Purpose

This policy and the procedures will help support the safe arrival and dismissal of children receiving care in our childcare and school age programs.

This policy will provide educators, students and volunteers with a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities for ensuring the safe arrival and dismissal of children receiving care, including what steps are to be taken when a child does not arrive at the childcare centre as expected, as well as steps to follow to ensure the safe dismissal of children.

This policy is intended to fulfill the obligations set out under Ontario Regulation 137/15 for policies and procedures regarding the safe arrival and dismissal of children in care.

Policy

The safety of the children attending Kids Come First Child Care Services (Kids Come First or KCF) programs is one of our top priorities. We need to work together with parents, guardians, KCF teachers and our host schools to ensure our children are safe. In response to increased public service announcements (PSA) regarding children being left in cars, a safe arrival strategy has been developed to ensure that no child is accidentally left in a locked car. Forgotten Baby Syndrome (FBS) refers to accidentally leaving a baby or young child in a locked car, often with tragic results. One of the prevention strategies, identified in research, is to ensure that child care programs have a system in place to connect with parents should a child not arrive in care when expected. Strong communication is required in order to ensure all children are where they are supposed to be.

The safety and wellbeing of your children is a high priority for Kids Come First Child Care Services. We are asking that parents call the centre in the event that their child will be absent.

Parents are requested to inform the Centre in the event the child will be away for sickness, absence or vacation. If there is no voice mail or written documentation (email or letter), Staff will follow up with families by phone (leaving a message) and email. After three days, should staff be unable to confirm the absence, the staff will contact the local police for a wellness check.

Kids Come First will ensure that any child receiving care at the child care centre is only released to the child’s parent/guardian or an individual that the parent or guardian has provided written authorization that the child care centre may release the child to.

Kids Come First will only dismiss children into the care of their parent/guardian or another authorized individual. The centre will not release any children from care without supervision.

Where a child does not arrive in care as expected or is not picked up as expected, staff must follow the safe arrival and dismissal procedures set out below.

Procedures                                            

Accepting a child into care

When accepting a child into care at the time of drop-off, program staff in the room must:

• greet the parent/guardian and child.
• ask the parent/guardian how the child’s evening/morning has been and if there are any changes to the child’s pick-up procedure (i.e., someone other than the parent/guardian picking up). Where the parent/guardian has indicated that someone other than the child’s parent/guardians will be picking up, the staff must confirm that the person is listed on the child’s emergency file or where the individual is not listed, ask the parent/guardian to provide authorization for pick-up in writing (e.g., note or email).
• document the change in pick-up procedure in the daily written record.
• sign the child in on the classroom attendance record.

Where a child has not arrived in care as expected for full day Child Care for Toddler & Preschool AND for full day programs on Non-Instructional Days for Kindergarten and School Age children:

Where a child does not arrive at the child care centre and the parent/guardian has not communicated a change in drop-off (e.g., left a voice message or advised the closing staff at pick-up or the parent has indicated in writing that the child may not attend until later), the program staff in the classroom must:

• Inform the Supervisor/on site Designate and they must commence contacting the child’s parent/guardian no later than 10:00 a.m. Program staff shall call the child’s parent/guardian using the contact information provided by parents. program staff will try all contact numbers. etc. and ensure that a message is left for the parent.
• If the program staff has not received a response within 15 minutes from either parent/guardian, they will continue to contact parent/guardian while contacting the emergency/authorized contacts on the list. If no response is received, indicating the child is safe, the program staff will send an email. Program staff will contact emergency/authorized pick up contacts for assistance in contacting the parent/guardian or to confirm absence.

Once the child’s absence has been confirmed, the program staff shall document the child’s absence on the attendance record and any additional information about the child’s absence in the daily written record.

For children who are not in by 10:00 am on a regular basis, parents are requested to provide a letter to indicate the time-frame the child may come in by. Once this is received, the staff will inform the parent that unless a phone call has been received by the parent, the staff will call 15 minutes after the time frame and follow the above procedures.