Family Child-Care Providers Want Contracts

"It's hard for parents looking to hire a loving, responsible person to care for their young ones to think of this as a legal and business transaction. But a transaction is exactly what it is, as evidenced by the now-routine employment contracts used even among family child-care providers -- those who take children into their homes. The warm and fuzzy part of the relationship is usually covered in a separate "policy" or "philosophy" statement, said Tom Copeland, an attorney and director of the Redleaf National Institute, a St. Paul-based resource agency for providers. The contract, on the other hand, is all about down payments, holidays off, vacations and termination notices -- that is, everything to do with the providers' time and the parents' money, Copeland said." By H.J. Cummins, Star Tribune Link to Article (Last visited 10-23-06 NVS)