Child Care at Home

I would highly suggest being liscenced regardless of how many kids you plan to have. I'm going to do it myself (I haven't started the process yet, so I don't know how long it takes). From what I can tell, it's not too hard. You don't have to have any background or ECE credits like you would to work in a center. You contact the liscencing agency, they come and inspect your house just to make sure it's safe, they do a background check on you and any other adults who live in your house to make sure none of you are pedifiles or murderers, and you pay just a little for the liscensing fee (I think it's like $65, maybe less). The only other expense is that you should have liability insurance in case a child gets hurt at your house- this is the main reason I would say you get liscenced, anyway, because if a parent wants to accuse you of something (like say your house is unsafe or something) but you've been inspected and approved and you have insurance, it will help cover your butt. I priced insurance, depending on the coverage you want it's well under $50 a month.

Other reasons to be liscensed- it's the law, and if you get caught you can get fined without a liscense. You can get some financial assistance from the government if you participate in their food program (food is your #1 expense when watching kids, and they make sure you're feeding kids enough of the right stuff in exchange for some money to help defray the costs). Also, if you're liscenced you get to register on Kids N Care (I'm not sure if it costs, but if it does it isn't much) which is a database that helps parents find child care to fit their needs- from talking to others with family child cares this is the best (and often only) form of advertising they used.

I'll attach some links to the end of this message to help you out, but here are some things to know. You don't need a liscence if you are taking care of kids from one family in addition to your own kids (so like if you are watching your friend's three kids and that's it). You do have to have 15 hours of training in first aid, CPR, etc. The max children you could have would be 8 including your own, with only 2 of them under the age of 2 (so you could have 1 under 2 plus your youngest). Your older two are school age (over 6) and because they are that old you could care for five other children in addition to your own (but as I said, four of those five would have to be over 2).

Daycare Insurance Services (DCI) (800)624-0912, http://childcareinsuranceservices.com/index.php

California Dept of Social Services (responsible for monitoring and licensing Family child care homes)http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/Default.htm
Go to Care Providers, Get a License, Child Care, then Family Child Care Home Licensing Information- it will tell you basically anything you need to know.

Family Child Care Home Licensing Manual http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/getinfo/pdf/fcc.PDF

Kids N Care (referal network for the IE- you may have a different one if you live elsewhere) http://cds.kidsncare.com/Main/MainHomePage.aspx

Child Care Food Program (I'm not sure if this is the only or best one, but it is what I have found so far. Someone at licensing might be able to help you with this) http://www.cnpsc.com/how.htm

Sorry this is so long, but I had a lot of info to share! Plus, I feel really strongly about improving all forms of child care, including the family child care home, so I would not only highly recommend that you get licensed, but that once you have started and have made a little money you find your closest community college and take a class or two at night. Community college in CA is ridiculously cheap, only $21 a credit, so that's $63 for an entire class (plus books, but there's a program at many colleges that helps you get your books for free). Taking care of kids is so much more than just meeting their basic needs. Anyway, feel free to contact me if you need any more information on this. I would love to help!

My husband is also a firefighter so I found the only way any type of schedule will work is also to run a child care at home. I went online and found a website that gave me a number and address to get the info needed for a license. The number is ###-###-#### and the address is 400 Stewart Ave, 3rd floor 89101, Department of Finance and Business Services. The application is 50.00, the background investigation(which takes up to 2 months to complete) is 30.00 and the license itself is 40.00 a year. You do need to have a license even if you have a couple of kids, because that is all I would like to do. I hope this helps.

A little about me: I am a SAHM with three children 11, 9, and 4 years old. Been in vegas a little over a year and on the same schedule as you.

Hi K.! I thought about doing my own in home childcare business, but after talking with others, I've found there is so much to it, with licensing and everything, not to mention you risk other moms not paying you once you've watch their child! I also wanted to be able to do something that would keep me home with my kids while brining in some extra income. I am a mom of a 2 year old and 15 month old twins, so daycare was not an option to begin with, let alone gas prices are so expensive for any type of commute to and from a 9-5 job. I finally found an incredible company that I am partnered with, and it has been the best decision I could have made for my family! We simply market for a wellness company, and I now do not have to worry about day to day expenses, and am able to spend all the quality time with my family! If you are motivated, I can help you out. Request more info. at my website www.freedomhomewithfamily.com

I'm not sure what it takes to run a licensed daycare. But you can watch siblings (I think no more than 2) without having a license.

Hi K.,
I am a home child care provider and the proccess is long and expensive.
The first step that you need to know is if you belong to Clark County or City of Las Vegas.
Second you have to go to a training class that takes 8 hours, the back ground check is the one that takes longer, aproximatetly 3 months, ($350.00), License is around $75.00, Health $112 or 120 aproximatetly, Taxes $100.00 per year, Insurance for the children $250 -450 a year.
remember you have to pass health inspection, building inspection, license inspection.
If you decide to do it illegaly you will get a citation and as far is I know is $1000.00 fee.
you have to have First Aid/CPR that that class is around $40.00 depends where are you planning to take it.
Now if you live in Henderson, regulations over there are clomplete different.
you can go to www.accessclarkcounty.com if you belong to clark county to get more information for child care, also you can print the forms.
or go to www.lasvegascity.com if you belong to the city.
Good Luck or if you have any questions please email me.
Doris :)

I agree whole heartedly with Brandis' post. I just got through all the licensing requirements with the exception of the in home visit (with budget cuts they told me it could be a wait of 2 months!) and it was very worth the time spent. I learned a lot, and think any parent should go through the training that the Red Cross provides for caregivers.

Just an additional note - after all is said and done, it takes about 2-3months realistically to get you license, and here is the cost breakdown (I Live in San Diego, may be different where you live):

$ 25 orientation fee
$ 60 licenseing fee
$100 CPR & 1st aid
$ 50 Preventative Health Care
$100 Live Scan (Fingerprinting and background checks on 2 adults)
$ 16 TB test for 2 adults

So a total of $351 to get your license.

I created a free website using freewebs.com, put up an ad on craigslist and got a TON of responses. I only have one child that I watch since I am not licensed yet, but it really is fun for my daughter to have a playmate and I find it very rewarding. If anyone has any q's in the SD area, feel free to contact me.

I am a licensed daycare provider for five other children ages range from 20months to 3 yrs.old. You can call PATCH @ ###-###-#### and they can guide you through the process of becoming a licsened provider.

I don't know where you live, but I reside in California and it is not hard! I have been licensed for 5 years and from what I remember it does take a little time, but it is not hard. You have to understand you are taking care of other peoples kids so for those people who want to complain about the process should not be daycare providers.

As for California this is the process. You should check up because it has been 5 years and a few things may have changed.

If you are in california email me back and I will help. Also if you have one family that is relative and one family that is not you can be considered excempt and not go through the process. So for example if you are watching your sisters 2 kids and bring in 2 more kids from the same family you can run without a license. Now again I would check this out because things may have changed. But really it is not as bad as people make it out to be.