Child care enrollment agreement template
A child care enrollment agreement is the contract between a family and a daycare, preschool or home child care program. It sets the schedule and tuition, and it records the details staff need on the worst day: who may pick the child up, what they're allergic to, and who to call. Read this one below, then open it in SignMaster and send it to each new family.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
The contract
Gray blanks are yours to fill in before you send. Each signer fills in the blanks in their color.
- You, before sending
- Parent or guardian
- Child care provider
Child Care Enrollment Agreement
This Child Care Enrollment Agreement (the "Agreement") is made on Agreement date between Program name, license number Child care license number (the "Provider"), and Parent name (the "Parent"), for the care of Child name, born Child birth date (the "Child").
1. Enrollment and schedule
The Child is enrolled in Program or classroom starting Start date, attending Days of attendance from Drop-off and pickup times. The Provider is open Hours of operation and closed on the holidays listed in the parent handbook.
2. Tuition and fees
- Tuition is Tuition amount per Tuition period, due Tuition due date.
- A registration fee of Registration fee holds the Child's place and is not refundable.
- Tuition reserves the Child's place, so it is charged for scheduled days the Child is absent or sick and for the holidays listed in the handbook.
- Payments more than Days before late fee days late incur a fee of Late payment fee.
3. Pickup and late pickup
The Provider will release the Child only to the Parent or to these people, after checking photo ID: Authorized pickup people. The Parent will give the Provider a copy of any court order that limits who may collect the Child; without one, the Provider can't refuse to release the Child to a legal parent.
Pickup after closing time costs Late pickup fee per minute per minute. If no one has arrived or called within Minutes before calling contacts minutes of closing, the Provider will call the Parent and then the emergency contacts, and will follow its licensing rules if no one can be reached.
4. Health
Before the first day, the Parent will provide the Child's immunization record, or a valid exemption, and any health forms the Provider's license requires, and will keep them up to date. Allergies, medical conditions and special needs: Allergies and conditions.
A Child with a fever, vomiting, diarrhea or a contagious illness stays home until Hours symptom-free hours symptom-free without medicine, and the Parent will collect a Child who becomes ill during the day within one hour of the call. Staff give medication only with a separate signed medication authorization, in the original labeled container.
5. Emergencies
Emergency contacts, other than the Parent: Emergency contacts and phones. Child's doctor: Doctor and phone. In a medical emergency the Provider will call 911 and then the Parent. If the Parent can't be reached, the Parent authorizes emergency medical treatment for the Child, and the Parent is responsible for its cost.
6. Daily care
The Provider serves Meals and snacks provided. The Parent supplies Items the parent supplies, labeled with the Child's name. Infants are put to sleep on their backs in a crib or play yard with nothing else in it, as safe-sleep guidance and licensing rules require.
7. Guidance and behavior
Staff use positive guidance: redirection, clear limits and praise. They never use physical punishment, shaming or withholding food. If a behavior keeps coming up, the Provider and the Parent will meet and agree on a plan. If the Child's behavior still puts other children or staff at risk, the Provider may end enrollment under section 10.
8. Outings, transport and photos
Field trips need a separate permission slip, and the Provider won't drive the Child anywhere without separate written transport permission. Daily photos are shared privately with the family through Parent communication app. Photos of the Child may appear on the Provider's website or social media only if the Parent ticks this box: I agree.
9. Reporting duty
Child care staff are required by law to report suspected child abuse or neglect to the authorities. They will do so without first telling the Parent when the law or the Child's safety calls for it.
10. Withdrawal and ending care
The Parent may withdraw the Child with Withdrawal notice weeks weeks' written notice, or by paying tuition for that period instead. The Provider may end care with the same notice, or immediately for unpaid tuition past Days unpaid before ending care days or for a serious safety concern.
11. Handbook and general terms
The parent handbook is part of this Agreement; where they differ, this Agreement controls. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the state of State, and electronic signatures on it count as originals.
Parent contact details
Phone: Parent phone Email: Parent email Home address: Home address
I have received and read the parent handbook and this Agreement, and I am the Child's parent or legal guardian.
