Child care facilities across the DMV have been forced to close, but some childcare providers are asking parents to continue paying.
Since March childcare facilities have been struggling to balance paying their staff while also being fair to parents whose children are at home.
In some situations, the attorney general’s office has been contacted to assist parents in D.C., Virginia and Maryland to navigate financial disputes with their childcare providers.
“I do want to inform the public that we have received your complaints around childcare services that may not be going on, yet folks are still billing you and even threatening some D.C. residents that if they seek a stop pay, they will not have their slots for their child protected in the coming months,” D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said.
Officials in the D.C. Attorney General's Office said they have received six child care-related complaints, but anticipate more.
In Virginia, the attorney general’s office said they had received a number of consumer complaints regarding child care facilities. Officials with the Maryland Attorney General's office said they have received one complaint.
Northern Virginia mother Claudia Kabir said she reached out to her son’s day care to let them know they were going to stop bringing him during the pandemic. Kabir said the facility responded and said they were doing everything they can to abide by CDC guidelines, and would need tuition as long as he was enrolled.
“According to the contract agreement that we signed, full tuition is due even if your child was not in attendance due to vacation holidays, inclement weather personal reasons or illnesses,” Kabir said. ”Then she mentioned that another alternative would be to remove our child and then come back when we were ready.”
Kabir said her family had to make the decision to remove him from the facility.
“One thing that scared me was, you know, what if I take him out and then he doesn't have a spot?” Kabir said.
In March, a child care provider told WUSA9 that no one child care provider wanted parents, or staff to be in the position they were facing.
“We're worried about being fair to the parents, making sure that children are okay, making sure our staff are being paid and making certain that we can cut costs where we can tap into as much reserve as we're able to, and keep everything going so we can ride this out, and not have to start all over," Donna Mason, the executive director of St. Albans Early Childhood Center in D.C said in March.
“I know they're just trying to cover their expenses and pay their teachers and stuff like that,” Kabir said. “I don't think you should put a knife, you know, to a parent and say hey here you go, you either pay me or your child doesn't have a spot or daycare anymore, which is happening to a lot of people.”
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“I think these are unprecedented times for everyone, for businesses and consumers alike. We recognize the immense financial strains caused for many businesses, but consumers have also lost their jobs and are also experiencing incredible financial strain and companies have obligations to consumers,” Ben Wiseman, director of the AG's Office of Consumer Protection, said.
"Providers want to be of service, that is what we do, we serve the public," Mason said in March. "So it's awkward to try to be helpful when you're jeopardizing your workforce, the families and the children that you want to protect."
Wiseman said childcare companies have been making good faith efforts to work with consumers during these trying times, and if parents want to remove their child he advises them to give their two week notice as soon as possible.
“For consumers who are facing this you should review your contract,” Wiseman said. “If you need to provide advance notice to cancel you should do so as quickly as possible, and try to document your communications in writing, but also try to work with the company to reach your resolution. We’ve found in many of these instances companies are willing to work with consumers and try to find a medium ground that works for both the consumer and the business, because we do recognize that there's immense financial strain on both sides of this equation.”
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