The provider identifies the age, number, and characteristics of the children he or she is able to accept. This information is collected during the provider's initial inquiry, then maintained thereafter and approved. Different criteria may be recorded on different provider type records. (See Record a provider inquiry).
For a home or residential provider, the characteristics record is approved as part of the home study or licensing process. A characteristics record cannot be approved until a placement criteria record has been added. (See Record About home studies or Record a recommendation for certification.)
Record the provider's acceptance preferences as follows:
From the Home screen, click the Provider tab.
Click the Workload tab. The Workload screen appears.
Click the Select link next to the ID of the provider whose record you want to update. The Provider Overview screen appears.
Click the Acceptance Criteria link in the navigation bar on the left. The Acceptance Characteristics List screen appears.
Click the Edit link to update a record that's in "In Progress." Click Add Characteristics to add a new record. Or click Copy to update the provider's acceptance characteristics if the previous record is in "Complete" status. The Characteristics screen appears.
If this is a new record, select the provider type in the Provider Type field. This provider may operate as more than one provider type.
For a home or residential provider, the system completes Characteristic Status field automatically based on the home study or licensing process.
If these characteristics are in effect during a certain time period, enter the dates in the Effective Date and End Date fields.
Select a category of characteristic in the Select Group field, then click Show. The specific characteristics within this selection appear below.
Click the radio button next to the provider's preference. (The system defaults to Unknown.)
Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each group.
Click Save. You are returned to the Acceptance Characteristic List screen.