Here’s a link to all of my podcasts.įor more information, see my book Family Child Care Contracts & Policies.Are you involved in the school community, interacting with staff, students and parents? Use a professional and heartfelt farewell letter like this person below (and annotated to help you craft your own unique goodbye). Let them go and you’ll find another family to care for. Your retirement is not going to be delayed if you terminate this parent. Even though you may love caring for the child, it’s not worth it to let problems fester with the parent. If you can’t resolve a conflict or problem with a parent, don’t hesitate to begin the three-step process to terminate your agreement. If you put reasons in writing or get into a discussion with the parent, you may say something that will upset the parent further and increase the chances they will make a complaint or try to sue you. It should already be clear to the parent why. Don’t give any written reasons for termination. Ask the parent to sign another copy and keep it in your records. Here’s an example: “This notice is to inform you that the last day of child care for your child will be on (give a specific day).” Sign it. If the problem happens again, give the parent a termination notice. Step Three: Give the Parent a Termination Notice This notice is to inform you that if you don’t pay on time again I will terminate you from our program. Your statement might say, “Today your tuition was paid two days late. Sign it and date it and indicate this is the parent’s final warning. If the problem continues, give the parent a written warning that the contract will be terminated if it happens again. Step Two: Give the Parent a Written Warning If it does, I will be forced to terminate our contract.” Jones, you have been several days late in paying your tuition for the last two months. Talk to the parent very specifically about what needs to change and clearly state that if the problem doesn’t get resolved, you will terminate your contract with them. Step One: State the problem and its consequences Here’s my suggested three-step process you should follow before ending your contract. Since it’s your business, you can do what you want. You have probably already tried to resolve the problem and negotiate a solution. Obviously, you don’t want to terminate a family unless you have to. Such language allows you to give a parent some notice before terminating if you want. You need to protect yourself and your business. This is not unreasonable, even if you do require parents to give you a two-week notice, or longer. This allows you to terminate immediately, if necessary. To prevent any disputes over how you end your contract, include the following language in it: “Child care program may terminate at will.” If the parent decides to sue you, it’s unlikely that she will win because of their threat to your program or their failure to follow your rules. Don’t worry about what your contract says. In these situations, it’s best to end your agreement right away. Or falsely accuses your program of child neglect. This can be the case if a parent is deliberately violates your contract or policies. There are situations, however, when you will want to terminate care immediately, regardless of what your contract says. If your contract requires you to give a two-week notice, do so. You must follow what your contract says, or you could find it difficult to enforce if you ended up in court. Let’s assume you are not discriminating illegally.īefore you find yourself in the situation where you are considering ending a contract with a family, you should first review what your contract says about how you should do this. Some states may include other protected groups and disallow discrimination based on sexual orientation, marital status or public assistance. The only exception to this general rule is that you cannot terminate your contract because of the parent’s or child’s race, sex, religion, ethnic background, national origin or disability. You can end your contract for any reason or no reason. * The child is disruptive or difficult to manage * The parent is disruptive or difficult to deal with Why would you want to end your agreement with a parent? There can be many reasons. Unfortunately, there may come a day when you decide it would be best to terminate a parent contract.
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