Guide
The list is the list.
A grandparent who has always done Fridays still needs to be written down. A custody order in the file outranks a friendly face.
What belongs on the list
The child's file should name the adults who may pick up, with a phone number and enough detail that a closer who has never met them can ask for an ID the first time. 'Mom's friend' is not a name. A photo helps and does not replace the name.
Parents will call at 4:40 with a change. Have a procedure before that call: who may accept it, where it is written, and whether a text from an unknown number counts. If the procedure is 'whoever answers the phone decides,' the procedure is a shrug.
Custody orders
If a court order is in the file, the center follows the order. Honeyfold can store the note and the document. It does not interpret the order, and your closer should not be improvising family law at the door.
When two adults disagree in the lobby, the useful move is to follow the paper you have and call the director, not to negotiate. If you have no order and both adults are on the list, you still do not have to release a child into a scene that feels unsafe. That is a safety judgment, and it should be in your handbook before you need it.
What not to trust
- A shared door code that every parent knows and every former parent still knows.
- A password the child is expected to remember and announce.
- A group text as the only record of a change.
- An app notification that a teacher did not actually check against the file.
Honeyfold stores the authorized adults and the notes. Your staff still look at the person in front of them. Read how the pickup record is meant to be used.