1. Our rates are $ 2.50 per hour, billed at 15 minute increments. Billing will done weekly, and invoices provided on the first business day you return with your children. A statement will be provided monthly. Payment is due no later than the following Monday.

2. For clients who receive state-subsidized care, a co-payment, determined by the state is assessed and will be billed to you. Just like an insurance co-pay, this amount is your portion of the bill, and is your responsibility to pay. It is due on the first of the month.

3. If you exceed your eligibility, for instance, more days or hours per day than specified on your authorization, you must contact your case worker and request additional benefits. If you do not get authorization, you are responsible for the per-hour charges incurred.

4. The state does not pay for us to watch children while you are not working. You need to be mindful of that and deliver your child right before you go to work, and pick them up right after you get off work. If this policy is abused, we have the right to check with your employer to see if you were working.

5. It is very important that we have your schedule. When we know you are coming, we can be here. We have children that come and go from 6 AM to Midnight, 6 days a week. Bonnie does run some regular errands during her work days, and she is not always here. It is very possible, that if you don’t tell us when you are coming, you may not find her here. If your schedule changes, we need to know as far in advance as you can tell us. If your child will not be here, we would like to know that too. A no call-no show will be assessed a penalty of 4 hours or a half day.

6. Children who are sick need to stay home. If they are running a fever, have a communicable disease, like measles, or chicken pox, or they have a parasitic infestation like lice, they are not to be brought to day care. This is not just our policy. It’s the same at every good daycare. The policy statement and medical treatment authorization you signed allows us to use prudent judgment to treat minor ailments and injuries. Any time we treat your child, we will tell you what happened and what we did.

7. For every child, we are required to keep accurate information on immunizations, allergies, emergency contacts, and parental choices of who is allowed to pick up your children. It is extremely important for us to have a good phone number where we can reach you at any time. If you can not use a cell phone at work, we need the phone number of your employer. For our state subsidized clients, any time your job situation changes, we need to know that. Any time you are required to notify Illinois Dept. of Human Services of a change, you probably have to tell us too.

8. We participate in the USDA food program for children. This is very much like the school lunch program, so we have clear guidelines on what we serve for food and drinks. Meal times are set by the state. We have breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner and an evening snack. If your child arrives at an off hour, please feed them or they will have to wait until the next meal. We serve nutritious and tasty foods, and we try different things regularly. We hope the variety is appealing. We do not prepare alternate meals for picky eaters. If your child is allergic to a particular food, that information should be on our medical information sheets, and that will be only reason we provide something else.

9. Personal toys may be an issue with some of the children. I your child brings a personal toy to play with, that’s OK. If they won’t share, that’s not OK. It’s probably best to leave special toys at home. We always have a good variety of fun toys, and we add new ones all they time.

10. Most of our children come to us from school with homework assignments, and we will do our best to give them an opportunity to get it done. We will ask if they have homework, and give them a place to work, plus we have an Internet connection they are welcome to use. Obviously we can’t be responsible if they aren’t.

11. We ask that you provide a change of clothes that we will keep in a tote with your child’s name on it. We will mark anything personal and make every reasonable attempt to keep them with your child. The clothes should be seasonal, and fit properly. If your child is here late in the evenings, we also ask for a pair of light pajamas. We expect the occasional accident, so if your child’s clothes get soiled, we will wash them out and make sure you get them back. For those who are not completely toilet trained, and extra set of underwear is needed.

12. We know every child has their own personality and temperament, and we reinforce traditional values of fair play and cooperation. If we have a discipline problem, we will exercise time-out practices, and withholding of privileges as appropriate. We are not allowed to use corporal punishment. If we see bullying, or unprovoked aggressive actions, you will be asked to take your child to another provider.