Parent or guardian
Child care provider
Opens it in SignMaster as a template you can edit and send.
A starting point, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review it for your state and situation.
On this page
What the agreement does
Parents sign a stack of forms at enrollment. The agreement is the one that holds the money and the rules: tuition is owed for sick days, late pickup costs a set amount per minute, and two weeks' notice is needed to withdraw. Without it, every one of those is a negotiation at the front door. With it, staff can point to a page the parent already signed.
It also gathers what your licensing rules expect you to keep on file, in one place: authorized pickup people, emergency contacts, the child's doctor, allergies and the consent to emergency treatment.
What the template covers
- Enrollment: the program or classroom, start date, days, drop-off and pickup times, and your hours.
- Tuition and fees: the rate and period, a registration fee, tuition for absent days and holidays, and a late payment fee.
- Pickup: an authorized list checked against photo ID, custody orders, and a per-minute late pickup fee.
- Health: immunization records or exemptions, allergies, a sick-child rule and medication only with a separate authorization.
- Emergencies: contacts, the child's doctor and consent to emergency treatment.
- Daily care: meals, what parents send in, and back-to-sleep for infants.
- Behavior: positive guidance, never physical punishment, and a plan before anyone is asked to leave.
- Outings, photos, the duty to report suspected abuse, withdrawal and the parent handbook.
Mistakes that cause trouble at pickup
- An authorized pickup list with first names only. Ask for full names and how each person is related, and check ID the first time anyone new arrives.
- Refusing a parent without paperwork. Unless you hold a court order that limits pickup, a legal parent generally can't be kept from their child. Ask for a copy of any order at enrollment.
- A vague sick policy. "Keep sick children home" means different things to different parents; name the symptoms and how long a child must be symptom-free.
- Folding the medication form into the agreement. Most programs use a separate authorization for each medicine, with the dose and dates, so keep it separate.
Your licensing rules come first
State child care licensing decides which records you must keep, from immunizations to emergency cards, and some states issue their own required forms. Use this agreement alongside those forms, and match its pickup, sick-child and medication sections to what your licensing rules say.
How to send it with SignMaster
- 1
Open the template
Choose Use this template. It opens in your account with the parent signing first and the program signing second.
- 2
Add your program's details
Fill the gray blanks: program name, license number, hours, tuition, fees, sick-day rule and state. Type the room's name into the classroom blank, such as Toddler Room.
- 3
Ask for the immunization record
Add an Attachment field in the editor next to section 4, so parents attach the record as a PDF or photo while they sign. See collect files from signers.
- 4
Send it to the family
Enter the parent's name and email. They fill in the blue blanks, the child's details, pickup list, allergies and contacts, from their phone, with no account.
- 5
Countersign and file it
The director signs last. Both sides get the signed PDF and a certificate of completion, ready for your licensing file.
Enrolling a whole class at once
In late summer, when every returning family needs a new agreement with the new year's tuition, put the families in a spreadsheet and use bulk send: one envelope per row, with columns such as Tuition amount and Program or classroom filling each copy. Afterwards, the template's Responses tab on paid plans shows every family's allergies and pickup list in one table you can export. See all answers to a template in one table.
Questions? Answers.
Can both parents sign the enrollment agreement?
Yes. Add a second signer role for the other parent in the template editor and place a signature field for them, so both parents sign the same agreement.
Is an e-signed enrollment agreement valid?
For most contracts, yes. The federal ESIGN Act and state e-signature laws treat an electronic signature like a handwritten one. Your licensing agency may have its own rules for certain forms, so check those. See are electronic signatures legal.
Does this replace the parent handbook?
No. The handbook explains day-to-day policies; the agreement makes it binding and covers the money. Section 11 says the agreement wins if the two ever disagree.
Can a home daycare use it?
Yes. Put your own name in the program blank, write Home program in the classroom blank, and fill in your own hours. Holidays come from your parent handbook, which section 11 makes part of the agreement.