Privacy & Confidentiality

Information provided here is confidential.

General policy

Personal information provided to the Children's Forum through this portal is considered confidential. The Children's Forum is a publicly-funded entity and will protect the confidentiality of personal information to the extent permitted under state and federal law. All information and paperwork submitted to the Children's Forum will be maintained and handled in a confidential manner and will be stored in either a locked file cabinet and/or a locked office limiting access to that information. Paper documentation is destroyed once scanned to an electronic format. All electronic information is kept in secure databases that are not directly accessible from the internet. Personally identifiable information will not be disseminated unless required as part of a specific program, such as a scholarship or wage supplement, and then only after the applicant signs the appropriate Participation Agreement stating that this is permitted.

Program-Specific Policies
  • Children's Forum Membership (all levels): The General Policy above applies to all information supplied as part of the membership process.
  • Miami-Dade Professional Development Registry: The Participation Agreement that all participants must sign includes a brief overview of the confidentiality policy. Participants are encouraged to review this agreement before signing.

What we share, when, and with whom
  • Employers participating in QIS: education and employment information
    An individual's current employer will be granted access to their employees' PD Registry education and employment information. Employers may see information only for current employees; once the PD Registry learns an individual no longer works for an employer, that employer will no longer have access to that individual's information.
  • Sponsors/Funders of QIS: all information
    Organizations funding an individual's inclusion in the PD Registry will be granted access to the individual's information for up to 18 months after the yearly funding is begun or renewed.
  • Quality Rating/Improvement Systems (QRS/QRIS): education and employment information
    An employer or a sponsor may request the Registry share an individual's education and employment information with a third party specifically to rate the employer's Staff Qualifications. Such transfers occur once per request.
  • Others: aggregate (combined, non-personal) information
    General non-personal Registry information may be shared with collaborators and interested parties for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge about the early care and education field and to assist in making positive changes to the Professional Development System. General statistical data compiled from Professional Development Registry data may also be released to community and statewide agencies and other interested parties to aid community and state planning to increase the quality and services of the early care and education community. This information may include compiled group data reports regarding data entry, programs, status, employment, and training information.