BENEFIT FROM HOME VISITS
As a family childcare provider and business owner, you are subject to a variety of agencies that oversee the operation of your business. This can include individuals who may conduct announced or unannounced visits. You may be visited for a number of reasons:
Inspection
Monitoring
Evaluation
Support
Accountability
Technical assistance
Investigation
Assessment of your services
Usually, one of the primary objectives of a visit is to evaluate the accountability of you and your program and answer the following questions:
Are you accountable for what you have agreed to in regulations and contracts?
Is your program accountable for the needs of the children who participate?
Rather than viewing this as an intrusion into your business, view this as an opportunity for you to evaluate your accountability and to validate how well you are operating your visit.
Have a positive attitude when you receive any regulatory visit. Your attitude can set the tone of the visit. Do not underestimate your role as a family childcare provider and a business owner. If you are a provider who looks at a visit the same as a trip to the dentist, then you are viewing the visit in a negative way. If you view your visits as something that is done to you and expect the visit to be painful or even costly, you are underestimating your abilities.
A visit should be interactive, and you should expect to have your needs met. You may have questions about a regulation, if a certain food is credible, when a training meeting is or have a problem with a parent or child; use this time to get the answers to your questions.
Good planning and documentation are key to benefitting from inspection, monitoring, or regulatory visits. Keep a list of your questions in the files that will be inspected. Keep a running list that you can refer to when your visitor comes by announced or unannounced. Take notes and document what the home visitor is telling you. This will help you to focus even with distractions.
Often when another adult enters the program the children become excited or demanding of your attention. It is easy to forget what you wanted to ask. If the home visitor is explaining something you need to do to be in compliance, you may not remember all the details at the end of the day. You can get the most out of home visits by preparing the children in advance for visitors. Just as you practice fire drills and emergency evacuation plans, you can practice scenarios that help the children understand what they can do when someone visits your childcare setting.
Another suggestion is to have a ‘visit box’ with special puzzles, games, and books that the children know has been set aside for when visitors arrive. Keep this box ‘special’ by only allowing the children to use what is in it when a visitor comes. Make sure that whatever your plan is, you can see and hear the children at all times.
It can be very personally rewarding to be well prepared, have all your paperwork in order and everything in compliance with regulations. This is something that you can be proud to share with the parents of the children you care for. Be proud of the work you do and the affirmation you receive from home visits.