Urgently
in need of care providers in kawana &
wurtulla areas, Coolum, Noosa and
Tewantin.
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Practical Considerations Before Offering Family
Day Care In Your Home
_____________________________________________________________________
Yourself
Being a Family Day Carer is a responsible job.
Before deciding to offer day care for children
in your home, you should ask
yourself a number
of questions which will help you determine if
family day care
is really for you.
Am I 18 years or older? Am I fit and healthy and
free from anymedical condition or dependency on
medication or substance that could affect your ability to care for children?
months of registering?
Are my communication
skills good? Am I happy to develop and
educate children in a learning environment? Maintaining Quality Care
Family Day Care Carers are required to provide and maintain a quality childcare
service in a safe, healthy, nurturing, friendly home environment. This includes
adhering to:
Current State Regulations Occupational Health and
Safety Legislation Scheme policies and
procedures Participating in Quality
Assurance requirements Participating in ongoing
professional development often outside the hours of their service
operation (the hours a
Carer chooses to work) Providing parent with
ongoing information about their child's daily activities. Carers must fulfil all
the administrative and business requirements of a self-employed
person, and ensure
that records are retained in accordance with the timeframes and
requirements
set out in the Children’s Services Regulations. Carers are also required
to
maintain a safe workplace at all times. The support and assistance of the
Carer’s
family members in meeting these requirements and providing a
professional service
is also required.
Having other people’s children in your home also means:
Providing an environment
that recognises and operates in a safe and respectfulmanner
Recognising that it is
more that 'just baby sitting'. Carers need to plan programs thatmeet the individual child's needs and interests
The Carer is solely responsible for the children at
all time, and cannot delegate thisresponsibility to any other household member.
Roles and
Responsibilities of the Carer’s Family
As the words ‘Family Day Care’ indicate,
caring for children in your home
involves
the whole family. If you have a partner,
children, or other family
members living
in your house, you should, as a family, talk over your plans
before starting,
because members of the Carer’s family
play an important role
in the children’s
experience.
While your family members play an important role in the provision of your service it is important to remember that you are the registered carer. This means that you are responsible for making decisions about the provision of care, the day to day caring
duties such as toileting, administering medication, accepting fees and physically
receiving children into care and returning them back to their parents in the afternoon. Your family members may wish to become involved by participating in craft, reading stories, playing games etc.
Legal and business
matters
While family day care is not as complex as running a large business, you should
be considering some legal matters carefully. These involve insurance, taxes,
budgeting
and licensing. All, when taken care of properly, are for your direct
benefit, and serve to
protect you from unnecessary expense and liability. All
childcare in this state is subject
to licensing with the State Government. The
Department of Community Services
employs advisory personnel who are able to
advise and assist with all regulation
matters.
Insurance
One of the first things you may have to think about is public liability
insurance. Children are subject to a wide range of injuries, and while this
type of insurance can be expensive, it may serve to protect you and the
children.
The National Family Day Care Council (Aust) Inc. (NFDCCA) has a comprehensive
insurance plan designed specifically for the unique needs of Family Day Care.
Useful information can be found at the link below:
www.familydaycareaustralia.com.au
Financial assistance
The Government provides 600 payments nationally of up to $1500 to assist new carers with setting up their family day care. You will need to apply to the government to find
out if you
are eligible. The family day care start up payment assists new carers with
some
of the start up costs.
What are the income and expenses of being a carer?
Carers are self employed business
operators. The income and the expenses incurred varies between carers.
Carers have the control over how much they earn and
what overheads they
incur.
INCOME
Income can vary depending on the type
of care you provide, the hours that you provide
care for and the carer fee that
you charge for each type of care.
How do I get paid?
Carers are provided with a Time Sheet
that needs to be completed by carers and the parents of children attending
care. This Time Sheet records the number of hours the children attended care
with you and the amount of child care fee you charge to the parents.
You receive two separate payments
1. From the parent -At the end of the
week you will provide a Receipt to each parent which specifies the
amount that they have paid you in fees (either in cash, cheque or direct credit
to your account) for that week. This fee amount is calculated as the Total fee
amount less CCB.
2. From the office-
The completed Time Sheet is to be provided to the office for
uploading on to the Harmony administration system fortnightly. Your bank
account is then credited with the CCB amount for the fortnight (less the Carer
Levy), directly into your bank account.
What is the your ongoing cost?
The office charges a carer levy to
cover the costs of providing the office services. These
include: Promotion of
the service
Providing the
service of recommending children for care with a carer.
Processing Time
Sheets for carers
Providing Child
Development Officer support to carers.
Providing office
support including processes, policies, forms etc to carers.
Providing play
group services.
Providing
training including initial set up and ongoing training to carers.
Monitoring carers
and ensuring Quality Assurance requirements are met.
24 hr On Call service for problems or issues that arise out of office hours.
What
support does the scheme provide to carers?
Business Support
All relevant and necessary information
to conduct your child care service
Newsletters, forms, checklists,
policies, procedures and resource ideas to assist you
in your business.
