Working as a full-time or part-time Child Care Provider is a rewarding career position that allows you to make a difference in the lives of the children you serve. You’ll be responsible for leading children’s activities, providing ongoing support to staff, keeping on-site childcare facilities clean, ensuring safe food choices and programs, and overseeing daily schedules. If you love children, love working with children, and have a genuine compassion for this complex human resource, Child Care Provider Programs might be the ideal career path for you.
National Child Care Association
There are many providers available to serve children in low income or high need areas. In most cases, providers are self-employed individuals or organizations that lease space or facilities to care for children. However, there are a growing number of full-service providers who work through an agency or corporation. Some of these providers belong to professional associations such as the National Child Care Association (NCCA), which has guidelines established for in-home day care centers to adhere to. Some providers belong to professional associations such as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), which has a website with plenty of information for prospective providers.
One important decision you will have to make is what type of Child Care Provider program to pursue. Do you want to provide in-home care, which is generally the most common choice for working with child care providers? Or do you wish to provide services at a facility such as a day care center or a school? Most child care providers do well when they are involved in a program which targets one specific population – such as infants, toddlers, girls, boys, or special needs children. If you are considering adding a child care program to your family, consider what your needs will be and how it might help your family.
Department Of Social Services
The first step to consider is whether your provider will need any legal documentation to get a license. Some states require child care providers to complete a background check with the Department of Social Services (DSS). Others simply do not require a criminal background check and a background check can usually be completed for free. This background check is not always completed though because some social service departments have been known to drop these checks when they become aware that the child care provider did not complete all of the necessary paperwork.
Some states also have different licensing requirements. Each state sets its own licensing requirements. They can either require a business plan, annual training, or both to become licensed. Some states allow exempt providers to work with children who are deaf or blind, but they must not be certified unless they are also certified by another state. Other exempt providers must be licensed and trained in special education.
Considered
Most child care providers will take an insurance plan through their employer. However, some will also offer their employees a choice. If your family is going to need several children, you may want to start shopping around for child care providers that accept your insurance. In some cases, the insurance company will cover the cost of the services provided by the provider. If you have a plan that pays 100% of the cost, you may only need to pay the difference in premiums. Some plans will cover providers who are also employees of the plan provider.
Another resource feature that many families do not consider is a provider inspection report. This is very important because it gives you a detailed look at how your child care provider conducts business. Each time you have a visit with your child, you should go into the report and find out what happened. Some of the things that you will find are how long the agent has been in business, what type of complaints they have received, if any formal complaints have been lodged against them, how many complaints are there about the services that they provide, how many accounts a family member or other person is under contract with the provider, and if the provider has complied with all of the requirements and policies set by the department.
Summing Up
As you can see, having all of this information available to you makes selecting a child care provider easier. You will have complete resources feature information available to you such as writing articles, directories of providers, and provider inspection reports. If you want to get started with your search, consider these types of resources that will give you a better idea of how to choose a family child care provider.
