In a new urgency to ensure that critical incident plans, communication plans, and parental reunification plans are in place at all institutions responsible for the safety of America's children, the U.S. Courts have stated that preparation is a duty and expectation of those acting in a "locos parental" role. As public schools adopt rapid notification and it becomes the standard, parents are beginning to expect similar capabilities from their private child care providers. Child care providers face unique challenges preparing for and responding to critical incidents and unplanned schedule changes. In this article, the author focuses on child care providers' challenge of providing parents with timely and accurate information about their child in case of an emergency. He shares several factors that make parental communication different from other "emergency-type" communication, and presents some examples of school occurrences in which a rapid notification to parents and other program stakeholders is crucial.