Privacy Policy

Identity and scope

Novinway, LLC ("Novinway," "we," "us," or "our") provides private-pay respite care and family support services for families raising neurodivergent children in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

This Policy governs personal information collected through novinway.com, intake forms, and service delivery.

Information we collect

Provided directly:

• Contact information: name, email, phone number
• Family information: children's ages, general support needs, care preferences from intake, household members, and pets present in the home
• Emergency contact information: names, phone numbers, and relationship of designated emergency contacts, and persons authorized to receive the child at pickup or handoff
• Child health information: care-relevant health information from parents or, under written parent authorization per 45 CFR 164.508, from clinical providers, including allergies and medical alerts
• Authorization and consent records: in-home care, personal care, transportation, medication assistance, and photo/recording authorizations from Family Authorizations & Consents instruments
• Referral source information
• Communications sent to Novinway

Collected automatically:

• Website usage: pages visited, time on site, browser type, city/region-level location
• Device type and operating system

Payment card information is processed by our payment processor under its own privacy practices; Novinway does not collect it directly.

How we use your information

• Respond to inquiries and process intake
• Match families with Care Specialists; develop Care Profiles
• Deliver and coordinate Respite Care and System Navigation services
• Communicate about scheduling, care updates, service changes, and Care Specialist or System Navigator assignments
• Comply with mandated reporter and other legal obligations
• Improve services using aggregate usage patterns

Child health information is used only to develop Care Profiles and deliver care, limited to what care delivery requires. Diagnosis and clinical detail are held in the internal Care Profile only; the field-carried Care Plan a Care Specialist uses contains no diagnosis or clinical terminology.

Novinway does not use personal information for targeted advertising, does not sell personal information, and does not use automated decision-making producing legal or similarly significant effects.

Disclosure of information

• Care Specialists and System Navigators (W-2 employees) receive information necessary to provide care and navigation, including relevant Care Profile information
• Service providers supporting family-facing services — intake, CRM/scheduling, family text messaging, payment processing — receive information limited to their function, under contractual protection and no independent use. Caregiver hiring and payroll vendors do not receive family personal information
• Clinical providers receive or provide relevant health information only under written parent authorization
• Legal process and mandatory reporting obligations under Maryland Family Law Art. 5-704, Virginia Code 63.2-1509, and D.C. Code §§4-1321.02 and 22-3020.52

Novinway does not sell, rent, or share personal information for marketing purposes.

Child health information

Novinway is not a HIPAA covered entity: it does not bill any health plan, government program, or third-party payer, and does not transmit health information electronically in connection with any standard transaction under 45 CFR Part 162. Novinway does not use the term "protected health information."

The Care Profile — the clinical document developed by the Chief Clinical Officer, containing diagnosis and clinical judgment — is handled consistent with Maryland Health-General Article 4-301 and Virginia Code 32.1-127.1:03, which apply to licensed health care providers; the Chief Clinical Officer is a licensed behavior analyst and meets that definition individually. The field-carried Care Plan contains no diagnosis or clinical judgment, is created by personnel who are not licensed health care providers, and falls outside those statutes. Novinway protects Care Plan information under this Policy and receives or shares it only through Family written authorization.

Access to child health information is limited to personnel with a direct need to know for care delivery.

Data retention

Care- and safety-related records — intake materials, Care Profiles, Care Plans, Family Authorizations & Consents instruments, care notes, and incident reports — are retained for 22 years from the end of service or until the youngest child served reaches age 45, whichever is longer. This period is Novinway's own risk-management practice; no Maryland, Virginia, or DC statute sets a retention period for this service type.

Inquiries that do not convert to active service are retained for 12 months. Routine business and administrative records (payroll, tax) are retained per applicable federal and state law.

Deletion requests may be sent to info@novinway.com. Care- and safety-related records are not deleted before the retention period above lapses. Other personal information is deleted or de-identified where feasible.

Data security

Administrative, technical, and physical safeguards include access controls limiting information to personnel with a legitimate need, encrypted data transmission, and secure storage. No transmission or storage method is completely secure. If you have reason to believe your information has been compromised, please report it to info@novinway.com immediately.

Children's information

Services are provided to families on behalf of children. Child-related information is collected from and managed by parents or legal guardians as personal representatives under applicable law. Novinway does not knowingly collect personal information directly from children, and does not process children's personal information for targeted advertising or any purpose outside the services the family requested.

Third-party services

Family-facing vendors (intake, CRM, family text messaging, payment processing, email/scheduling) each maintain their own privacy practices under contractual requirements to protect information and not use it independently. Separate vendors for caregiver hiring and employment process caregiver and employee information, not family personal information. Novinway is not responsible for third-party privacy practices.

Changes to this policy

Material changes update the effective date above and, where appropriate, notify active families by email. Continued use of the website or services after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.