Government Shutdown??? Do Federal Daycare centers stay open?

[Anonymous]

People calm down, it really varies from agency. Ask today at your center. You must all have kids under 12 months because we've all been through this before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think its bullshit that the center closes and the parents are still paying tuition. I guarantee you that the hourly daycare workers will not be paid by the daycare company during the shutdown. Talk about gravy train for Bright Horizons!

I'm the pp that mentioned we'd still have to pay. Our center is not Bright Horizons. It's a non-profit.

I really do wonder if BH would still rake in the cash from parents and not pay their employees during a shutdown.

That a joke?

No, not a joke. I seriously want to know what would happen. Would that company still collect payments from families and not pay their employees? I have a terrible feeling that that is exactly what would happen.

Of course that's what happens. My agency was furloughed for the sequester this year. The daycare was closed on the sequester days. The employees could sign up to be subs at other centers for the days ours was closed and would be called if needed, but our particular center was most certainly not paying them. Yet our tuition remained the same even though we couldn't use the center even if we wanted to and they had no operating expenses for those days.

[Anonymous]

IRS Bright Horizons closed for the first of the furlough days, but they turned that into one of the teacher education days (renewing CPR and education certs for the teachers) when they would have closed anyways so that the parents were not out two days. The second day they were open, but everyone had to check in through the front entrance on the opposite side of the building and be escorted back and forth. A royal pain. The third day, they finally made arrangements with security so that parents and kids could come in through the daycare entrance again and just have to sign in in the office for drop off and pickup (we normally have to sign into the daycare and we just signed in two places instead of one).

I checked with our director and the IRS downtown and in New Carrollton (the two centers are jointly run) are still trying to negotiate with GSA on what they can do. Fortunately, they have said that for the few families where neither parent works for the government, they will investigate options for children to be cared for somewhere else locally. But we won't k now more until later in the week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IRS Bright Horizons closed for the first of the furlough days, but they turned that into one of the teacher education days (renewing CPR and education certs for the teachers) when they would have closed anyways so that the parents were not out two days. The second day they were open, but everyone had to check in through the front entrance on the opposite side of the building and be escorted back and forth. A royal pain. The third day, they finally made arrangements with security so that parents and kids could come in through the daycare entrance again and just have to sign in in the office for drop off and pickup (we normally have to sign into the daycare and we just signed in two places instead of one).

I checked with our director and the IRS downtown and in New Carrollton (the two centers are jointly run) are still trying to negotiate with GSA on what they can do. Fortunately, they have said that for the few families where neither parent works for the government, they will investigate options for children to be cared for somewhere else locally. But we won't k now more until later in the week.

Are you at New Carrollton? The center at IRS downtown was closed for 2 of the 3 furlough days. They helped you find space at another center if you needed it, but they weren't open.

[Anonymous]

Our fed center will close but continue to pay the teachers so as not to lose them. Parents will pay tuition for the first week, and if the shutdown goes longer tuition will be suspended. Let's hope we don't get to that point.

[Anonymous]

Our fed center would be closed during a shutdown and teachers would be put on paid admin leave. Parents are required to pay tuition for the duration of the shutdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IRS Bright Horizons closed for the first of the furlough days, but they turned that into one of the teacher education days (renewing CPR and education certs for the teachers) when they would have closed anyways so that the parents were not out two days. The second day they were open, but everyone had to check in through the front entrance on the opposite side of the building and be escorted back and forth. A royal pain. The third day, they finally made arrangements with security so that parents and kids could come in through the daycare entrance again and just have to sign in in the office for drop off and pickup (we normally have to sign into the daycare and we just signed in two places instead of one).

I checked with our director and the IRS downtown and in New Carrollton (the two centers are jointly run) are still trying to negotiate with GSA on what they can do. Fortunately, they have said that for the few families where neither parent works for the government, they will investigate options for children to be cared for somewhere else locally. But we won't k now more until later in the week.

Are you at New Carrollton? The center at IRS downtown was closed for 2 of the 3 furlough days. They helped you find space at another center if you needed it, but they weren't open.

Yes, we're at New Carrollton. And I did know that about the downtown IRS facility. When I called our office, your director was at our facility for the day and she mentioned that due to security issues with staffing, she had to close your facility for the furlough days. But they are still going to try to do a joint policy for the two centers after they work things out with GSA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our fed center would be closed during a shutdown and teachers would be put on paid admin leave. Parents are required to pay tuition for the duration of the shutdown.

Same for us. Having to pay tuition is a bummer, but I am glad that they will continue to pay the teachers. It's not like we have money to burn, but I'm sure they need it more than we do. The downside for me is that I am in an exempt position, so will still have to work. Not sure what we'll do for child care. I'm seriously considering bringing in the pack n play and setting it up in my office.

[Anonymous]

we received a note last night saying that our federal Bright Horizons center would remain open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we received a note last night saying that our federal Bright Horizons center would remain open.

how are federal BH centers staying even though there will limited security?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we received a note last night saying that our federal Bright Horizons center would remain open.

how are federal BH centers staying even though there will limited security?

Not PP but it probably depends on the center. For example, the FDIC is not subject to appropriations, so it should be open in a shutdown. Same with CFPB (Small Savers--not a BH center). Other agencies are definitely shut down, unless you're an essential employee (which is different from an exempt employee, with respect to an earlier post--my husband is most assuredly exempt but is not essential to DHS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we received a note last night saying that our federal Bright Horizons center would remain open.

how are federal BH centers staying even though there will limited security?

Not PP but it probably depends on the center. For example, the FDIC is not subject to appropriations, so it should be open in a shutdown. Same with CFPB (Small Savers--not a BH center). Other agencies are definitely shut down, unless you're an essential employee (which is different from an exempt employee, with respect to an earlier post--my husband is most assuredly exempt but is not essential to DHS).

yes- I think it must depend on the building setup and what GSA says regarding security, etc.

[Anonymous]

I'm working on a story about some of the ways a federal shutdown could affect families. If anyone has heard for sure their daycare would close and is interested in chatting for a couple of minutes today, I'd appreciate it. My email is [e-mail]. Thanks for considering,

John Fritze
Washington correspondent
The Baltimore Sun

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of daycare centers taking in children of federal employees during the shutdown? My situation is both parents are essential employees so we have to report to work and neither of us can take leave. And our daycare, housed in a federal building, is closing during the shutdown.

[Anonymous]

If your child's daycare is a Bright Hosizons then you may be able to take advantage of their back up care plan. I would imagine, however, that they will fill up quickly.