Procare typical implementation process:
Welcome Email and Initial Setup: Within one business day of purchase, you receive a welcome email with installation instructions, tutorials, and a link to schedule your Kickoff Meeting.
Kickoff Meeting (15 minutes): Meet your implementation manager, discuss training needs, set a target completion date, and schedule all training sessions.
System Requirements Check: Review and ensure your computer meets Procare’s system requirements and run the compatibility checker.
Family & Employee Data Session (45 minutes): Learn to configure the system, add family and employee data, and get acquainted with engagement features.
Payments Session (45 minutes): Training on family ledgers, balance forwards, registration fees, and integrated payment processing.
Tuition & Billing Session (45 minutes): Set up tuition options, assign rates, and learn to invoice families.
Live Webinars (60 minutes each): Attend webinars on getting started, attendance, daily activities, and communications (can be completed before the final session).
Q&A Session (45 minutes): Review administrative settings, clarify any questions, and finalize your setup.
Graduate to Support: After implementation, you transition to ongoing support and meet your dedicated account manager.
Procare can be customized to fit specific business needs, offering a variety of options and features that allow centers to tailor the software to their unique requirements.
Customizable Dashboards: Procare provides customizable dashboards for both staff and parents. Staff can organize their daily tasks, track each child’s progress, manage attendance, and create reports, while parents receive real-time updates about their child’s activities, meals, and more.
Flexible Program Support: The platform is designed to support a wide range of child care settings, including in-home daycares, single and multi-center operations, franchises, before and after school programs, and youth organizations. This flexibility ensures that Procare can be adapted to various business models and organizational structures.
Personalized Layouts: Users can customize the layout of child information screens, moving, hiding, or reordering categories and data fields to display the most relevant information for their center’s workflow. This customization is user-specific, allowing each staff member to tailor their view as needed.
User Configuration Options: Individual users can personalize their experience by changing screen colors, appearances, and filter settings. Password management and layout resets are also available for enhanced security and usability.
Automated and Custom Billing: Procare offers customizable billing options, such as contract billing, attendance-based invoicing, and the ability to set up automated payment plans. This allows centers to manage tuition and fees in a way that best fits their financial processes.
Custom Reports: The system allows for the generation and customization of reports, making it easier for administrators to access the data they need for audits, compliance, and business analysis.
API Integration: Procare offers API integration, enabling centers to connect with other software tools or build custom solutions that extend the platform’s functionality to meet specific needs.
Cloud and Remote Access: The cloud-based nature of Procare means that customization and access can be managed remotely, providing flexibility for business owners and staff who need to work from multiple locations.
Responsive Customer Support: Procare’s customer service is highly rated for its responsiveness and willingness to assist with customization requests, ensuring that centers can get help tailoring the software to their needs.
Comprehensive Onboarding and Training Resources
Procare offers a robust suite of training and support options to help new users get started and make the most of its child care management software:
Free Setup Call: Every new Procare customer receives a complimentary one-hour setup call with a Procare specialist. This session helps users get off to a smooth start, covering implementation tailored to their specific needs. Additional training and consultation are available for a fee, with remote, hands-on guidance using your own data.
First-Time User Training Series: Procare provides a step-by-step video series for first-time users. These cover essential topics such as logging in, navigating the main screens, configuring key settings, adding users, setting up classrooms, managing tuition rates, adding families, and handling billing and payments.
Online Learning Tools:
Live and Recorded Webinars: Free webinars (live and recorded) are available to help users quickly learn the basics and more advanced features of the software.
Self-Paced Courses: Users can take self-paced classes through Procare U, allowing them to learn at their own pace.
Knowledge Base and Videos: The Procare Support portal offers a knowledge base with articles, FAQs, and short, task-specific videos embedded in most articles.
In-Product Help: Users can access help directly from any Procare screen by clicking the question mark icon, which links to relevant knowledge base articles.
Ongoing Support
Toll-Free Technical Support: Procare provides toll-free technical support for troubleshooting, installation, and product-related questions for all current versions. Maintaining a current version is required for free support, with cloud customers always on the latest version.
Customer Service: Users consistently report that Procare’s customer service is responsive, helpful, and provides clear answers to questions, including tips for easier navigation and troubleshooting.
Professional Development
Industry Certifications and Compliance
SOC 2 Type II Certification: Procare holds SOC 2 Type II certification, which is a rigorous, independently audited standard for data security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. This demonstrates Procare’s commitment to maintaining high standards in protecting sensitive information.
PCI-DSS 4.0 Compliance: Procare is PCI Level 1 certified, ensuring that all payment data is handled according to the latest Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.
Authentication and Access Controls
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Procare requires strong, complex passwords and offers multi-factor authentication to further protect staff and family accounts.
