Have you looked to see if your area has an hourly, drop-in daycare? Ours is a godsend. I can drop off Little Brother at, say, 2:45 pm when I'm on my way to work (I'm a librarian and we're open till 8 two nights a week) and Mr. FP can pick him up around 4 or whenever he's able. We pay only for the actual hours used; $7 for one kid or $11 if Big Brother happens to be out of school as well.
Super frustrating situation. Good luck!