Family Child Care Homes

    Opening a Family Child Care Home
    Resources
    Accreditation
    Financing & Development

Thinking of Opening a Family Child Care Home?

Family child care provides a home environment, flexible hours and a small group size. Family child care homes are licensed by the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, and must meet some basic health and safety requirements. Potential family child care providers must
• Take a TB test and receive a negative reading;
• Obtain a fingerprint and Child Abuse Index clearance through the Department of Justice.
• Complete 15 hours of health & safety training and infant/child CPR.
In addition, your home must pass inspection by local building or fire clearance officials.

Mandatory orientation meetings are held by Community Care Licensing to distribute family child care information and explain regulations. Call the CDRC at 831/479-5282 for the time and location of the next meeting.

There are several types of family child care licenses:

• Small License: A provider can be licensed to care for 6 or 8 children.
• Large License: A provider can be licensed to care for 12 or 14 children. With a large home license, providers must have their home fire inspected and have an aide present to help care for the children.
• Option for Two More School-agers: Providers who are licensed to care for 6 or 12 children can apply for a license addendum that allows them to care for 8 or 14 children.

The specific number and ages of children that can be cared for in a family child care home is clearly defined by the terms of the license. Call the CDRC at 831/479-5282 for more information.

Resources      [ Return to top ]
CDRC Publications

• Information, Resources & Activities for Family Child Care Providers: (Available in English & Spanish.) CDRC’s comprehensive binder of essential FCC information. Chapters include:
  Beginning Your Child Care
  Child Growth & Development
  Health & Safety
  Professional Development
  School Readiness
• The Path to Inclusion: A resource guide for developing inclusive child care for children with special needs in Santa Cruz County. (Available in English & Spanish.) Chapters include:
  First Steps
  Planning for Inclusive Child Care
  Implementing an Inclusive Child Care Program
  Additional Resources
• How to Open or Improve Your Family Child Care Business:
  A workbook developed by the CDRC and the El Pajaro Community Development Corporation.

Organizations

• ChildCare Ventures
  ChildCare Ventures works to strengthen and develop the local child care industry by building public and private partnerships. It is a collaborative effort of the CDRC, El Pajaro Community Development Corporation, the Santa Cruz County Human Resources Agency, the Central Coast Small Business Development Center, and the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union. For child care business skill information, contact the CDRC at 831/479-5282. For child care facility financing/development information, contact ChildCare Ventures at 831/425-7708, X-2345.


• Cabrillo College Early Childhood Education
  6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003; Santa Cruz County’s community college has a comprehensive ECE department and offers classes at its Aptos and Watsonville campuses. Call for a catalog of classes. 831/479-6354


• Community Bridges - Child and Adult Care Food Program
  236 Santa Cruz Avenue, Aptos, CA 95003; Community Bridges improves the diets of children in licensed child care by offering providers reimbursement for meals, ongoing nutrition education and training through annual workshops, home visits, and monthly newsletters. 831/688-8840


• California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing
  111 N. Market Street, Suite 300, San Jose, CA 95112; Promotes the health, safety and quality of life of each person in community care through the administration of an effective collaborative regulatory enforcement system. They hold monthly orientation meetings for those interested in starting up a child care program (center-based or family child care). They develop and publish the Title 22 policies and procedures that regulate child care programs. Updates and forms can be downloaded off their website. 408/277-1286


• Child Care Advocate
  The Child Care Advocate promotes the delivery of quality child care by providing a link between Community Care Licensing and the community. Part of this job is to provide licensing information and assistance to providers who want to expand, renovate or start child care programs. Child Care Advocate publications include: Innovations in Child Care, and Self-Assessment Guide for Child Care Centers, Infant Care Centers, School-age Center and Family Child Care. Currently there are two Advocates. Betsy Rutana is the Advocate for the Northern Region and Center of the State. She can be reached at (510) 622-2623 or Elizabeth.Rutana@dss.ca.gov. Holly Daas is the Advocate for Southern California. She can be reached at (760) 929-3274 or at: Holly.Daasnes@dss.ca.gov.


• Child Care Law Center
  221 Pine Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104; A national non profit legal services organization that uses legal tools to make high quality, affordable child care available to every child or every age, every family, every community. They have information on all the complex legal issues surrounding child care. Some of their publications include: Legal Update: a quarterly newsletter, Zoning & Child Care, Inclusion of Children with Disabilities, CalWORKs and Subsidized Child Care, California Child Care Policy. 415/394-7144


• National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
  5202 Pinemont Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84123; A national membership organization supporting the profession of Family Child Care and encouraging high quality care for children. They offer family child care accreditation, training, technical assistance, public education and policy initiatives, a national conference and a quarterly newsletter. 801/359-3817


• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
  1509 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-1426; The nation’s largest, most influential organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through 3rd grade. They have extensive resources (in English & Spanish) for sale: videos, brochures, books. They also provide accreditation. 1-800-424-2460


• California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC)
  4400 Auburn Boulevard, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95841; California’s branch of NAEYC (see above). CAEYC promotes excellence in early childhood education from birth through 8 years. They provide conferences, publication, information on parenting, advocacy, research, credentialing, salary & status, regulations, professional development and children’s education. 916/486-7750


• Central Coast Association for the Education of Young Children (CCAEYC)
  Mary Ashley, CCAEYC President: A newly forming local branch of the California AEYC is working to unite providers & others interested in issues affecting young children. They’re planning a spring conference. Contact Mary for meeting times and updates. 408/353-1900

Accreditation      [ Return to top ]

• Accreditation helps providers set and reach quality improvement goals and helps parents and policy makers identify high quality family child care providers. Family child care homes can seek accreditation through the National Association for Family Child Care. The process includes:
  
• 1. Self-study: The provider determines their program’s level of compliance with national standards of excellence in family child care.
• 2. Site Visit: A trained NAFCC validator visits the home and scores the program using the quality standards.
Contact the NAFCC: 5202 Pinemont Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84123; 801/359-3817 or their website.

Financing & Development Resources      [ Return to top ]

• ChildCare Ventures
  ChildCare Ventures assists Santa Cruz child care centers and family child care programs in navigating the complex process of financing or building or modifying facilities. They provide training and technical assistance on business management, facilities development, affordable loans, and land use. ChildCare Ventures also works to develop mutually beneficial child care and business partnerships. 831/425-7708, X-2345


• Building Child Care (BCC)
  A collaboration of organizations designed to help child care providers access public and private sector financing for child care facilities (both center based and family child care) in California. They also have start-up checklists for centers & homes, Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manuals for Child Care Centers and Family Child Care, lists of architects with child care facility development experience in California, and additional resources. 888/411-3535