Being a family child care provider means running a small business. Sometimes we are so busy looking after the children in our care that there just isn’t enough time to chase down paperwork or to deal with billing problems. But when you are a member of our union, CCPU/UDW, you have the resources and experiences of other members and union staff to help you when you need it.
That’s what Linda Moore, a child care provider in Contra Costa County, found out. Earlier this year, one of the families she provides care for fell behind in their own paperwork, neglecting to provide pay verification to the Alternative Payment Program (AP) that subsidizes their child care expenses. The AP suspended payments to Linda. The family has four children in Linda’s care, so three months of lost payments meant Linda was out well over $8,000.
“It was frustrating,” Linda said. “I had bills I needed to pay to keep going with my child care. Eighty-five hundred dollars was supposed to be coming, and it wasn’t.”
Luckily, she was contacted by a union representative and decided it was time to become a member. The union immediately went to work on her behalf, contacting a California Department of Education (CDE) consultant, and helping her get pay stubs from the family, a necessary verification that restarted the Aps payments to Linda.
And that wasn’t all. In Less than a month, Linda received back pay for the entire time payments had been withheld. For Linda, union membership made all the difference.
“UDW helped me,” Linda said. “I got almost $8,500 from joining the union.”
