All children get sick from time to time. You can expect a younger child to be sick more often. Most childcare centers have policies about sick children and very few allow children with contagious diseases to attend. Some day care centers set aside space to care for mildly ill children. These centers usually have a nurse on staff or on call.
Caregivers also can get sick. Child care centers generally make arrangements for substitutes when a caregiver is ill; however, if you choose a child care home, you will need to ask if the caregiver has plans for someone to care for your child when the caregiver is sick.
Parents need to plan for those inevitable times when their child will become ill. Thinking ahead about backup now, before the need arises, will provide you with peace of mind and make a surprise breakdown in your usual arrangement easier to handle. It's a good idea to enter any backup needs that you know you will have-school vacations, teacher training days, and provider vacation days- in your calendar today.
At UCSB, accrued sick leave can be used to care for sick children. See the Family Friendly Policies sections of this Guide. At this time there are no organizations in Santa Barbara County which provide in-home or center-based care for sick children, although some private day care providers are willing to do this at times. The Children's Resource and Referral Program has listings of day-care providers who provide sick-child care.
You will probably want to explore a range of options before you decide on your backup plan. These options include:
- Informal care. Spouse, neighbors, friends, babysitters, and relatives can be good sources of backup care.
- Shared care. Sometimes in-home providers (who provide care in a child's home) and the families they work for welcome the idea of taking care of another child for a short time. It can mean more income for the provider and company for a child who is ordinarily at home alone with a provider. If you have an in-home caregiver, she may know other providers who would make this kind of arrangement with you.
- Family child care and child care centers. Depending on their enrollment and licensing requirements, some family child care providers and centers may offer backup care to extra children as part of their services.
- Nanny agencies. Although they can be expensive, agencies like these can sometimes send a provider to your home on short notice.
- Before and after school programs. Many programs extend their operating hours to include school vacation weeks and Monday holidays. Some also provide care to children who don't ordinarily use the program.
- School vacation week programs. Many community organizations like Boys and Girls clubs, Y's, art centers, and recreation departments offer programs designed to provide care during school vacation weeks.
Keep in mind that many programs, centers, and agencies require pre-registration and that some require an initial fee. Backup care may be available to you, but it generally requires some planning and preparation so it's there when you need it.