Child Care Resources

Donors

For Families

For Child Care Providers

Community Information

Find a Job

Volunteer Opportunities

< Go Back > Resource Article

When Would I Need Backup Care?

• Your child is ill.
• Your regular caregiver is ill, on vacation, or has a sudden emergency.
• Your regular child care arrangements break down and you need time to find a new arrangement.
• Your child's school or center is closed for a holiday, vacation, teacher training, inclement weather or emergency.
• Unexpected circumstances such as travel for work, overtime, car trouble.

Resources

At the same time you set up your regular child care, begin to consider your options for backup care. Start right away. It is inevitable your child care will break down at some point. You may need to use a combination of options to provide care. For example, you could choose in-home care for when your child is ill, a program provided by your employer for a snow day, and a community program for school holidays.

Consider which of your relatives, friends or neighbors might be available to help you on an emergency basis. Talk to them about when it might be appropriate for you to call them. In some situations you may be able to find another parent who is willing to help you out in exchange for some weekend or evening hours.

The Child Care Aware Service Can Help
Phone: 1-800-424-2246

Call your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R). Find the CCR&R that covers your area by calling Child Care Aware at 1-800-424-2246. Ask about providers in your community that provide backup care. Discuss your specific needs and what options are available for your family. Some programs provide care on an emergency care basis and others are specifically designed for holidays and school vacations.

There may be backup child care centers in your area for you to look at. Often these centers are for employees of a particular company but they may have some slots open to the public. Some regular child care centers may also offer backup care on a limited basis.

 Some family child care providers may be able to take your child because of part-time attendance by other children. Your community may also have in-home or nanny agencies to care for your child when she is sick.

Tips To Be Prepared

• Find more than one backup care arrangement.
• Visit as many potential backup child care arrangements as possible with your child.
• Keep a file of providers with their phone numbers and available hours.
• Have copies of paperwork such as birth certificates and immunization records ready.
• Organize a list and make extra copies of important family information such as phone numbers and addresses, your child's allergies, sleep patterns, and favorite activities.
• Complete preregistration materials for programs that require advance paperwork.
• Know your employer's policies around your taking time off from work.

Reprinted with permission from The Daily Parent.

The Daily Parent is published 4 times a year. The Daily Parent is prepared by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, Washington, DC and funded by the Citigroup Foundation. If you would like to order past issues, visit Child Care Aware's web site www.childcareaware.org or call 202-393-5501 ext. 113.

For more information about choosing and using child care and before and after school care, call the Child Care Resource and Referral Agency which serves your community. To find the number of the CCR&R in your area, call: Child Care Aware 1.800.424.2246

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies
1319 F Street, NW, Suite 810 - Washington, DC 20004 - NACCRRA.org