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Parent Communication During a Crisis
July 20, 2005
Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along. This applies to play as well as work.
-Og Mandino
-Og Mandino
For an article for the November issue of Exchange we are looking for ideas from the field on how centers communicate with parents in a crisis. Please share with our readers the systems and strategies you have in place for notifying parents rapidly should an emergency occur that involves your early childhood program.
To do so go to the Idea Exchange on our web site at ….. http://ccie.com/eed/sound_off.php?action=post_form&topic_id=48
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Comments (46)
Displaying 5 of 46 Comments [ View all ]Titusville Learning Center
Titusville, Fl, United States
We have a policy of 2 hours.
When we get the notice of a hurricane, severe storm, etc.. we call the parents and tell them they have 2 hours to get thier children or make plans for someone to get thier children.
If they do not comply, we do have the right to call the Child Care Association, as it was part of our policy.
We luckily never had to do so, most complied very quickly.
KIDCO Child Care, Inc.
Miami, FL, United States
In case of hurricanes or other mother nature events, we tell the parents to look in TV stations for information about public schools in the area. If the public schools will close, we will close as well. We also notify the TV stations if we are closing.
In case of riots, teachers call the parents at home or work if they need to pick their child earlier.
All of these procedures are included in the Parent Handbook given to parents at the beginning of each School Year or upon enrollment.
Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Richmond, Virginia, United States
We have several systems for communicating with families in a crisis or emergency situation. Each family is set up on an email distribution system which can be accessed by several people and from several different computers. In the event of an emergency, the families are notified by email of the steps the center has taken and what action may be needed on their part. The center has a cell phone in order to call families in the event of power outages and loss of phone service. Additionally, our centers have a nation-wide 800 crisis hot line that centers can call to report the emergency. Families can call the toll free hotline for information about the status of the center and updates on the situation as changes occur.
Child Care Center
Miami, FL, United States
Although we still seem to function in the 19th century when it comes to technology, we are making progress on getting all email addresses of our parents to contact them quickly.
Being part of a church, we can also walk accross our courtyard and have access to two more telephone lines.
Cooperative Children's Center
Seattle, WA, United States
The most important aspect to communicating to parents is to have a system in place BEFORE the crisis.
When we have a small emergency ( such as a snow day closure) we have a plan in place.
Voice mail is changed by director
director calls all staff to notify of closure
lead staff notifies parents of closure
lead staff calls director when all parents have been notified
assistant director sends out email to entire membership ( staff and parents)
Should we have a MAJOR emergency
safey proceedures are reviewed annually at our general membership meeting
all parents carry with them a laminated card with steps for what to do in the event of an emergency/natural disaster. ( our out of state contact is on that card)
emergency cell phones are kept in each emergency backpack which also includes emergency contact information for all children and staff.
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