ECDCA News

ECDCA

We have had some concerns on how to properly handle a parent
wanting or needing to change their provider from one member to
another member...I emailed Tom Copeland on this matter in hopes
that we could implement his ideas and thoughts into our ECDCA
guidelines.




Tom Writes...

Michelle – Thanks for your email. There are several issues here.

I think that each provider should make up her own mind if she
wants to care for a child that was once with another member of
the association. I think the association should discourage
providers from “recruiting” parents to leave one provider to
come to them. You might want to spell this out in an
association ethical policy that all members must agree to. I don’
t see anything wrong with a provider taking on a new family
that just moved or left because they were unhappy with a
previous provider. I do see a problem of a provider telling a
parent that she should leave her provider and come to her for
any reason.

I think it is unethical (and a violation of privacy and
confidentiality) for the current provider to tell a prospective
provider that a parent is about to leave the current provider’s
care, unless the parent has given specific written permission.
In other words, the parent might say to the provider, “I’m
moving and I’d like a referral from you as to what new provider
I should seek out. Would you let other providers that you know
of that I’m looking for care in their area and have them call me if
they have an opening.” In this case the provider is free to give
the parents name out. I’d put this understanding in writing:
“Parent hereby gives permission to provider to tell other
providers that she is looking for care.”

If a parent is contacting a new provider and has not yet left the
old provider, then it is also unethical and a violation of privacy
for the new provider to tell the old provider that the parent is
about to terminate her care. Why would the new provider want
to tell the old provider? If the new provider is uncomfortable
about the situation, the new provider can simply not care for
the family. Or the new provider can ask the parent to notify the
old provider that she is leaving asap and ask to get a copy of
the parent termination notice so she is sure that the parent has
notified the old provider.

Would a provider want her new doctor to tell her current doctor
that she is about to change doctors? Obviously not, because of
the potential that the current doctor might feel bothered and
that this might affect the quality of medical care the provider
receives.

The simple way to look at this is: Any information a provider
receives from a parent or child is confidential unless the
parents specifically gives the provider permission to share this
information. This includes information that the parent is
enrolled with the provider.

Hope this helps.

Tom

Tom Copeland, Director
Redleaf National Institute
10 Yorkton Court
St. Paul, MN 55117
651-641-6626
tom@redleafinstitute.org
www.redleafinstitute.org
Redleaf National Institute is a division of
Resources for Child Caring



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BACK TO CHILDCARE

As "Elkhart's Quality Childcare" we need to remember to
uphold that status at ALL TIMES!

~ Get out the inspection check list from our agent and go
through your home for safety & health.

~ If you are on the CACFP (food program) you are only
placing X's for children that are present for the meal. If the
child arrives after that meal time you may NOT count
them...Make sure you are serving what you claim on your
menu.

~ When children have their "play time"... It's important to
know where ALL children are at all times! We must ensure
that all children are safe, healthy, and happy...That's what
we (ECDCA) stands for...That is what we MUST uphold!!

~We need to attend meetings and trainings as often as
possible. Make sure you have your SIDS/Safe Sleep
Training completed by Sept, and mail your copy to Deanna
right away!
ALL Trainings and Meetings held in Elkhart, are posted on
our "Agenda and Meeting Page" on this web site.

~ It's important to clean and sanitize our toys and
materials on a regular basis.

~ We have a few providers with many openings...I can't
stress enough when receiving phone calls from parents in
need of childcare...
These are the steps we would like ALL members to take
with the parents:

1. Ask how many children and the location they need care.

2. If you do not have openings PLEASE get out your
member list and give the parent a few names of members
in their area.

3. PLEASE direct them to the www.elkhartfamilychildcare.
com & childcarefinder.in.gov. Let them know about our
wonderful "childcare check list" They need to print it out
and take it with them on their interviews.

REMEMBER WE ARE NOT A REFERRAL AGENTECY...
PLEASE TELL THEM THEY MUST DO THEIR OWN
INTERVIEW...IF THEY WANT A PROVIDER THAT ISN'T
LICENSED, THEN DIRECT THEM TO 4C'S.
ECDCA updated news letter coming soon!!!