Tom Copeland's Taking Care of Business

New Report on Family Child Care Networks Released

Tom Copeland — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:57:15 -0700

Family child care networks with paid staff have an impact on improving the quality of care, according to an Erickson Institute study. The most promising practices associated with improving the quality are: * The coordinator's prior experience with children * Use of formal quality assessment tools * High-frequency visits (10...

California Cracks Down on Employers Who Hire "Independent Contractors"

Tom Copeland — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:16:14 -0700

When a family child care provider hires someone to help her care for children she must treat this person as her employee, not as an independent contractor. This is true regardless of how little the worker is paid or how few hours she works. Hiring an employee means following a...

IRS Hosts Free Webinar on Tax Related Guidance for Child Care Providers

Tom Copeland — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:06:00 -0700

On June 5th the IRS will host a free webinar spefically addressed at family child care providers. Entitled "Tax Related Guidance for Child Care Providers" the webinar will cover: * Income items * Recordkeeping tips * Business use of the home calculation * Expense issues * Depreciation rules and reporting...

New Marketing Tools Available from First Children's Finance

Tom Copeland — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:49:43 -0700

Why should parents bring their child to your family child care program? Your ability to answer this question will determine in large part how successful you will be. Maybe you run a high quality program, but unless parents know about you, you may struggle to succeed. First Children's Finance, a...

Must Parents Re-sign My Contract Each Year?

Tom Copeland — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:44:54 -0700

In most situations it is not required. If your family child care contract has an ending date, you and the parents will need to sign a new contract before the ending date. My recommendation is that you put a start, not ending date in your contract. "The starting date for...

What to Do When Parents Are Late to Pick up Their Children

Tom Copeland — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:45:19 -0700

It is a common problem for many family child care providers: Your pick-up time is 6pm and a parent shows up late several times a month. Another parent always arrives before 6pm, but often doesn't leave your home until 6:20pm. You work long hours caring for children: an average of...

Happy Provider Appreciation Day!

Tom Copeland — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:00:00 -0700

I'm taking a day off from talking about business issues to acknowledge May 11th as Provider Appreciation Day! I've been involved with the family child care field for over 30 years and I don't know of another profession where people work so hard for so little money. You work in...

3 Easy Ways to Meet a Parent's Privacy Expectations

Tom Copeland — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:17:33 -0700

In an age where our privacy is rapidly eroding, what do parents expect of their family child care provider about protecting their family’s privacy? Parents expect their child care provider to keep confidential everything they know about their children and family. Parents may not say this directly, but that’s what...

How to Protect Yourself When an Unhappy Parent Leaves Your Program

Tom Copeland — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:20:14 -0700

Occasionally parents of the children in your family child care become upset and leave your program. What can you do to protect yourself if they later decide to file a complaint against you with your licensor? Family child care is a business where parents and children naturally come and go....

Where Should I Invest My Money for Retirement?

Tom Copeland — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:18:29 -0700

For this article I assume you are a family child care provider who has saved only a little for retirement, is a novice investor, and doesn't want to spend a lot of time learning about retirement investing. If you have a little money to put away for your retirement, you...