated caregiver's undivided attention is probably better than having them at a busy childcare center that charges just as much.
One place to start is the Sunnyside Swap Shop--there is a whole binder full of member-recommended nannies and babysitters. It costs money to become a member, but even without joining, you could come in for a trial visit and explain your situation and ask if you could see the binder. The Swap Shop run by a wonderful woman named Karen Hery, who is also a single mom and will be supportive of your situation.
http://www.sunnysideswapshop.org/wp/
You could also look for a community of parents based on your neighborhood--there are various yahoo/meetup/google groups in Portland. I know of a very active one in the South Tabor area called South Tabor Tots, and another very active one in NE called NEmomsandfriends. This might be another good way to get babysitter referrals or connect with other parents who can back you up when you need help.
http://www.meetup.com/nemomsandfriends/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
SouthTaborTots/.
Posted by: Tsubaki | May 11, 2010 at 03:43 PM
anonamama - my domestic situation is similar, but we have 2 kids now. I posted the earlier comment regarding the YMCA. Infant care rates vary at their different locations, but we are at the one at SW 12th and Market and we get a discount due to our income. Even their regular rate would be less than what you're paying, I think (it's $1036/mo 5days/wk, I heard that on the Eastside it's closer to $900/mo). If you're looking, I'd recommend calling them to see where they have space, and then filling out their paperwork for financial assistance if they don't tell you their income guidelines over the phone.
Posted by: Rosemary | May 11, 2010 at 04:18 PM
anonomama:
Fruit & Flower's wait list varies. For a while, we were getting notices that there were openings. I think it varies by age, of course, and I recognize that the infant center is often the logjam.
When we enrolled, we were told it was a "huge" waiting list but I made it clear that if a spot opened up, we would take it immediately. And somehow, within a few weeks, there was indeed an opening in the toddler room. They wanted a 2-week transition, which was perfect because I had to give my then-situation two weeks notice!
Posted by: SusanOR | May 11, 2010 at 04:49 PM
I suggest looking into a nanny/babysitter share. If you have a qualified nanny taking care of 2-3 infants/toddlers at once, you can split the $11-14 an hour usual rate between 2-3 families. I have my daughter in a part-time nanny share with another toddler girl and pay $5-7 an hour.
You can either put in an ad on the Craiglist for a nanny share OR email your friends and neighbors if they would be interested. There are a lot of qualified people looking for jobs. Just make sure the nanny/babysitter has infant CPR/First Aid license and is registered with Oregon State Criminal Registry.
Good luck!
Posted by: Jenny | May 11, 2010 at 04:51 PM
Becca, here is my posting the same question in 2007....
http://www.urbanmamas.com/urbanmamas/2007/02/emergency_backu.html
Posted by: Debby | May 11, 2010 at 05:09 PM
http://www.oregonchildcare.org/
Posted by: cg | May 11, 2010 at 05:37 PM
Have you looked into a cafeteria plan at work, so you could pull out your child care expenses pre-tax? I assume you've checked to make sure you can't get any state assistance for child care?
Seems you need more reliable child care.
Posted by: Michelle Lewis | May 11, 2010 at 06:05 PM
http://www.ccrr-mc.org/
This is the Child Care Resource and Referral network, a non-profit organization.
This is how I found my licensed, in(her)home provider who is amazing and also very affordable-- full time (8 hr days 5 days a week) for $450 a month. They do a search of registered providers (in-home and centers) within a certain radius of your home or work. They, I believe, include drop in options. I am so, so glad that I used them. They saved me! I was looking at $900 per month options for my infant when I went back to work two years ago...
Good luck!
Posted by: Summertime | May 12, 2010 at 09:23 AM
I'm coming in late to this conversation. I've thought about a nanny share, but have worried about stability...I'd like to have the same person for several years. Does anyone have any experience/thoughts about this? Do the agencies have high turnover of staff?
Posted by: Jenny | May 14, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Jenny, I think a nanny share is a great idea. It helps the parents share costs but also provides some social interaction/education for the children. As to stability, I think a nanny share may be a little more volatile than a single employer situation just due to varying family needs (i.e. either - or both - family may have another baby which may effect the feasibility of a share, one family's needs change, etc.) but, in general, stability is really good when you hire a nanny.
When looking for a nanny agency you should certainly evaluate their staff's experience. Some have been in business a short time or use employees to do their nanny placements. Most, though, are run by their owners. My agency, Care Givers Placement Agency, is that way. I own the agency and do the nanny placements myself. We've been in business since 1991. I've done lots of nanny shares, too, and feel comfortable helping to structure work agreements for this unique situation.
The hardest part, actually, is finding a family who wants to share. Ideally you'll not want more than 2-3 children total and, if care is to be split between the households, you'll want to leave close by each other.
