A Program can allow account owners to register their student for any of the following five different Child Care contract types: Consistent Schedule, Pick Your Weeks, Pick Your Days, Drop-in only and/or Non-School Day only schedules. Contract Schedule Types are set up under Registration Options. While some programs allow parents to only register for one type like the Consistent Schedule, others allow parents to choose between a Consistent Schedule or a Pick Your Days Schedule or any of the other types.
When a program offers multiple contract schedule types, a parent would see the available options during the online registration process as shown below. Once the preferred Contract Schedule Type is selected online, the appropriate calendar view is displayed. If your program only allows one type of contract, the other schedule types will not be displayed.
If a family is registering more than one student listed on the same child care account, for efficiency, the system will attempt to autofill the contract details with the same schedule that was submitted for the first student. The parent has the option to change the schedule for additional students before submitting it. Staff can use the Online Instruction Text at the Season level to alert parents about this as well as any other details for creating contracts. The Online Instruction Text is displayed at the top of the screen while parents are selecting a schedule.
All contracts that are submitted from an online registration automatically go into a Pending status for staff review and approval.
Below is a description of each Contract Schedule Type with screen shots of the Public side as it is displayed during the online registration process.
Consistent Schedule
A Consistent Schedule means the student attends the same (Consistent) days every week during the entire contract. Though an account owner may request a schedule change online (pending staff approval), it is not designed to be changed often during that Season.
The first date of attendance automatically defaults to the first possible date attendance allowed based on pre-set preferences within the Registration Options. When the schedule request is created beyond the restricted days allowed, the First Date of Attendance defaults to the first date the Site is available. Whether the person registering can edit the start and end date is also an Administrative preference set within the Registration Options.
Below is an example of what someone might see when requesting a Consistent Schedule.
When a district has a minimum number of days requirement, the system will not allow the person registering to select any less than the required minimum per Week Per Section. This is indicated when creating the Rates. Below is an example of a Rate where the district does not allow any less than 4 days per week for a Consistent Schedule. The options for attends 1 day, attends 2 days and attend 3 days are not checked limiting the contracts to a minimum of 4 days. This is found under Child Care > Rates.
Pick Your Days
A Pick Your Days contract is a flexible schedule that allows the account owner to select requested dates from a calendar. The minimum number of days your program requires can be set under the Registration Options. This can be set to 0 days required, but that will create an unusual situation for your team where there are no scheduled dates (i.e. for staffing concerns, etc).
Below is an example of what someone would see when requesting a Pick Your Days Contract for their student.
Drop-In Only
A Drop-in Only contract type allows the account owners to create a contract including completing all registration questions where they are able to make as-need, drop-in day requests for care online. They can either select dates when creating the contract or skip the step without selecting any dates. The Drop-in Only differs from Pick Your Days in that it is intended more for those that may only require emergency care where the dates are random. If requested online, the Drop Ins will require staff approval. If set up at the Site level, Drop In Only contracts may also allow a parent to drop-in when signing in on the Child Care Attendance app. The student would need an approved contract to use this option.
Non-school Day Only
A Non-School Day Only contract allow the account owner to create a contract including completing all registration questions for the student who will only attend on days when there is not regular care and when Non-School Day care is occurring.
No calendar options are displayed when someone registers their student for a Non-School Day only Contract. They can either select dates after submitting the contract or skip the step without selecting any dates and register for the Non-School Day care at a future date. Non-School Days requested online require staff approval. There is an option to allow drop-ins at the Non-School Day site level where a parent to drop-in for Non-School Day care when signing in on the Child Care Attendance app. The student would need an approved contract to use this option.
Pick Your Weeks
A Pick Your Weeks contract allows account owners to select the weeks their student will attend consistent days but random weeks. This contract type is particularly popular during the Summer season (so they can schedule their students to attend specific days of the week as well as which weeks during that Season).
Below is an example of what someone might see when requesting a Pick Your Weeks contract for their student. They indicate the days of the week needed first at the top then the weeks using the check boxes on the right.