Professional Boundaries: Early Childhood Service Provider Ethics Implementation

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

An interdisciplinary group identified a lack of written ethics codes for early childhood service providers. This included: Suffolk County Department of Health Services employees, local Early Intervention service providers and local school district Preschool Special Education Administrators. This Code of Ethics for Early Childhood Service Providers Working in the Home (The Code) was developed to help guide the behavior that is expected of each early childhood professionals who work in a home-based setting with an infant, toddler, or preschool child with special needs. A Guide was distributed, a PowerPoint presentation, and a full-day provider training session was offered in order to disseminate the Code and the associated performance standards. As a result of this initiative, both parents and professionals now review and agree at the initiation of services so that roles and boundaries are clear and defined within an ethical context at the onset of services. The agreements outline mutually understood limits of the relationship between the therapist and the family/child. Participating agencies report that the standard of care has improved, the quality of staff interactions has improved and there is more consistency in operations.