Forms to Sign & Business Name

[Momof2Boys]

I have my first interview on Saturday and would like to get together all of the papers that the family will sign if all goes well. What forms do you all require be signed before you will start caring for children? Can I see samples of some of your forms (contracts, handbooks, etc.)?

When I started advertising myself and my daycare, I fell in love with the name Small Steps Childcare so I started using this on all of my flyers. I was very disappointed to discover today that there is another in-home day care with the same name in a different city(possibly in a different county as well). I tried looking up the information, but had no luck. So that's why I'm asking here...In Colorado, can you use the same daycare name as someone in a different city or county? Can you register your business name with the state so no one else can use it? How would I go about doing this?

Thank you for your time!!

[emosks]

My daycare name is registered with the state of Michigan. You can go to your state's website and do an entity search to see if anyone else has that name. I set mine up as an LLC and my assistant is my partner.

[fctjc1979]

I tried to keep my paperwork simple but still had quite a few things for the parents to fill out. I have:
Contract - takes care of the financial stuff
Authorization for Emergency Care- allows me to take child to doctor if necessary
Permission for Trips - is on the same sheet as the Emergency care sheet
Family Information sheet - includes names of family members, address, phone numbers, emergency contact info, names of other people that can pick up children
Child Information sheet - one sheet per child - interests, likes/dislikes, allergies and other medical info, abilities, what the child still needs help with, and what the child can use (crayons, pencils, spoon/fork, scissors, etc)

I used to tell parents that I would not start without the authorization form and the family information sheet but I had trouble getting some of the parents to bring the rest of the information in later. One family never did turn in the child information sheets. From now on, I'll be requiring all paperwork to be turned in before I will begin.