Childcare in your home, from people we employ.

Need the same caregiver every week? Need someone at the door by tomorrow morning? It's the same team either way, screened the same way, and we stay the employer throughout.

What we do

How families use us

Most families start with one and end up using more than one. Whichever it is, it's the same caregivers, and every one of them is our employee.

Ongoing nanny care

A regular caregiver on a schedule you set: full days, school runs, afternoons, a few mornings a week. We match for the long run and keep that person with your family. Children settle with consistency, not rotation, so we don't send whoever happens to be free that day.

On-call sitters

For the days the plan falls through: a sick child, a school closure, a nanny on vacation, a gap between arrangements, a trip you can't move. Join once and we're ready before you need us. A monthly membership, then care by the hour: $45.00 an hour in Puget Sound, $45.00 an hour in Bay Area.

Hotel & vacation sitters

Visiting, or away with the kids? Book a sitter at your hotel or rental for the days you choose, and pay when you book: a flat fee per day, plus $50.00 an hour in Puget Sound, $50.00 an hour in Bay Area.

Something else?

A wedding or another event, support for a daycare, school or camp, or something we haven't listed here. Tell us what you need, and we'll say honestly whether we can help.

How we are different

We are the employer. You never are.

Most agencies introduce you to a caregiver and then step back. The moment they do, you become a household employer, with everything that carries. We don't work that way. Every caregiver who comes to your home is our employee, on our payroll, and stays that way.

Payroll and tax withholding: run by us, every pay period
W-2 filing: no year-end paperwork lands on you
Workers' compensation: carried by us, on every caregiver
Liability insurance: ours, not your homeowner's policy
Background screening: paid for and run by us before anyone is placed
Paid time off: a real benefit, so nobody works a shift ill
Cover when your caregiver is out: our problem to solve, not yours
Supervision and support: someone answers the phone
A way to raise a concern: open to you, anonymously if you prefer

In practice this means no nanny payroll service to set up, no quarterly filings, no workers' compensation policy to buy, and nobody to lay off if your needs change. You have a childcare provider, not a member of staff.

Getting started

How it works

  1. Tell us about your family

    Ages, schedule, the part of town you're in, and anything that matters to you: a child who needs a particular kind of patience, a language you'd like spoken at home, a dog, a school run.

  2. We match a caregiver

    From people we've already screened, interviewed and hired, not from a database of strangers. We match on the specifics, and we'll tell you honestly if we don't have the right person yet.

  3. You meet them before care starts

    Always, and with no obligation. If it isn't a fit, say so and we'll keep looking. A caregiver your child has never met isn't a match. It's a booking.

  4. Care begins, and we stay in it

    We handle the pay, the cover, the scheduling and the check-ins. If something isn't working, you tell us instead of having to manage it yourself.

Where we work

Puget Sound and the Bay Area

265 cities and towns across two regions: Puget Sound, from Arlington down to Olympia and from Kitsap across to Snoqualmie, and the Bay Area, from Sonoma down to Santa Cruz.

Puget Sound, Washington

94 cities and towns across King, Pierce, Snohomish, Kitsap, Thurston, Mason and Island counties.

SeattleTacomaOlympiaBellevueEverettKentBremertonLakewood + 86 more

The Bay Area, California

171 cities and towns across all nine Bay Area counties, plus Santa Cruz and San Benito.

San JoseSan FranciscoOaklandBerkeleyConcordHaywardRichmond + 164 more

Do you come to us?

Enter your zip code and we'll tell you right away.

Questions

Things families ask

What does it cost?

You pay an hourly rate that depends on how many children are being cared for, the hours, and how regular the schedule is. We quote it for your family once we understand the schedule. There's no charge for asking, and no obligation attached to a quote.

Because our caregivers are our employees, that rate covers their pay, the payroll taxes, the workers' compensation and the insurance. There's no separate payroll service to budget for.

How quickly can care start?

For backup and short-notice care, often the next day, depending on where you are and the hours you need. Ongoing care takes longer, because matching well takes longer than filling a slot, and you meet the caregiver before anything is agreed.

We'll always tell you honestly what we can do, instead of committing to a date and sorting it out afterwards.

What happens if our caregiver is sick?

That's ours to solve. Our caregivers are employees with paid time off, so they aren't choosing between losing a day's pay and working while ill, and because we have a team instead of a referral list, we can look for cover.

We won't always find someone at short notice, and when that happens we'll say so early instead of late.

Do we become the caregiver's employer?

No, and this is the main thing that separates us from a placement agency. The caregiver is employed by West Coast In-Home LLC. We run payroll, withhold and file taxes, carry workers' compensation and issue the W-2.

You have no household-employer obligations, no year-end filing and nobody to terminate if your needs change.

Are you licensed?

In both Washington and California, childcare delivered in a child's own home is generally license-exempt. Both states license childcare facilities, and a family home isn't one. So there's no license number for us, or for any agency like us, to display.

We'd rather say that plainly than let an official-looking badge imply oversight that doesn't exist. What we can show you is exactly how we screen people, which is set out here.

Can we meet the caregiver first?

Yes, always, and at no cost. For ongoing care it's a standing part of the process, not something you have to ask for. If it isn't a fit, tell us and we keep looking. That's not an awkward conversation. That's the process working.

Tell us what you need

Choose the kind of care you're looking for, with no obligation. A call for ongoing nanny care, or a membership for on-call sitters.

Looking for work instead? We're hiring caregivers.