Getting Started in the Business of Family Child Care - Part 2
I’ve created a new publication for new family child care providers. It describes the most important aspects of becoming a successful family child care business. You are free to distribute this to anyone.
I will be posting sections of the publication over the next five weeks.
Getting Started in the Business of Family Child Care
Congratulations on becoming a family child care provider! You are among a special group of individuals who have chosen the profession of caring for young children. You have chosen this work because you love children. You also have an opportunity to earn money to support your family. Each year thousands of providers have successfully set up their businesses, and we welcome you to this caring profession.
This publication introduces the most important topics that every family child care provider needs to know about to run a successful business.
Introduction: How to Begin
How to Promote Your Business
How to Create Contracts and Policies
How to Keep Records
How to Reduce the Risks of Running a Business
How to Manage Your Money and Plan for Retirement
2. How to Create Contracts and Policies
As a family child care provider, you get to be your own boss. You set the rules for your business. To get parents to treat you like a business owner, you need to establish clear rules and communicate them effectively.
Set rules and policies. You are not required to provide care for every family that approaches you, and you can and should work with families who will follow your rules. Question parents carefully at an interview about what they want. Trust your instincts about whether the family is a good fit for your program. Enrolling a family and then ending the relationship after six months is not good for the children. Don’t admit any children beyond the number you feel comfortable with. Many providers set up a two-week trial period when the care begins. This allows either party to walk away without a penalty.
Use a written contract to describe your rules about payment and hours. Every contract should contain the following elements: names of the child and parent(s); amount due hourly, weekly, or monthly; days and hours you are open; holidays, vacations, sick days, payment due dates; rules on late fees, registration fees, activity fees, holding fees, and so on; termination plan; and dated signatures of provider and parents.
Some organizations (such as regulatory agencies or the military) may require that you cover other topics in your contract.
Use written policies that are separate from your contract to spell out your other rules. What your policies say are up to you. Don’t adopt a policy unless you are willing to enforce it. Most providers’ policies cover discipline and guidance, meal and nap schedule, activity schedule, emergency procedures, child rearing philosophy, substitute care arrangements, illness policy, field trips, infant supplies and toilet training.
Consider including two key rules: Parents must pay for the care in advance; and parents must give two weeks’ notice before leaving your program. Let’s say the parent normally pays you on Friday. If so, ask to be paid a little extra each Friday until you have one full week of payment in advance. If the parent receives government help and is paying a co-payment, require that the co-payment be paid up front.
Require parents to pay you up front for the final two weeks that you will provide services, whenever that time comes. If parents can’t afford to pay it all at once, have them pay you in installments. If you participate in a subsidy program, their rules may prevent you from adopting this policy. Ask the administrator of the subsidy program whether you may do this.
Communicate the rules to the parents. Review each term in your contract and policies with the parents at least yearly to make sure everyone understands them. Use a bulletin board, a parent newsletter, daily notes to parents, emails, and regular parent meetings to communicate the rules about your business.
Take notes if there is a conflict with a parent or a problem concerning the care of their child. If you have trouble resolving the problem with the parent, seek outside help from local regulators, providers, and other community resources. Don’t hesitate to try to negotiate a solution with the parent to solve the problem. You can adopt different policies with different parents.
Enforce the rules. Any change to your written contract must be put in writing; otherwise it’s not enforceable. You can have the parents sign a note that you attach to your current contract. Or you can rewrite your contract and have the parents sign it again. It is up to you to set the limits of what parents and children can do in your program.
To enforce your rules, you must establish consequences if they are not followed. The consequences can include additional fees or the ending of care. You can charge a late fee if the parent doesn’t pick up her child on time. If the parent fails to bring an extra set of clothes, you can buy the clothes and bill the parent. You can end the contract with a parent who does not follow your rules.
Enforcing your rules may feel awkward. However, you are better off if you establish your rules, communicate them clearly, and then enforce them. This is true even if it means you occasionally lose a parent because of it. Providers who follow these steps rarely regret a parent’s decision to leave.
Congratulate yourself for being professional about contracts and policies. Being professional about your business will leave you more time and energy to focus on the love and care of the children.
For more information about what to include in contracts and policies, see my Family Child Care Contracts and Policies from Redleaf Press.
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