Child Care Benefit calculated from
parent time sheets and deposited electronically
into your bank account.
Ongoing phone support for all
administrative aspects of your business.
Referral of families to place children
in your care.
_______________________________________________________________________
Childcare Support
Regular visits from Coordination Unit
staff who will assist you with all aspects of care
and education of young
children.
Exciting and informative Playgroup
sessions.
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Training Opportunities
Interesting and relevant
in-service training
On the job training, self
paced learning modules in Early Childhood
Resource library of books,
DVDs, CDs
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So you think you would like to do
Family Day Care?
The next steps: Recruitment and induction of care providers
Step One
Thank you for your interest in becoming an approved
carer with Family Day Care Providers C & R Cowling-Scaife. Please
contact the coordination unit for an application pack phone 07) 54 76 33 73 or 1800139109.
Please read your
Information Package thoroughly
before proceeding further with your application.
Should you then wish to proceed, return the
completed Details Form along with your written application and selection
criteria. Your written application should indicate the reasons why you are
applying as well as addressing your personal suitability to working
with
children.
Please note that part of your application requires
you to nominate two referees (not related to you) who, preferably, can comment
on your understanding of child development and your interactions with children.
These referees will be contacted by
the scheme during the application process.
This pack must be completed
and sent back into the coordination unit Letters of application should be
addressed to:
Attention: Recruitment Team
Family Day Care Providers C & R Cowling-Scaife
21 Campese Tec
Nambour 4560
Family Day Care Providers C &
R Cowling-Scaife will arrange with the applicant to do an
interview at their
home. This provides information to enable the applicant and members
of the
family/household to form a clear understanding of the role and responsibilities
of
a care provider and the requirements of becoming a workplace.
Step Two
The coordination unit will assess the applicant on the following criteria:
Applicants must provide a letter from a medical practitioner
stating they are of good
health and free from any medical condition or
dependency on medication or substance
that could affect their ability to care
for children.
A suitable notice (blue card) application for the applicant
and any household members
over 18 years old must be completed before care can
be provided.
The applicant must have a current first aid and CPR
certificate or enrol in and
complete a course before care can be provided.
All applicants must be non-smokers including the other
household members
Applicants must have a minimum of Certificate III in
children's services or Diploma orstudy with in three months of registering.
Step Three
The Applicant will be interviewed to ensure they are
suitable to work with children:
some of the critical aspects and personal
qualities required are:
Understanding of and respect for children
Awareness of health and safety issues
Empathy with families using care
Positive approach in working with families and coordination
unit
Interest in professional development and continued quality
improvement
Positive approach to behaviour guidance
Effective communication skills, including verbal and written
Openness to change and new ideas
Potential to plan, implement and evaluate programs for
children
Physically and emotionally able to care for young
children in a group settingStep Four
The co-ordination unit will visit the applicants home to
access the premises suitability,
using a safety checklist. Safety Checklist (<<< click
to download)
Step Five
Suitable applicants will be asked to undertake on the job
training and assessment to allow the coordination unit to observe their skills,
knowledge and personal attributes and allows applicants to have an orientation
to family day care and develop a better understanding of the job.
Unsuccessful applicants will be sent a letter that they were unsuccessful and
on request additional information or feedback will be provided.
Step Six
Suitable applicants that complete registration prior to
commencing the family day care
service will be required to complete all home
modifications and specifications outlined
on the safety checklist, complete
first aid and CPR training, provide certified copy of driver’s licence, vehicle
and child restraints safety inspection, provided positive suitability
notices
for all parties involved, ensure all business registration (local council
requirements) are completed , insure that their insurance is current and pay
the
registration cost of $200. This fee is only payable once and is not a
yearly cost.
Registration Business Kit: $200 one off payment
What’s in it?
Folders for:
Timesheets
Carer profile
Parent info
Programming
Regs/Acct/quality assurance
Emergency/medication
Scheme forms
Observation books
Suggestion box
Business card and holder
Posters
Highlighters for programming
Scheme shirt and hat
Step Seven
Sign the family day care provider agreement and job roles
and responsibilities.
Once all the above processes are completed, the care provider will be
registered with Family Day Care Providers C & R Cowling-Scaife Scheme. A
certificate of registration from the scheme is provided to the carer. The
certificate of registration is valid for one year and care providers are
required to meet the schemes requirements stated above each year to reregister.
Note: Care providers must understand that Family Day Care Providers C
& R Cowling-Scaife Scheme will judge the applicant and decide on the number
of children that the care provider is able to care for in a safe secure way.
This may mean that the care provider is not given a total of 7 children that is
allowed by Child Care Regulations/Act and that due to waiting lists and child
enrolments we take no responsibility for ensuring that care providers have or
are given a total of 7 children. Family Day Care Providers C & R
Cowling-Scaife Scheme CANNOT GUARANTEE A REGULAR RELIABLE INCOME.
Your next step
Family Day Care what do you do?
Contact our Co-ordination unit and we will arrange to speak with you further.
