Offers practical guidance to child care providers in using written agreements and policies to communicate effectively with parents. Family child care providers get information about: (1) establishing a successful business arrangement with parents, including reducing the risks of doing business, keeping records, and communicating regularly with parents; (2) establishing a contract, including looking for warning signs of potential problems, supplying references, and avoiding the pitfalls of verbal contracts and lack of licensure; (3) understanding the distinction between contracts and provider policies and ensuring that the contract covers such key elements as payment, holiday, and overtime rates and termination procedures; (4) defining policies that cover substitute care arrangements, illness, emergencies, discipline, programs and activities, and children with special needs: (5) making the contract and provider policies work, including negotiating terms, changing terms and payment rates, and setting up consequences for violations of the contract or policies; and (6) enforcing the contract in court, including engaging in mediation and hiring a lawyer. In this way, child care providers can become more successful in managing their business dealings with parents. Also included are sample contracts and provider policies and sample enrollment, medical, medication consent, field trip permission, receipt-for-payment, and parent evaluation forms.
