Children sent home from daycare/preschool. Reasons include: sickness, fake sickness (we’ll explain), and behavior (e.g., a toddler biting). Generally it is a very minor sickness, if a sickness at all. Preschoolers are often sent home for ear infections that spike a fever—completely non-contagious. Or they ate the stamp pad during art and threw up (true story). Or a toddler can’t talk yet and bites other toddlers to communicate, and they are sent home.
Parents are required to be home by 6:15PM, most will arrive between 4:30-6PM. Almost no jobs offers will be available after 4:30PM and if a job becomes available and you take it (jackpot!) you’re covered by BetterCare’s 3-hour minimum pay rate. Meaning, if you work for a client less than three hours they’re required to pay you a three-hour minimum.
This role was designed by a Caregiver for Caregivers, and we wouldn’t give you a job we wouldn’t do ourselves. Yes, there is an inherent risk in the position. Here is a word from our owner, Heidi: “Hi! As a Caregiver in the classroom for over six years, often with 6-12 kids, many with runny noses and getting sent home for real and fake sicknesses, I have no concerns about myself or anyone providing this service. A possibility of sickness naturally comes with the territory, and that possibility can be reduced by practicing appropriate hand washing or wearing a mask and gloves if you feel the situation warrants it (we provide this, by the way!).”
We offer what no other agency does. Think of BetterCare like a restaurant you’re serving in: we’ve built the building, designed the computer system, cooked the food, and you get to serve customers within those parameters. We provide Caregivers with a welcome pack and instructions in each house you go to that familiarizes you with that family and their needs. We’ve done the work of gathering information and prepping homes for you to go into. We set you up for success. We get you pediatric CPR/First Aid certified and pay the cost of a background check with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. You also receive a unique BetterCare Badge ID to wear while you work, and have access to a 24/7 dedicated support line. BetterCare is becoming the gold standard of childcare and you get to experience it. Decide what days you want to work, and even then maintain the flexibility to accept or decline job offers.
A term BetterCare’s owner uses to describe why a lot of children are sent home. Ear infections that spike a fever; over-eating and so the child throws up (happens more than you’d think); goopy eyes from allergies, and more. We hate to say it, but we have seen childcare centers exaggerate the child’s temperature in order to send the child home because the center is under staffed. This is no reason a parent should miss a day of work. This is another reason we are grateful for BetterCare and our Caregivers.
Nashville looses an estimated $220 million annually due to childcare inadequacies. A part of those inadequacies are children being sent home from school and parents missing work because of it. Parents and the companies they work for miss a day of revenue, and this adds up, funneling back into the economy, and hurting the city and state. As a Caregiver booking through BetterCare, you are helping plug a hole in this major lapse in childcare coverage. Together we are working to stop the massive financial losses Tennessee incurs due to childcare inadequacies, and we’re helping parents keep the careers they’ve worked hard to attain.