Having child care policies and a parent handbook is a must for any daycare business. A child care contract will eliminate a lot of grief in the end run and provide clarification of rules and expectations.
Elements of a sound daycare Policy
At the very least, daycare policy contracts should include:
- General information: Hours of operation, etc.
- Enrollment and discharge of enrolled children: Detail your enrollment process and how you will discharge clients
- Payments and refunds: How administrators will handle fees, payments, and late payments
- Child and provider absences: Explains the policies if the child unable to attend or the provider is absent.
- Child illness and injuries: clarifies when a child will be excluded from care and when a child qualifies to be sent home.
- Medications: Detail who will be administering medications and required authorizations
- Nutrition: Types of meals and frequency of meals
- Daily activities: Description of daily activities
- Child guidance/discipline: Will you use time outs? What is your discipline philosophy?
- Transportation: The types of transportation you will or will not provide
- Emergency : Details what you will or will not do in case of an emergency
- Items you provide (i.e., diapers, sun screen, etc.)
- Rate sheet: Explain rates, what qualifies as full time or half time, and fees for late payments, etc.
Resources for Free Daycare Policies and Contracts
There are many daycare contract samples on the internet which can be used to create a child care policy handbook for parents. Use the samples as a guide and modify the content to suit your daycare’s needs.
- Supporting Providers
- Child Care Link
- Child’s Play
- Daycare Match
- Step-by-Step Childcare
Excellent example of a very detailed sample daycare policy and contract: Sample daycare policy
For even more information there are very detailed books which walk daycare providers through the process. Family Child Care Contracts and Policies: How to Be Businesslike in a Caring Profession by Tom Copeland, JD is a great resource. For those home daycare business owners that are struggling with contracts and policies, Copeland offers loads of information in this area. Create contracts and policies with both your business and your clients in mind and learn how to enforce them. There are also sample contracts for creating a sample policy handbook. Also includes a handy CD-ROM.
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