Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/child-care-management-software-you-cant-afford-to-be-without-it/5026226/
*Supporting graphics can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Running a high-quality child care program is not for the faint of heart. Program directors are tasked with creating warm, nurturing environments that prepare children for school and life, while simultaneously balancing the books in a business with razor thin margins. A successful program leader must address both the educational and the operational components of the work—or risk losing both.
Resources to support pedagogical leadership abound—from curricula to assessment tools, professional development for staff, classroom materials, and more. Similarly, resources to manage child care operations have increased and improved in recent years. Unfortunately, utilization of child care management software has been painfully slow in the sector. While virtually every industry relies on business automation tools to engage with customers—to reach new markets, track services, enable payments, and make sound financial decisions based on business data—the child care industry, it appears, does not. While no one officially tracks the utilization of these products, Child Care Management Software vendors estimate that only 25-30 percent of the field uses technology for business purposes to any significant degree.
In a sector that suffers from chronic financial instability, how can this be? Many program administrators say they ...