Shop by Topic
Shop by Product
ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues
<< Previous Issue
| View Past Issues | | Next Issue >> 
The Late Pick-Up
September 20, 2012
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to courage.
-Anais Nin
-Anais Nin
"...admission agreements...may impose fines for late pick-ups, but that is discipline after the fact and does not address what to do as time wears on with no pick-up and no parental contact. Here’s the suggested course of action.
"First of all, make all of the calls. Try to contact the parents and any other person authorized to pick up the child. If you have no success, continue to abide the situation until you can no longer reasonably do so. The only option at the bitter end is to call law enforcement or a child protective services agency and have them take custody of the child. How long to wait until taking this drastic step is a judgment call, but hang in as long as practical as you will not be well-served if you have to admit that you ended your wait because you needed to get home to watch your favorite team in a playoff game on television."
 | Save 50% on All Exchange Subscriptions, 24 Hours Only! |
Sale ends 01/23/2013 11:59PM PST
ExchangeEveryDay
Delivered five days a week containing news, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
What is ExchangeEveryDay?
ExchangeEveryDay is the official electronic newsletter for Exchange Press. It is delivered five days a week containing news stories, success stories, solutions, trend reports, and much more.
Track arrival/departures & pickups. Attendance-based billing made easy. Multiple interface options, including key fob, keypad and fingerprint. Electronic door access control.
Comments (3)
Displaying All 3 CommentsOakton College ECE Center
Des Plaines, IL, United States
Of course we have all of those policies and procedures in place, but I have found that some families will just pay the late fee for the convenience of their schedule. One solution I found, as a Director, was to schedule paid staff 30 minutes past closing time. This really helped all the way around for everyone. In my 30+ yrs. only one time did I have a child on-site for an hr. past closing and had to contact the local authorities. Treating staff as professionals also helped give them a stronger voice in those late pick-up situations.
Arlington, MA, United States
Most family child care providers simply continue to care for the child, including them in the family dinner, taking them to church, etc.
The non-institutional nature of family child care is one of its benefits to families.
Canada
While what you suggest is noble in terms of asking staff to stay as long as possible, my thought is that regardless of what the reason is that the staff should not feel obligated to give of their personal time. In the event that a parent is in an actual emergency and can therefore not pick up their child, it is a different matter, however our staff give so much of themselves and to have any expectation of them giving of their personal time away from their own family is going to far in my opinion.
Post a Comment