Sample  Child Care Policies                   January 2003

We have used these Policies in our Minneapolis Child Care Home for over 20 years.
 You are welcome to copy them, edit them, and use them in your child care home.
We revise our policies every year.
These policies have NOT been reviewed by an attorney or licensing agency.
** Use at Your Own Risk. **

  Included Services   A full day of child care gives you any hours between 7:30 AM and 5:30 PM.
 Breakfast (to 9:00), lunch, afternoon snack, and baby food and standard formula are included.
 Monthly fees for school children include all school release days.

 Reserved Time   We contract with families on a monthly basis for a regular schedule of days or partial days.  Such time is paid for regardless of actual attendance, like tuition.  An absence of 3 weeks or less is a normal attendance variation, and there is no change in the monthly fee.
 When clients have informed us of a planned absence, we might make that spot available for drop-in use by other families.  The extra income generated in this way helps keep rates down.

 Holidays   We close on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and sometimes Thanksgiving Friday and Christmas Eve.

 Our Paid Vacation   We will close for an average of ten weekdays per year, which might be together or split up, and may vary from five to fifteen days by crossing over into another calendar year to equal twenty days in two years.  This is our paid vacation.  Regular monthly fees continue as usual.  Clients arrange alternate child care.

 Drop-in care    The half-hourly fee or daily fee is for child care during regular hours which is not billed with a monthly fee.  Minimum charge is one hour.  The billing segment is one half hour, and is not divided into fractions.  Drop-in fees have a ceiling which is the same as the daily fee.  We have a very full schedule and do not guarantee availability of extra days.

 Overtime   Before 7:30 AM or after 5:30 PM, the drop-in rate doubles, and the billing segment is a quarter hour.  Overtime is charged per child, like other fees.  Over-time has a ceiling equal to the overnight fee.

 Night Care  When a client asks for over-night child care, there is a $25 fee per child, but sometimes we invite kids for free.

 Holding Fee   A holding fee is half the regular fee, and serves to hold your reserved time prior to initial attendance or during an extended absence.

 Billing & Payments   Regular monthly fees are due without any invoice or statement in writing; payment may be made on any day during the month, but is due by the end of the month. Monthly fees are late but not yet overdue during the grace period of the following month.
 Incidental or unusual fees will be billed at irregular intervals, which may entail an accumulation.  Fees such as overtime and drop-in are due when incurred, but are not overdue until a month grace after they are billed by written statement
 Clients who want an invoice,  statement, or receipt should ask for it.
 A payment is overdue if not paid by the end of the grace period, and will incur a penalty starting at that time at the rate of 1% each Friday.  Our failure to charge a penalty on any occasion does not affect our right to do so on other occasions.

 Extended Absence   For lengthy vacations, maternity leave, sabbaticals, etc., a holding fee will reserve a client's enrolment.  We may at our discretion wave part of the holding fee and still reserve your enrolment; this is determined exclusively by our convenience.  We strongly advise complete advance planning.  Lacking clear agreement, we will feel free to contract with other families for unpaid, unreserved time.

 Scholarships   We do not have a sliding fee, or guaranteed scholarship.  We may provide a small scholarship to families in transition.  The purpose is not to subsidize low income families out of our own budget, but to provide continuity while families continue to work or seek work.

 Exclusions We may exclude children for behaviour, non-payment of fees, or health issues.  The following examples are not a complete list.
 Behavioural exclusion might be for  running away, lying, or chronic unhappiness.
 We reserve the right to exclude children who have not received standard immunizations or have no proof of immunity (by blood test).
     ** Warning: non-immunized children may be present. **
 We usually do permit children to attend with a cold, ear infection, or mild viral illness.
 Sick children may be temporarily excluded if they have a fever, diarrhoea, bacterial infection, undiagnosed rash, head lice, or any condition requiring more attention than we can provide.
 We reserve the right to make decisions about exclusion. Failure to exclude on any particular occasion does not compromise our right to do so on any future occasion.


These policies were developed for Turner & Kauper Child Care. Use at your own risk.
You are welcome to copy them or modify them in any way you se fit.
They are not recommended by us, although we have been satisfied with  them for many years.
These policies have NOT been reviewed by an attorney or child care licensing agency.

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