Childcare costs are already at record highs, with many parents paying $300 or more per week per child. For a daycare with 50 enrolled children, that’s over $15,000 per week in revenue—yet families are often charged for services they did not fully receive. This practice places an enormous and unfair financial burden on hardworking parents who are already struggling with the rising cost of living.

This policy also creates opportunities for abuse and exploitation. If a daycare cannot adequately staff their classrooms or train their staff to properly redirect and manage a child’s behavior, parents should not be punished financially. Families are often forced to take unpaid time off work to pick up their child early and then are billed for a full day of care they never received. When daycares can send children home at their discretion—while still collecting full payment—there is no incentive for them to invest in better staffing, training, or behavioral support for children.

We believe parents should only pay for the care their children actually receive. No other industry routinely charges customers for a full day of service if they are only provided a portion of that service. Families should not have to pay the price for inadequate staffing or an inability to meet basic childcare needs.

We respectfully demand that:

Licensed daycares be required to prorate or credit daily tuition if a child is sent home before a set time (for example, noon).
State childcare licensing agencies create consumer protection rules to ensure billing policies are fair, transparent, and do not penalize parents for staffing shortages or a lack of proper behavior management training.
Families be provided with clear, written billing policies before enrollment and be given the right to dispute unfair charges.

Childcare is not a luxury—it is a necessity for millions of working families. Parents deserve fair treatment, transparency, and protection from exploitative billing practices that take advantage of their need for reliable childcare. It is unacceptable for daycares to profit off of parents while failing to provide the services they have promised.

Please sign and share this petition to support hardworking parents, advocate for accountability in childcare billing practices, and push for a fairer, more transparent childcare system. Together, we can ensure that no family is forced to pay for care they did not receive and that daycares are held to higher standards of professionalism, fairness, and responsibility.