Role-Based Access: Administrators can assign different access levels and roles, ensuring users only see information relevant to their responsibilities.
Password Policies: Passwords must meet strict complexity requirements, and expiration policies are enforced for additional security.
Data Encryption and Privacy
Encryption: Sensitive data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, safeguarding information from unauthorized access.
Privacy Commitment: Procare emphasizes that user data belongs to the client, and its handling remains consistent with evolving privacy laws.
Physical and Network Security
Secure Data Centers: Procare’s cloud-hosted products are stored in U.S.-based data centers with round-the-clock security, geographic redundancy, and robust business continuity and disaster recovery processes.
Continuous Monitoring: A dedicated security team monitors for vulnerabilities, reviews new feature releases, and checks vendor partners for security compliance. Annual third-party audits help ensure ongoing protection23.
Operational Security Features
Pick-up and Drop-off Security: Personalized PINs are required for individuals authorized to pick up children, and contactless check-in options use QR codes, GPS, and geofencing to prevent unauthorized access.
Real-Time Monitoring: The system provides real-time attendance tracking and automated reporting for added operational oversight.
Staff Training and Awareness
Procare manages software updates automatically for users, particularly those on cloud-based versions. Updates are released regularly, ensuring that users always have access to the latest features, improvements, and security enhancements without the need for manual intervention. Cloud customers benefit from being on the most current version at all times, as updates are deployed seamlessly in the background. For desktop versions, certain processes like server registration and software updates are also automated, occurring at set intervals (e.g., server registration every 90 days), and users are notified when updates are available. This approach minimizes disruption and ensures that all users remain compliant with the latest standards and functionalities.
Data Ownership
Procare explicitly states that your data is yours. The company only preserves and retains information necessary to keep your business operations running, emphasizing that ownership and control of the data remain with the customer. This approach aligns with industry best practices, ensuring that clients maintain legal rights over their business and personal data.
Data Retention and Deletion
As long as your account is active, Procare retains necessary data for your use.
If you terminate your account or it becomes inactive, your data will be securely deleted 90 days after inactivity.
For active accounts, certain data (like attendance and messages) is archived after three years and deleted after seven years; media files are deleted after three years.
Data removal is always performed in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Data Portability: Procare supports data portability. If you need to transfer your data (for example, when selling your center or changing ownership), you can export reports and backup data in standard formats such as PDF or CSV before removing the software. Procare’s support team can assist with preparing data for transfer, including removing sensitive accounting history if needed, so the new owner receives only the necessary information
Contract Renewal
The initial term of a Procare service starts on the effective date specified in your order form and lasts for the period stated in that form (the “Initial Term”).
Renewal is not automatic; the contract may be renewed only upon mutual agreement between Procare and the customer and payment of the applicable charges. Each renewal period is referred to as a “Renewal Term”
For certain licenses (such as FileMaker), it is the client’s responsibility to renew required licenses to maintain access to the Procare solution. Failure to renew may result in suspension of access 30 days after license expiration.
Contract Cancellation and Termination
By Procare: Procare can terminate the agreement immediately and without liability if:
The customer fails to pay any charges when due.
The customer or user materially breaches the agreement and does not cure the breach within ten days of written notice from Procare.
By Customer: Customers may terminate the agreement, but:
For month-to-month services, Charges are due through the end of the month in which termination occurs.
For fixed-term services, Charges are due through the remainder of the initial or current renewal term.
Set-up fees, monthly service fees, and usage fees are non-refundable. Customers are not entitled to refunds or credits upon cancellation, and Procare may charge unpaid fees to the customer’s credit card or otherwise bill for them.
Data Access and Portability Upon Termination
After termination or expiration, customers have access to export their data for 30 days. After this period, Procare has no obligation to retain or provide access to customer data, which will be permanently deleted according to Procare’s standard data retention and deletion schedule.
Procare is not obligated to assist with data export beyond making the functionality available, unless specifically requested in writing and agreed upon, in which case, additional costs may apply.
Procare meets several industry-recognized compliance standards to ensure the security, privacy, and integrity of client data:
SOC 2 Type 2 Certification: All major Procare platforms—including Desktop, Online, and SchoolCare Works—are SOC 2 Type 2 certified. This certification, issued by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), is a gold standard that validates the effectiveness of controls related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. The Type 2 designation means these controls are not only designed appropriately but are also operating effectively over time, as verified by independent third-party audits.
PCI DSS Level 1 Compliance: Procare’s integrated payment processing solution is PCI DSS Level 1 certified. This is the highest standard for payment card data security, confirming that Procare meets rigorous requirements for handling and protecting credit card information.
Visa Global Registry of Service Providers: Procare is listed in the Visa Global Registry, which recognizes companies that are compliant with Visa’s strict payment-related service standards.