Posted by: Sharyn | May 14, 2010 at 01:15 PM
hi, i have no real advice here, but just to say "hang in there" and remember that your child won't be an infant for long.
Posted by: lulu | May 14, 2010 at 05:52 PM
Becca,
Where are you located? I took my son who is 2 now to Village accross from Emmanuel. I loved them, and in comparison to alot of places found them affordable. They also had applications for assistance though the state if I remember. The only reason why we left is because of a home care situation we found by word of mouth from a coworker. She is great. $20 a day and will keep them if they are sick which is a godsend. Of course she is in Vancouver... so who knows if that situation will help you. Good luck keep looking. Hopefully your job is understanding. I would just explain the situation. Can you work at home on those days?
Posted by: ceri | May 16, 2010 at 01:41 PM
Becca:
I, too, am a single mom with no other support than what I can provide for me and my 2.5 year old son. I currently work from home so I can be available for my son, but I can't get much work done when he is with me. I don't have any family in the area and my support network is very small. I currently have my son enrolled in nursery school two mornings a week and a girlfriend provides childcare two mornings a week. For sixteen hours of childcare, I spend almost $600 a month! I am only bringing in about $1500/month currently, so that is a huge chunk of my income. Since I work for myself, I am not eligible for DHS help. I have a hard time justifying paying someone to watch my son while he naps for two hours in the afternoon and many places charge a premium for part-time or half-day care, which is all I really need. Also, since he is not potty-trained yet, that further limits our options. I also have a need for drop-in or on-call in the evenings sometimes as my schedule is not always consistent. This thread has given me some options to check in to, so thank you for posting and thanks to everyone else who gave some ideas. I tend to be picky when it comes to where I leave my son and I want a place that is attachment parenting friendly, media-free and organic, vegetarian meals. Is there such a place that is single-parent-income accessible? I would love to find it!
Posted by: Shila Fisher | May 17, 2010 at 03:56 PM
has anyone ever though of doing a coop in their neighborhood? i read about this is a book called "My Mother Wears Combat Boots". It sounded like an awesome idea, I personally dont know many parents in my neighborhood and we are moving soon. It is basically trading childcare with other parents in your neighborhood, so there is no cost involved just time commitment, and trust.
Posted by: Roxana | May 17, 2010 at 04:22 PM
It's an unfortunate situation and I wish you luck but if you can't afford daycare who do you want to pay for your kids? Not looking for any awards here but we waited to have kids when we could bear the financial load.
Posted by: Truth | May 17, 2010 at 10:15 PM
Truth,
Sorry, but your perspective is just way off. The poster is not saying that she wants anyone else to pay for her childcare. The poster also does not say that she was earning minimum wage and had an unemployed husband who was about to leave her and she decided she'd take fertility medicine to get pregnant, and would look for others to pay for her childcare. She can afford some childcare options, she wants to hear about the ones in her affordability range. You get the Smug Award that you earn enough to pay the disproportional cost of childcare in Portland, which is more than many mortgages for full time, has very low availability, and is not affordable to the average wage earner. Do you think only the wealthy in Portland should have kids and everyone else should get abortions? But I guess you only get the award as long as both you and the other parent have your high paying jobs, more luck than skill or good planning nowadays, and not everyone has that luxury, as you should be able to see by the posts.
This is actually a larger problem (availability and affordability), that has not been served well by our free market approach. It is being worked on, weakly, at the state. metro, and county levels, through DHS, and the employment agency. Portland is one of the worse places in the country in this regard, believe it or not.
We need people at all income levels in our society, and we need kids in our society, and our kids at all income levels deserve quality care.
Posted by: Rose | May 18, 2010 at 12:12 PM
Rose,
Actually, we feel fortunate not smug that we can afford daycare as you pointed out is more than many mortgages. We have also went through a job loss that has recently ended and the reason that we had to find daycare. For full time infant "quality" daycare the range we found was $1,000-$1,200 which is in fact more than our own mortgage. We did budget for this so it'll be ok but we realize that for many it's not possible.
The economist in me makes we wonder though, if this is unaffordable, then parents wouldn't pay it and then prices would go down or if it was so profitable to run a quality center more would open and again lower the price. Any help by state, metro, DHS etc comes from tax payers not some magic pot of money.
Your post would have been better if you wouldn't have pulled out the abortion extreme. I was waiting for a Nazi/Hitler reference to follow.
It's tough out there for all, and wish everybody the best.
Posted by: Truth | May 19, 2010 at 08:01 AM
either way Truth, your comments was pretty insensitive. There are many families who do budget and have jobs that pay well and still cannot afford childcare. If you didnt have any productive advice to give you should've just not commented and kept your thoughts to yourself. As mothers we already hav multiple obstacles, judging looks, amongst all the stress, we dont need other moms attacking our decisions to top it off.
