Introduction message

Greetings friends, Since I am no longer able to assist you via my job, I have decided to create a space just for you child care professionals. A place that is all yours where you can discuss the difficulties you may be having with your chosen field.
I am most interested in beginning with the problems you are having with the change over for subsidized management.
I would like to have you share what it is like working with DHHS and how the parents are adjusting to the change. Are you having trouble collecting your money? What are the excuses you are hearing? How is it going with basically one worker at the office your other funded subsidies come from?
If you are having other problems, things that bring you to the brink of closing your doors, I want to hear about that as well.
As I get more adept at managing this site, I will be able to have the catagories better set up. Maybe we can learn together.
Give it a try! It will be good to still work with you in some way.

I have passed this forum on to MRTQ. They will continue to pass it on to others so that the number of people aware of this will grow. I think this is a wonderful resource for the providers of Maine, especially with so many changes coming upon us. The one question that has been posed so far is "Who is sponsoring the web site?" Thanks.

I have started this site because I wasn't able to just leave out the back door of
Finders/Seekers after losing my job there. I became so involved in you providers and how sometimes you just needed someone to talk to that understood what you dealt with every day. So, since I am unable to help you at work anymore, I decided to set up a place for you all to go to where you can discuss issues you have, ask questions you can't find answers to, keep each other up to date on developments, talk about all the changes you are dealing with, troubles you may be having with the switch of subsidy management, problems with changes at Finders/Seekers. You name it, I want this to be "your" place. We don't have office hours here so it can fit into you schedules. It is open to any provider who wishes to join in and participate in the ongoing conversations. You are welcome to being a new "thread" and talk about any other subject.
As I said in the introduction, I am new at this, so I will be learning along with you. If you have difficulties with the site, let me know.
I have asked Ruth Burke for her input and she has been a GREAT help with answers and willingness to work with all of us.
I don't think I worked much with you, but I do remember speaking with you at times from the office.
I am currently looking for new work, but it is not an easy market out there. Having worked for Finders/Seekers for 11 1/2 years, longer than anyone else there, it is hard to find anything else that compares. The state does not recognize us as former employees even though it was their program we managed?
I do hope this will be a helpful tool for all of you to use. The longer I am out of the business, the less I will know about it, so it will be up to providers to keep it going.
If there are questions without answers, I will try to find them from someone.
Thanks so much for being an active member. There seems to be several who come in and read, but few who are willing to become active.
If there is anything I can do, please let me know.

Bonnie Atkinson
Administrator of site

I will relay this to anyone asking and to MRTQ. Thanks for the info in regards to how this site is working, etc. I truly believe this will be an excellent resource to many providers.