5 Vital Pieces of Information You Should Be Getting From Every Daycare Parent - And Probably Aren't

Every relationship with a new daycare parent starts happy. You’re happy to finally fill the opening. They are happy to finally find a daycare provider with a clean house, has a good reputation and a rate they are comfortable with.

It’s easy to imagine it will always be this way, but the sad truth is, things happen and the moment the parent “can’t” or “won’t” pay their childcare bill, bounces a check, disputes a charge, or leaves without giving notice, you’ll be glad you were thorough at the start.

• Copy of Identification (make sure it’s not expired)
• Email Address (one they check regularly)
• Emergency Contact Phone and Address (more than one)
• Proof of Address (a utility bill in their name is best)
• Employer Phone and Address (ideally a pay stub)

Obviously your daycare contract will cover a lot of topics. This isn’t an exhaustive list. These are pieces of information most childcare providers overlook, but will be invaluable if you are faced with a daycare collection issue.

www.providerwatch.com

ProviderWatch Q and A with Tom Copeland

Recently, ProviderWatch responded to an email from Tom Copeland, after his blog post about parents who don't pay their childcare bill. 

Tom asked, "What do you believe are the main benefits of a provider using ProviderWatch?"

The main benefit ProviderWatch offers is reducing financial risk at a reasonable cost - in addition to our core service as a national credit reporting agency for daycare providers, we offer several complimentary benefits, including a comprehensive contract review, printable forms and best practice information and education for both the home provider as well as larger centers.

Tom also asked, "If other providers in a town aren’t consistently reporting parents who owe them money to ProviderWatch, what value would your service be to a provider trying to identify such parents before enrolling them?

We started ProviderWatch in the year 2000 - with a manual system (no website!) and by meeting with local childcare providers in Josephine County, Oregon. From the start, we understood, the credit reporting value is only as good as the data we have, so we grew strategically, ensuring we had as comprehensive a tool as possible before expanding to other markets. By 2003 and 2004 we began offering educational seminars to associations all along the west coast and finally in 2005-2006 we were able to expand our service to all providers in the United States, and were able to create a truly proprietary online system to report unpaid accounts, manage risk through screening, offer an integrated advertising system (www.findadaycare.com) and the tools I mentioned above. 

If a daycare provider lives in an area where participation is lower, we encourage them to spread the word and most do!  New members are referred every day, and 90% is from word of mouth. It's to the benefit of every childcare provider in each city and town to use the system as often as possible - for reporting and screening. This is why we've offered FREE reporting of unpaid childcare accounts from the beginning and will never charge for that service.  That said, the benefits that still exist for providers in a lower participation area include - the contract review (which generally uncovers 9-11 major areas for improvement), the forms we offer to members that help manage financial risk, and the advertising tools available at www.findadaycare.com.

Being the first, ProviderWatch has seen two or three copy-cat businesses come and go - one even took the entire text from our website verbatim! The thing these copy-cat businesses will never have - is the truly comprehensive data we've gathered over the course of the last 14 years years and the sincerest desire to HELP childcare providers in an industry where everyone is looking out for the parents and the challenges these small business owners face are often ignored. 

We have records of multi-million dollars worth of unpaid childcare debt, we have active and thriving membership in all 50 states and we are here to serve. 

Have questions? See our FAQ section or contact ProviderWatch today.