Posted by: roxana | May 19, 2010 at 10:01 AM
I'm not sure that this is the place for this discussion, but since you all brought it up, I feel compelled to respond. Even the best laid plans go awry and if everyone who judged me and my situation negatively, along with those who make assumptions without having any information, would just become part of the solution, then maybe we could all work together to help the problem go away, for everyone. I, too, waited to have a child until I was financially and emotionally ready. I was 42 when my son was born and had a net worth of well over $1.5 million. Being a single mom and struggling financially were not part of the plan. Due to circumstances - divorce (I lost pretty much everything), the economy (my real estate investments were now worth less than I paid for them), and my child's father deciding to bow out of the picture, I find myself in a place I never thought I would be. There is a way, if even from an energetic place, to transform these circumstances for everyone collectively by simply having compassion instead of making harsh judgments. I certainly do not expect others to pay for my child and the expenses involved. I WILL get back on my feet again, this is a temporary situation. I have a foundation here in Oregon (set up, gratefully, at a time when I was much more financially abundant than I am now) that I regularly support others with financial gifts that are in the same situation as me, or worse. I choose to live in a less than ideal apartment so I can have the extra money to pay for a decent childcare arrangement for my son. I feel that quality childcare providers deserve to make WAY more than what they are paid – after all, they are entrusted with our future and the most precious thing that any of us creates while we are here on this planet. It seems kind of backwards to me that everyone wants quality childcare, but doesn’t want to pay a premium for it. Or, that the children who are most at risk and need the best care and guidance available are the ones least likely to get it because their parents cannot afford it. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and lack mentality. I want to be part of the solution. I have CHOSEN consciously to have less materially right now and work only part time so that I can be with my child. I don’t believe I will ever regret making that choice. What I know I would regret is going back to the rat race just so I can pay a full-time premium childcare provider who would then get to spend more time with my child than me. I know there are plenty of others who are in this situation not because of choice. www.hivemoms.com is a great idea and a great place to start in forming co-ops and trade arrangements for childcare – it just needs more members! How can we all become part of the solution? I am open to ideas….
Posted by: Shila | May 19, 2010 at 11:30 PM
Shila, I don't know if there is one in your area (getting back to the childcare issue at hand) but my daughter goes to Creative Minds Learning Center in the Woodstock area and their prices are very reasonable. They have a class for pre-potty trained kids up to Pre-K, and they have other options at other schools, such as infant care and private K. My costs are less since I started 2 years ago, but at age 3, I was paying $650/month for full time day care/preschool. I don't imagine it has gone up too dramatically in the past 2 years, maybe 100 or so, and I love the care. The nice thing, too is that I never have to worry about cancellations since they are always staffed. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I dealt with 3 years of iffy in-home childcare with no back up, and I am a singe mom. Anyway, just wanted to put out there that there are reasonable options out there.
Posted by: Debby | May 20, 2010 at 12:39 PM
Read this Ny Times article about the childcare issue. It will make you angry, but it needs attention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/business/economy/24childcare.html?src=me&ref=general
Posted by: Amy | May 24, 2010 at 02:54 PM
This issue is far more complex than simply stay home/go to work/expensive/inexpensive childcare. That said, the article brings up alot of thoughts for me, one boiling back down to us not placing value on caring for children. Somehow or another, receiving subsidy for childcare is different than receiving cash money for support? It's still government money helping a family. I'm not opposed to government support, don't misunderstand my argument, but I just don't understand why we can't figure out how to offer family allowances to folks across the board and move on. Instead we have to load it with all kinds of value judgments over who is "worthy" and who is not, what kind of support is "worthy" and what is not. If we'll support women with childcare subsidy but not caring for their own children in their own family, then we value paid employment more than parenting, that's for certain. And that's what makes me mad.
For what it's worth, I figure my childcare care costs upwards of $30,000 in the pay cut I took to avoid paid childcare.
Posted by: kim | May 24, 2010 at 03:45 PM
Hi,
I'm looking for part time childcare work. I have a 2, almost 3 yo girl during the weekdays and and a single mom. I came into this discussion very late, but if you're still ever in need, send me an email. wellofnourishment [at] gmail [dot] com.
Posted by: Kristin | March 19, 2011 at 03:19 PM
An aupair might help. To learn more check out kzilch.aupairnews.com. It may cost you a bit more than what some of these people are quoting, but the flexibility is there and you never have to worry about finding someone to cover when the kids are sick. They only run about 7.75 and hr. or 350.00 a week and they are tax deductible too. Feel free to email me if you want to lean more Kim.Zilch@lcc.culturalcare.com. I help place aupairs. Good luck.
Posted by: Kim | March 27, 2012 at 06:09 PM