In Wisconsin, can daycares tell anyone outside of their employees that a family was terminated? If not, what steps should I take against the daycare and who should I call? I have proof that a daycare did this our family.

Reply

You can call licensing and file a complaint.

Reply

I don't know the laws but I think family childcare may be a gray area with no specific rules about that type of thing. I would think it is bad business practice and probably not a good way to develop a good business reputation to be saying stuff about families in your care, but I do know the only way a person can sue another for slander is if they can prove the things being said are causing them to lose business or cost them money. Otherwise, people say all kinds of things. If you were terminated and the daycare is telling others then they aren't being slanderous, just not very professional. I am not sure how this effects you except that it isn't a very nice thing to do...but without more info, I don't know how to respond. What are your circumstances, if I may ask? Were you actually terminated? If so, why? Is the daycare telling everyone in town or was it told to other families who attend that day care? I think in order to get a better answer, you need to give some more info about the specific situation.

Reply

Without more information it is difficult to understand the whole depth of what you are asking. I do agree with Blackcat though.

I have terminated a family & never really talked trash about them (except on here as a means to vent). However, I am friends with other providers & when one of my friends was interviewing with the family I terminated I felt obligated to "spill the beans" about this family & some of the things they did to me b/c I wanted to protect my friend from the same things happening to her. I did not talk poorly about the family with any of the other families I provided care for.

Reply

Yes, our family was terminated - there was no trial period - and I just found out recently that the daycare told a business (not a daycare), so I have proof of that. I don't know who else was told at this point. I guess the point from my standpoint is that I feel something like that should be required to be confidential, but I don't know so that's why I'm asking. I didn't agree with their philosophies, so they termed us without warning and without explaination - I had to ask the actual reason why - we were shocked when it happened. I still wish there were more laws to protect confidentiality in daycare settings when it comes to enrollment and termination. I feel like it gives daycares too much power to bad mouth families. It looks really bad for families who've been terminated when going to a new daycare. Obviously, if anything had been discussed with me ahead of time, we would have elected to leave rather than be terminated.

Reply

Not necessarily...I have had other providers tell me horrible things about families who were looking to enroll in my program and yet the family turned out to be a great family for me. I've also had the opposite happen. I've had providers give great references and had the family turn out to be horrible. So if they termed you because you did not agree with their philosophies, I would not stress about it...just be honest when seeking new child care. Any professional provider will take the things she/he hears with a grain of salt and if your family is a good match to a program it will work out even if there are loose lips out there flapping about you. It actually says more about the childcare provider who is blabbing than it says about you and your family. Just be honest and your new provider will appreciate it. Good luck!

Reply

That's a tricky question, about whether daycares can tell someone they terminated a family. If it was a business that was NOT a daycare, I have no idea why a daycare would tell them. It's tricky when it comes to one daycare telling another one, because if the prospective daycare calls the family's previous provider and asks them about the family, they should have the right to say, but only if they explain the truthful reason why. And if a family within the previous daycare is considering withdrawing their child because of another child hurting them continuously, then I can see the provider letting that family know. Example: we had a child who went around hitting, pushing, kicking, cussing, throwing things at other children, hitting other children over the head with really hard objects (that could seriously injure a child), etc. When we started the termination process (after spending several weeks trying to work with the family and change things and it still didn't make a difference), then when the OTHER families started making comments that let us know they were questioning the care we were providing and considering withdrawing their own child because of that child, we let them know that we were terminating the child. In a case like that I don't see any other option besides telling them. But if it doesn't affect someone else or have anything to do with them, then I wouldn't think they would have the right to tell that information. You said the termination was because your philosophies were different, so in that case I can't see why they would give that information out to anyone. Period.

Reply