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Flexible Care


Ideal for work schedules that fall outside of traditional hours, have “irregular scheduling”. May include but not limited to:

First Shift

Second Shift

Third Shift

Graveyard/Overnight Shift,

Weekend Shift

Holiday Shift

2/3/4/5 Days On/Off

Rotating Shift

Split Shift

On-Call Shift

10-hr Shift

12-hr Shift

Swing Shift

Weekly Schedule Change

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  • In this program, children are in Care according to your work schedule needs, but 13.5 hrs is the max. Some situations may need further discussion.

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  • To be in compliance with the State, children cannot be in care beyond 14 hours within a 24-hr period, however further discussion is needed for applying for a State "Exception".

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Program operates weekly, Monday-Sunday,

  • a 24-hr operating schedule which starts at 4:30am and ends 10:00am the following morning.

Wait, 10 am the next day?

The operating hours have to do with the differentiation in Drop Off and Pickup Times in the Flex Care system.

  • It means that earliest Drop off will start at 4:30am every morning.

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  • Most children will leave before Midnight every day.

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  • Children specifically enrolled in the Overnight program will have a final pickup policy of 10:00am the following morning.

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  • We will be a center that aims to accommodate a lot of schedules, however there are limited spots in our different programs. So when children are leaving or in the process of being picked up from one program, there will also be other children being dropped off to start another program.

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  • We use Transition Periods to break up the shift changes. During these periods, there are strict ratios we have to follow to be in compliance with the State. So there will be stricter policies on pickup and drop offs during these periods,  depending on your specific program. More information will be available when we release our Policy Handbook.

 

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Additional Clarification
Because flexibility covers such a large range of schedules, here’s some commonly asked questions that may clarify how we are going to accommodate your schedules. We still have Enrollment around the corner, so there are many questions, but this section will just focus on understanding the general basics of how our systems work.
 
Question 1: If I work mostly Monday - Friday, but sometimes work on weekends, should I use Flexible Care or Traditional Care?
Good question. That would be up to you in which system you think is a better experience for your child. If you think your schedule would support your child in consistently attending the daily curriculum offered in Traditional Care, then we would recommend Traditional Care. You could also request for Program Extension if you think you will only need to work one weekend a month or less. If you think your weekends will fluctuate too much and cause your child to be overwhelmed with 5 days of curriculum and additional weekend activities, you might have a better experience using the Flexible Care system. 

Question 2: Can you accommodate a 12 hour shift work?
Yes, the Flexible Care System can accommodate that. (You can also verify with DCF 251.03)

Question 3: Can you accommodate a 16 hour shift work?
As of now, we don't know for sure if we can accommodate that type of schedule. Anything that exceeds 14 hours of care, goes over the State Licensing rule. However there can be additional steps taken to write an Exception to the State if it’s work-related and proof that there is no one else available to take care of the child during the entire 16-hour period. Refer to this photo straight from Department of Children and Families Licensing Rules for Group Child Care Centers (DCF 251.03-DCF 251.04) This type of situation would require further discussion.
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Question 4: How do you use these systems?
So ideally, the parent would fill out bi-weekly work schedules in their online Parent Portal. (This online account will be available to the families who are fully enrolled in our programs)  Here they can submit their schedules and set up payment plans that work for them. We will be utilizing an online platform and its mobile app. So you would get daily updates of your child’s daily care, any new messages from the Office, and any updates or reminders on payments, fees, and any other important information. We will go over this entire process during Enrollment. But as you can see, we will be utilizing a lot of technology at this center!
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Question 5: I have multiple children. Are there sibling discounts?
As an upcoming large group childcare center that will become licensed, we rank as the lowest tuition rates for Portage County. Because of our commitment to affordability, we will not be able to offer sibling discounts. 
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