LCA Rules- Can a Caregiver become permenant?
And so much more, because I am ✨long-winded✨
So a long time ago someone asked a very short question (as part of a longer comment) about Welcome to the LCA, something about how it would work (or is it even possible?) if Steve became Loki's permanant Caregiver, and this was the essay I wrote in response. I decided to just copy/paste my answer here, but I also added a few clarifying notes at the end:
Anyone working for the LCA can technically become a "permanent" Caregiver to a Little, it's just rare because it's normally not needed. If we look at Wanda's case, she only needed temporary care until her brother could join her in America and take over. In general, LCA Caregivers tend to be stepping stones when a Little is between situations or having an emergency, but the LCA can also be used because the Little has no one else to turn to and isn't comfortable in a Daycare (where lots of Littles are watched at once, which some Little's prefer because they love the socialization). Or, a Little might think they will be with an LCA Caregiver permanently, but then maybe the Little moves for a career opportunity or because they decide they want to live out of the city or they make a friend who's a Caregiver and switch to them or something.
So then if someone working for the LCA can be someone's permanent Caregiver, why doesn't every Caregiver work for the LCA so they can make money while watching their Little?
First of all, not every Caregiver meets the standards that the LCA or other Little centers/daycares hold them to, so they can't even get hired in the first place.
Secondly, you can't go into working for a place like that and be like "I already have a Little who I work with." The point of the place is to match Caregivers with Littles who need them, so while there's a chance you could end up with your original Little, there's also a chance that the LCA might be like "oh wow, you're really good at working with shy Little's and we have this Little here who has had trouble opening up to anyone, we'd like you to try a week with them to see if it can work out." Having said all that, if a (non-professional) Caregiver and Little are in a financial bind they can find help and resources at the LCA, the Caregiver just won't be making a salary.
Thirdly, there are rules and regulations put on a Caregiver who works for the LCA, they don't have the same independence as a non-professional Caregiver would have and they also have standards they have to meet (for example, if you post something questionable on social media or come to work with something offensive on your shirt, you will be fired.). There are also a lot of mandatory meetings/seminars/tests to make sure a Caregiver remains up to date and qualified.
A professional Caregiver also can't have a full time job on the side of their LCA job because they don't want any conflicts in time commitment or the Little's well being, so a non-professional Caregiver passionate about their career wouldn't want to give it up to work for the LCA (they would use a Little's Daycare or something like that to help them out if a Little needs to regress while they are at work.) Side gigs for professional Caregivers are okay as long as they don't interfere with their duties at the LCA, for example, Steve mentioned he sold a few paintings which was an okay way to make a bit of extra cash because he was still diligent in his Caregiving duties.
Fourth, a professional Caregiver has to be able to accept that they don't really get a say when it's time to end their time together with a Little. During the trial week they can say "no thank you" to working with a Little, no questions asked, but after that week they need to have a very valid reason that fits within certain constraints with proof to end their time together, vs a Little can end their time together at any point very easily. So yeah, things could be going great, a Caregiver could have the feeling that they may be with this Little until they retire but then the Little can be like "actually, I'm moving to Idaho, bye!" or whatever.
So in conclusion, once a Caregiver and Little are placed together by the LCA and have finished their trial period, it's in the hands of the Little when their time together ends. Loki could choose to stay with Steve until the end of Steve's career, even if a new Little applied to the LCA and would benefit from Steve's skills, the LCA would find a different Caregiver instead of breaking up Steve and Loki. Loki doesn't need to be in a permanent state of crisis to stay with Steve, he can heal and be well adjusted, but as long as he doesn't have another Caregiver Steve can be his. Now, let's pretend Thor became a competent Caregiver, Loki could not have both Thor and Steve watching him at the same time because if he had Thor he would no longer be in need of a full-time professional Caregiver.
I hope that makes sense!
Also, this didn't really fit into my answer but I wanted to add that obviously there are benefits as well to being a professional Caregiver. They get paid to do something they love, they have a whole team behind them if something goes wrong, and there's like health/dental/vision insurance and vacation time and all that. Technically, if Steve wanted some time off he could arrange for a temporary Caregiver to watch Loki for a week so he could go explore a forest alone or something (but obviously he's not going to do that anytime soon since Loki would be extremely upset to be left with a stranger).
Current notes from me: So, for the record, a LCA Caregiver is never "permanant" on paper. There's just no time limits to how long a Caregiver can be with a Little. The LCA doesn't feel the need to put time limits because the majority of Little's are going to choose to move on and, if they don't, then there is probably a good reason for that.
This system maybe seems flawed, but Little's can end up creating deep bonds* with Caregivers and the LCA isn't willing to break that up, partly due to situations such as Loki's. Above I say "Loki doesn't need to be in a permanent state of crisis to stay with Steve" and that's true, but keep in mind that because of what he's been through, it would be very high risk for the LCA to be like "well, you've bonded to this Caregiver and we can see you have a history of mental and physical health problems but we're going to pull the rug out from under you and take him away. Good luck!"
So yes, Steve and Loki can stay together and Steve can still be an emplyee. However, Loki can dip whenever he wants and even while they are paired up Steve will still need to attend meetings and seminars and obey all of the LCA rules.
On a related note about non-proffesional Caregivers: there are accommodations and guidelines workplaces are supposed to follow for Littles and non-proffesional Caregivers with more flexible hours. However, because Little's tend to spend more than half a week regressed, non-proffesional Caregivers do tend to rely on daycares for at least a few days, but this can be written off in their taxes in most States.
*I can't stress enough how strong a bond can end up being between a Little and Caregiver. Bonding happens on a spectrum of "oh yeah, I like you but we could say goodye tomorrow and I'd be fine" to "ride or die", Separating a Little and Caregiver on the "ride or die" side of the spectrum can cause a lot of emotional distress. (which, btw, I mention near the top that some Little's don't prefer Daycares, and that's because the bond tends to lean more towards the "I like you but" side and those Littles are craving a deeper connections with their Caregiver. The flip side of that, which some Little's prefer, is that Daycares give them the chance to socialize with and make bonds with other Littles).
That was it, I hope you enjoyed my essay/rambling.
