Screening Parents

[Osteen]

How do all of you screen parents? I'm not sure my method is working. I have been open 2 years and have already had to terminate 3 families because the parents were horrible to try to work with. Kids were great mom and dad not so much:confused:

[blandino]

How do all of you screen parents? I'm not sure my method is working. I have been open 2 years and have already had to terminate 3 families because the parents were horrible to try to work with. Kids were great mom and dad not so much:confused:

Once I had a DCM who was bipolar, and off her meds so she could get pregnant, and things ended TERRIBLY. She filed a complaint with the state, and because she refused to leave the house and we yelled at her we violated some licensing rules - and had to write a "plan of correction". I wrote down " I will do a mental health screening on all prospective parents before enrollment", but didn't actually submit that as much as I wanted too.

I ask a lot of questions about their parenting. I also let them lead with questions so I can see where their focus is. I also ask what their biggest worry is about placing their child in a new daycare, and that always gives me an inclination to where their priorities are. I ask what kind of schedule their children are on to get an idea of their thoughts on schedules. Those questions really help me get a feel for parents.

[Blackcat31]

Welcome to the forum

What kind of screening do you mean? Like to see if they have a criminal history or just to see if they are a good fit for your program?

[coolconfidentme]

Once I had a DCM who was bipolar, and off her meds so she could get pregnant, and things ended TERRIBLY. She filed a complaint with the state, and because she refused to leave the house and we yelled at her we violated some licensing rules - and had to write a "plan of correction". I wrote down " I will do a mental health screening on all prospective parents before enrollment", but didn't actually submit that as much as I wanted too.

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT....lovethis

[Blackcat31]

Once I had a DCM who was bipolar, and off her meds so she could get pregnant, and things ended TERRIBLY. She filed a complaint with the state, and because she refused to leave the house and we yelled at her we violated some licensing rules - and had to write a "plan of correction". I wrote down " I will do a mental health screening on all prospective parents before enrollment", but didn't actually submit that as much as I wanted too.

I ask a lot of questions about their parenting. I also let them lead with questions so I can see where their focus is. I also ask what their biggest worry is about placing their child in a new daycare, and that always gives me an inclination to where their priorities are. I ask what kind of schedule their children are on to get an idea of their thoughts on schedules. Those questions really help me get a feel for parents.

I had a really really BAD experience with a mom who suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder and took her meds irregularly. I was horrible. :confused: It ended with court dates/orders, assault charges, restraining orders, depositions to the court, custody hearings, police intervention etc and a whole lot of stress....

I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.

It seriously changed how I run my business and how I am about things in general.

I wish I could screen my parents for things like that....

...then again, some of my parents who work on the opposite end of that (therapists/counselors/psychologists) have been WORSE to deal with.

[Osteen]

thank you guys

you're advice was so helpful and I know what you mean about psychologist being worse than the crazy people. I had a "Child Psychologist" parent once. She was the first parent I had to terminate. She AND her children needed psychiatric meds. I am not kidding at all

[Osteen]

type of screening

My husband works at the Sheriff's dept. so I get a free criminal check but I am wondering if I am asking the wrong questions at the interview because I have had a lot of problems with parents not being a good fit.

[MarinaVanessa]

When I first initially get that first phone call or email I will ask the general question about the hours that they need and age of the child. Then based on that info I will quote a rate and briefly go into a general overview of my daycare. I will also email them a complete "parent Packet" which includes my contract, handbook, licensing forms and other forms that I give to all clients so that they can review them at home. In those forms I include an "All About Me" form about their child and some general info about the parents including DOB. Then I require that they bring the "All About Me" form to the first face-to-face interview.

At the face-to-face interview I read through the info on the form and talk about anything that I feel might be worth mentioning. I go through all of policies and my contract during all interviews and I make sure that I am clear that I am a business woman and that this is my business and I will run my daycare as such. I always tell my prospective clients that my policies are non-negotiable and that if at any time while going through the policies they don't agree with something to stop me and let me know. We discuss it, I give a reason as to why I have that policy (usually having to do with how I can't do individualized child care and have to do what is best for the group as a whole or about how I charge based on enrollment not attendance) and if they still feel uncertain I stop the interview right there and nicely just tell them that it just isn't going to work.

After the interview I do a quick, free criminal database check online (through my county website using their name and DOB). I only do this to check for criminal activity such as theft, check fraud, violent crimes etc. If I am interviewing several parents then I may also sometimes use ProviderWatch.com and pay for their monthly subscription to check to see if other DC providers have reported them for unpaid financial obligations.

I always require that they bring their child and schedule the first interview during non-daycare hours so that I can see the child/parent interaction as well as the family dynamics. Do they allow their child to dump out toys or climb on furniture? Do they clean up their child's mess or require the child to clean up? Do they monitor their child? How do they speak to their child etc. Also during the interview I give them a tour while discussing what we do, our schedule, meals, my child care philosophy etc. and if they feel comfortable with how I do things then I will schedule a 30 minute "playdate".

