BG, the director at the boys' centre told me that they now have to submit their statements weekly as well, and that they will be paid the CCB in arrears not advance. Think of the extra work for them, and surely that will only encourage ccs to put their fees up. Sometimes the implications of things aren't really thought through. I'm really glad we are at a centre where it's not just about money!!
i hadn't heard that they were now expecting weekly processing of usage - it's a PITA for those centres that arent linked via a network to the child care processing teams as they will have to generate statements, forward them across, and then have the processing team upload the information to the system. it's always been a case of the CCB being paid in arrears - this is just adding extra pressure to them all. they're effectively going to have to commit at least one person for at least one day a week (or equivalent) just to process it all. i feel for the providers genuinely trying to be there for the families, not the bottom dollar - i'm guessing the small providers (so your community types, not your ABC's) would make little to no profit from child care...
This is going to be way OT, but I don't think many people realise the amount of admin work that goes into cc. Not just running the centre, but programming, preparing activities, cleaning etc. Most centres expect carers to do this in their own time. Our centre uses extra staff in the rooms so the group leaders can do all their programming, prep etc in work time and therefore they are more committed to it and they do a huge variety of activities, themes etc. They also update a journal for each child with photos, developmental updates, artwork etc. This must take so much time - in J's room there are 47 kids across all the days and 22 in T's room. I look at the boys' journals every few weeks and they are so amazing. Imagine how much time that must take the carers to update for every child!!
there is a hell of a lot of admin for sure MR - which is why i can understand the costs being more than what an in home carer might charge - and there IS a justification for some of the expense - but an increase of 80% or thereabouts, as is the case with some ABC centres - that's just ludicrous. that's more about making a profit for the owners/share holders - not using the money to ensure the best interests of the children in care.
NOT SAYING that ABC centres are in any way better or worse than any other centre - i just cant see justification for those sort of rate hikes - it's not ALL about improving services for the children that are in care at an ABC centre...
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