Procedures & Policies

At Mindful with Children, we work hard to provide your family with the best experience possible. In order to hire and retain talented educators, as well as optimize our ability to be present for the children with whom we work, we employ the following policies and procedures:

Contracting our Specialists
Background Check:
All educators working with Mindful with Children have received a background check and have been cleared to work with children through American Fingerprinting Services or an alternately accredited organization.

Intake Process
Matching our Students with a Specialist:
We take great care in pairing our educators with our children. Not only does a support specialist need to have the experience and training to meet a child’s particular needs, but they also need to be able to build trust and establish a positive rapport. While we trust our ability to find the “just right” pairing, we also welcome (and encourage) a family’s input into this process.

Scheduling:
A typical session runs for 60 minutes. Appointments can be made or cancelled through our specialists. Depending on the goals of the relationship, families will typically schedule one to four sessions a week. We have found that two sessions a week is the most common frequency. Frequency of sessions can also change during a year alongside a child’s progress.

Location of Sessions:
We serve the greater Washington DC area. This includes southern Maryland and Northern Virginia. At these locations, we offer in-person sessions at a child’s home, at a neutral, agreed-upon public location (like a library or a park), or at a child’s school (when permitted by the school). We are also pleased to provide remote services over the Zoom platform. Through this remote platform, we accept students from around the world.

Determining Fee:
Our fee schedule is determined by the type of work being completed, as well as the frequency of sessions. Please contact us for an estimate. We also work off of a sliding scale to ensure that our prices are affordable and equitable for our families. Lastly, we are committed to working with a small number of families on a pro-bono basis.

First (Intake) Session Structure:
In an effort to intentionally preserve time to build trust and rapport, cultivate student buy-in, and generate clearly articulated goals for the work, once a family is interested in moving forward with us we typically recommend a first (intake) session. This in-person (or virtual), hour-long meeting is considered the beginning of our work together and is billed according to whatever rate is agreed upon for the work moving forward.

Following the First Session
Comprehensive Session Review:
After the first working session with a student, our specialists will share a detailed summary email with the parent(s) or guardian(s). This recap is intended to continue to build the partnership between educator and family. It is meant to illuminate for the family the work being completed, such that a family can offer helpful insight and reflection on approach if desired. We deeply respect the investment our families are making in our services and want to make sure we are moving in an agreed-upon and productive direction as soon as is possible.

Development of a Personalized Learning Plan:
Following three to four weeks of work, and once our specialists have had the opportunity to get to know a child, a personalized learning plan for each student will be generated. The plan will include the current level of functioning, goals for the work together, the scaffolding of a plan, and how progress will be measured. An example of this plan can be found here. These plans can also be continuations of an already written IEP or 504 plan, if that approach makes sense for a given student’s situation.

Ongoing
Cancellation Policy:
Excluding extenuating circumstances, we require 24 hours notice when cancelling a session. Should a session be cancelled with less than 24 hours notice, a family will be charged for the session.