During the "playdate" (which is scheduled during daycare hours) I don't charge but the parent has to be present. I not only want to see what the child's reaction and interactions are with the other DC children but I want to see how the parent handles the interactions as well. Is the parent a helicopter parent? Is the parent relaxed and happy? How does the parent react to the way that I make corrections to the child's behavior? etc.

These are all ways that I use to screen potential clients.

[Sunnyyy1]

Wow Marina you gave me some great ideas, thank you.

[Familycare71]

When I first initially get that first phone call or email I will ask the general question about the hours that they need and age of the child. Then based on that info I will quote a rate and briefly go into a general overview of my daycare. I will also email them a complete "parent Packet" which includes my contract, handbook, licensing forms and other forms that I give to all clients so that they can review them at home. In those forms I include an "All About Me" form about their child and some general info about the parents including DOB. Then I require that they bring the "All About Me" form to the first face-to-face interview.

At the face-to-face interview I read through the info on the form and talk about anything that I feel might be worth mentioning. I go through all of policies and my contract during all interviews and I make sure that I am clear that I am a business woman and that this is my business and I will run my daycare as such. I always tell my prospective clients that my policies are non-negotiable and that if at any time while going through the policies they don't agree with something to stop me and let me know. We discuss it, I give a reason as to why I have that policy (usually having to do with how I can't do individualized child care and have to do what is best for the group as a whole or about how I charge based on enrollment not attendance) and if they still feel uncertain I stop the interview right there and nicely just tell them that it just isn't going to work.

After the interview I do a quick, free criminal database check online (through my county website using their name and DOB). I only do this to check for criminal activity such as theft, check fraud, violent crimes etc. If I am interviewing several parents then I may also sometimes use ProviderWatch.com and pay for their monthly subscription to check to see if other DC providers have reported them for unpaid financial obligations.

I always require that they bring their child and schedule the first interview during non-daycare hours so that I can see the child/parent interaction as well as the family dynamics. Do they allow their child to dump out toys or climb on furniture? Do they clean up their child's mess or require the child to clean up? Do they monitor their child? How do they speak to their child etc. Also during the interview I give them a tour while discussing what we do, our schedule, meals, my child care philosophy etc. and if they feel comfortable with how I do things then I will schedule a 30 minute "playdate".

During the "playdate" (which is scheduled during daycare hours) I don't charge but the parent has to be present. I not only want to see what the child's reaction and interactions are with the other DC children but I want to see how the parent handles the interactions as well. Is the parent a helicopter parent? Is the parent relaxed and happy? How does the parent react to the way that I make corrections to the child's behavior? etc.

These are all ways that I use to screen potential clients.

I think this is exactly what I am going to start doing!! I do most of it except e-mail paper work and time my interview the way you do and the play date- thanks for sharing!!! This should help a ton!
Also wondering do you do the two week "trial" period for care? I have been back and forth on if I want to...

[Starburst]

Questionaire for screening parents

Question#1: Who is in charge of the rules in your house?
[] Parents [] Children [] Pets [] The green sweater in my closet

Question#2: Do you have any pets? If so what kind?
A) [] Yes [] No [] Who wants to know?

B)
[] Cats
[] Dogs
[] Fish
[] Rodents (Hampsters/Mice/Rats)
[] Unicorns
[] Dragons

Question#3: Are the walls of your living quaters padded?
[] Yes [] No []Who wants to know? [] What have you heard? [] How did you know?
************************************

Just kidding (I wanted to put that up for a while but kept getting distracted). But I don't think there's a true 100% fool proof way to screen out the wierdos (or just bad fits) because there are many wierdos that can pass for normal. Also because many people are more polite to strangers at first but overtime tend to get more comfortable and their true selves start to come out. I think after a while you just learn to ask the right questions and to read people better to see if they are your ideal cliental (but it also tends to help if you already have some 'ideal' clients to know what to look for in mannerism).

[spud912]

Question#1: Who is in charge of the rules in your house?
[] Parents [] Children [] Pets [] The green sweater in my closet

Question#2: Do you have any pets? If so what kind?
A) [] Yes [] No [] Who wants to know?

B)
[] Cats
[] Dogs
[] Fish
[] Rodents (Hampsters/Mice/Rats)
[] Unicorns
[] Dragons

Question#3: Are the walls of your living quaters padded?
[] Yes [] No []Who wants to know? [] What have you heard? [] How did you know?
************************************

Just kidding (I wanted to put that up for a while but kept getting distracted). But I don't think there's a true 100% fool proof way to screen out the wierdos (or just bad fits) because there are many wierdos that can pass for normal. Also because many people are more polite to strangers at first but overtime tend to get more comfortable and their true selves start to come out. I think after a while you just learn to ask the right questions and to read people better to see if they are your ideal cliental (but it also tends to help if you already have some 'ideal' clients to know what to look for in mannerism).

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