PORSE or barnados?

I went with Porse, not for any reason in particular, I think the important thing is to find a carer you are comfy with

We went with barnados but that was cos they had lots of different carers in our area whereas porse only had one that was 8k away in the next town north, the opposite way to which i go to work so I didn't even meet that lady.
Also when I phoned barnados she made a time to come and see me and talk through them and how it all works etc etc before giving me the names of the carers to ring to arrange to meet whereas porse just gave me the number of the nearest carer and no other support/advice etc. Might just be a bad area manager here though, rather than a problem with the whole organisation.

I'm happy with barnados, happy with the set up, very happy with the boys carer and i'm happy with what we pay as well.

thesaff wrote: Also I like the fact that because Bernados is a non-profit organisation what you pay is what the carer gets. Whereas the carer only gets roughly half of what you pay Porse.

That's not actually correct, the parent and educator agree on an hourly rate and that all goes to the educator. The parent only pays porse any money if they use their payroll system, and it's only a small amount.

Anyway I agree with what the others said, meet carers from different agencies and find one you really love. There are things like playgroups and outings that differ, but I'm sure both organisations would offer those

AuntieSarah wrote: Also I like the fact that because Bernados is a non-profit organisation what you pay is what the carer gets. Whereas the carer only gets roughly half of what you pay Porse.

That's not actually correct, the parent and educator agree on an hourly rate and that all goes to the educator. The parent only pays porse any money if they use their payroll system, and it's only a small amount. [/QUOTE]

Oh, sorry. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to bag Porse. It's interesting you say that though - and you sound like you have better information than me. But when Porse took all my details they said that it'd cost me $8.50-$13/hour depending on the carers experience/training (didn't give me any notion that I would have any say in the matter) yet when a friend had recently interviewed with them to be a carer (and she is a kids teacher by trade) she was told she would only get about half that amount.

We were with Banardos, who i really couldnt fault, untill late last year when our carer started being a right twat and the local office wouldnt do a thing about her, or offer alternatives

I use barnardos and have done for the last 5 years. I even changed cargivers when one of ours jumped ship to work for another company (and as a side note i am so glad I did, she now has far too many children and I think she regrets it too).
I love barnardos because of what the organisation does on the whole. I love LOVE that its not for profit, not a "money making organisation (I work for a not for profit/community based pre school) that is dedicated to children - not just those in their day to day care.
I can't speak highly enough of our cargivers and the organisation, however like someone said above, it has to be who and what you like.
Pose put me off as they were HOUNDING my mum into becoming a caregiver and were ringing me and my friends trying to pressure us into pressuring her into joining them with gifts and free stuff etc. Would not take no for an answer! They were awful. Mind you that is just one person in a big organisation, but I have found them very pushy - also with parents centre etc always offering "giveaways" etc wanting to come and basically get free advertising by talking at coffee groups which didn't sit well with me. Like i said though, that was possibly one person in our town branch, not representative of porse as a whole, but that put me off big time.

Edited by fattartsrock