A Parent Provider contract

The Basics of a Parent-Provider Contract

Summarized and condensed by Fernando Olmedo, focalerta@yahoo.es

 

As a family child care provider you are generally free to put whatever you want in your parent contract. There are two exceptions:

Some state child care licensing rules define what should be in your contract, so check with your local child care licensor before finalizing your agreement.

Federal anti-discrimination laws make it illegal for you to discriminate in your contract based on race, color, gender, religion, age, disability or national origin. Your state or local government may add additional categories such as sexual orientation.

Other than these limitations, you can establish whatever rules you want in your contract. All contracts, however, should contain the following four clauses:

1) The names of the parties to the contract (the parent and the parent), as well as the name(s) of the children. Also include contact information for each parent (home and work number, email, etc.).

2) The terms of the contract: the days and hours your program is open and the fees you charge (weekly/monthly rate, holidays, vacations, late fees, holding fees, registration fees, etc.). These are the only rules that can be legally enforced by a court of law. In other words, if you refuse to provide care on a particular day that is covered by your contract, the parent is not legally required to pay for that day.

If the parent refuses to pay for care that is covered by the contract, the provider can go to court to enforce this rule. All your other rules are not legally enforceable. These are defined as policies: illness and emergency policies, activities, meals, naps, toilet learning, discipline, etc. If you or the parent are unhappy because the other person is not abiding by these policies, the solution is to end your agreement, not to take the person to court.

3) The method to terminate the contract. Usually providers require parents to give them at least a two-week written notice before the agreement can be terminated. I recommend that providers should include the language "Provider may terminate the contract at will" in their contract. This allows you to immediately end your agreement if a parent becomes disruptive or the child becomes unmanageable.

4) The signatures of the parent and provider. When both parents are caring for their child, you should get both parents to sign your contract so that it can be enforced against either parent.

Make sure at least these four points are covered in your contract. You can always modify it later. Put your policies in a separate document from the contract.

Should I Have My Parent Contract Notarized?

No.

Some family child care providers get their contract notarized because they believe it will make the contract more legally binding on a parent.

But this is not the case.

A contract is legally binding even if it's not notarized.

A notarized contract is one where a notary guarantees that the person's who signed the contract are who they say they are.

A notary is someone who is licensed to certify that a person's signature is valid. Notaries are commonly used in real estate transactions. Two people who are about to sign a real estate contract would appear before a notary and show their identification. Then they would sign the contract. The notary would attach her seal and her signature to the page where the other signatures appear. Notaries are commonly available in banks.

The only situation where a child care provider might benefit from having a notarized contract is if she is suing the parent for payment under the contract and the parent argues that the signature on the contract is not hers. This seems extremely unlikely.

Your contract can be enforced in court without notarized signatures.

What's the Difference Between a Contract and Policies?

A contract is a legal document between a family child care provider and a parent that spells out your legal obligations to each other. Namely, the days and hours you will deliver child care and the amount the parent is to pay you for your services.

Policies are your rules and procedures telling parents how you will care for their children. Your policies can cover a broad range of topics - curriculum, discipline, transportation, activities, and so on.

You can't take a parent to court for violating your policies, but you can for violating your contract. Therefore, I recommend that you create two separate documents: your contract and your policies. This will give you more flexibility in enforcing them.

How to End Your Agreement with Parents

There is a right way and wrong way to end your agreement with a parent of a child in your care.

The right way is to follow the terms of your contract. If it requires you to give parents a two-week notice, do so. You and the parent can agree to end your agreement earlier than two weeks if you put it in writing and both sign it.

Here are three tips to follow to improve the chances that the ending of your agreement will go smoothly.

"Terminate at will"

While I recommend that you require parents to give you a two-week notice to end your contract, I also recommend that you do not restrict yourself to the same terms. Instead, put in your contract, "Provider may terminate at will." This gives you the flexibility to end your agreement immediately if the parent is threatening you, creating a disturbance for your business, or refusing to pay you for your services.

Refund payments?

You cannot charge parents for days that you refuse to provide care. Let's say you want to immediately terminate your contract with a parent. It's Friday. The parent has paid you for the past week and has paid you in advance for the last two weeks of care. If you tell the parent she can't come back on Monday, you are obligated to refund her the amount she paid you for the last two weeks.

Did you or the parent terminate care?

Sometimes there is miscommunication between a family child care provider and a parent. If you are in a conflict situation with a parent and are considering terminating care, be sure you communicate clearly. Let's say the parent owes you money for care from last month and you are struggling to collect it. Your contract requires the parent to give you a two-week notice while you may terminate "at will."

When you try to discus this payment issue today, the parent is vague about when she can pay you. You then make one or more of the following statements:

"I can't wait any longer for your payment."

"I've had enough. I don't think I can go on like this."

"You must pay me by tomorrow or I'm going to have to end our agreement."

It's possible that the parent will conclude from any of these statements that you have terminated your agreement the day of this discussion. Let's say the parent doesn't show up tomorrow and you don't hear anything more from her. Has she effectively given you a two-week notice because she hasn't returned? Did you terminate her?

If it's not your intent to terminate your contract immediately, it's important to be clear to the parent that you expect her to bring her child to your program the next day ("I'll see you and your child tomorrow.")

If you are terminating immediately, you cannot expect any payment from the parent for care after that day.

What if, in response to any of your comments above, the parent says, "I'm not coming back." If you want to be able to collect payment for the next two weeks, you need to come to an understanding that the parent is giving her two-week notice. Therefore, say to her, "Does this mean you are giving me your two-week notice?" If the parent agrees, then either write up a short note that says this and get the parent to sign it, or send the parent an email indicating that you are accepting her two-week notice.

If a parent is not showing up for care and has not given you an official notice to end your agreement, send the parent a note, asking for clarification. If you are willing to continue to provide care say, "I have not ended our contract. You are welcome to continue to bring your child to my program. If I do not hear back from you within a week, I will assume you have given me your two-week notice and I will then proceed to take legal action to collect what you owe me under our contract."

If you don't want the parent to return, say, "I'm sorry we couldn't agree to continue our agreement. I'm no longer providing care for your child." Then say either, "You owe me $ under our contract," or "I'm refunding you $ for the days you paid for care after the end of our agreement," or "You do not owe me any additional money."

The language you use is important to be clear whether you or the parent is ending your agreement.