In October, Caring Nanny staff enjoyed a fabulous APNA (Association of Premier Nanny Agencies) conference at the Firesky resort in Scottsdale, just two blocks from our office. Premier agencies from all over the country came to learn from each other and discuss our shared issues. Since we work in an unregulated industry, we find that we have to create and maintain ethical standards for self regulating.

Ann Klein from White House Nannies (author of the book by that title), taught us how to deal with difficult situations. We discussed how to recruit top nanny candidates, how to recruit and train quality housekeepers, building and retaining a great office team, and psychologist Ann Wycoff Ph.D. shared with us how to assess personality traits to select the best candidates for our clients. A team of attornies discussed legal questions. We got into small groups and hashed out sticky, nitty-gritty ethical questions.
Above all, we made friends with great people from all over the country who we realized we have a lot in common with. We all want to make our clients happy. We want them to like us and we can’t sleep at night if they don’t. We are an ethical group. We really love children and care about who is with them in their formative years. We like to laugh.
It took a lot of work for Caring Nannies to join APNA, and APNA works hard all year to make this industry professional.
Because of APNA’s high standards and rigorous screening process, only the best and brightest agencies belong. Nearly 4 years ago, we had to make significant changes and have all of our documents, applications, website and contracts scrutinized. We had to stop asking illegal questions, we must conduct ourself ethically and uphold professional standards. APNA spies called and caught us explaining that sometimes a nanny can just fill out a 1099, rather than a W-4  tax form. (We thought there were some exceptions, but they actually can’t.) Joining APNA means we commit to excellence in everything we do.