Child care providers strengthen our communities. They provide essential daily child care that not only supports children’s growth and development but also expand possibilities for parents and caregivers by allowing them to pursue their goals, such as higher education or their careers, with peace of mind. If you’re considering becoming a home-based family child care provider, Children’s Home Society of California (CHS) offers a wide range of services you can use to support your journey to become a licensed child care provider. Here are three (3) key steps to getting a successful start.
1. Plan Before You Begin
If you are starting out or getting a license to grow, before you begin, it’s important to assess how the following factors may affect your business:
- Public Space: Your home will become a public place during your planned business hours. Talk with your family and anyone living in the space to make sure everyone is on the same page. Keep in mind that parents of children in your care, as well as the Community Care Licensing (CCL) Division, will be able to access your home business unannounced during your business hours.
- Review Title 22 regulations: Before you commit, familiarize yourself with the rules and your responsibilities to ensure the health and safety of the children in your care. You’ll want to be familiar with these policies to assess your ability to comply and allow time to have any questions answered.
- Business Budget: Review your finances in preparation for your startup costs and create a budget. This will include calculating how much money you will need on a weekly or monthly basis. It’s also ideal to have a solid savings cushion before you begin your business; it may take a while to build a client base.
- Business Organization: Use this time to identify your strengths and clarify your interests. Here are a few questions to consider:
- What age(s) will you serve?
- What will your business days and hours be?
- Will you specialize in a service area? (i.e., foster children, children with unique developmental needs, or enrichment activities)
- What materials will you need to budget for a startup, on an ongoing basis, or intermittently?
- Will you need an assistant?
2. Promoting Your Business
Beyond providing high-quality child care, ongoing promotion of your business will be important to its success. Promotion involves ensuring your business is known to your ideal potential clients and that they can see what you have to offer. Here are some ways you can start:
- Creating a Parent Handbook: While developing a parent handbook is not a requirement, it will make a professional impression on potential clients and anyone who interacts with your business. Your parent handbook can serve several purposes: aside from explaining what is expected of children and families in your care, it can also serve as a reference for parents and as a reference for publishing materials that promote your child care service.
- Connecting with Parents: Establishing a connection with parents you currently serve promotes your business. Child care providers are encouraged to establish and maintain clear communication with parents to support children’s growth and development, fostering strong relationships with families. Inevitably, those strong relationships become one of your most powerful promotional tools. Word‑of‑mouth is one of the oldest and most effective forms of business promotion, and satisfied parents are often the first to share their positive experiences with friends, coworkers, and family members. By investing in genuine connection with parents, you’re not only supporting children, but you’re also naturally expanding awareness of your business in your community.
- Places to promote your business: When seeking new client families for your business, it’s critical to make sure families in communities you serve are aware of your services. Here are a few effective ways to promote your business to new families:
- Hosting an open house
- Networking with other professionals
- Posting your service on community bulletins
- Creating a website
- Using social media
Once you’ve received your license, you can request CHS to place your business in our database for referrals. Parents searching for child care in the area may be referred to your child care services based on our database.
3. Getting Your Child Care License
Applying for a child care license will bring together all your pre-planning efforts. It is a significant step in establishing your business. As a result, CHS offers resources to help you on your way.
The Child Care Initiative Project (CCIP) is a program for aspiring child care providers seeking to obtain their license. CCIP participants receive training in how to start your child care business in a home setting, technical assistance, incentives to support their business, and a certificate for completing 25 hours of training. CHS will help you with completing an application, connecting you to resources, answer your questions, and support you with a pre-licensing visit. If you’d like more information, contact CHS at (888) CHS-4KIDS or (888) 247-4543.
The Child Care Licensing Division sets health and safety standards for child care environments. It also provides oversight, guidelines for high-quality child care, technical assistance, and resources for child care providers. Your ongoing communication and timely responses will streamline the multi-step application process.
Below are four (4) key requirements for applying for a family home child care license, as outlined on the CCL website.
- Attend an orientation, either online or in-person at a local licensing office. Before registering, ensure you meet the qualifications, as there is a non-refundable fee. After orientation, keep your certificate of completion for submission later.
- Your familiarity with all the Family Child Care Home Licensing laws and regulations is vital to obtaining your license.
- You will need to obtain, complete, and submit all the information and licensing forms in the required application packet. There is also a non-refundable fee upon submission of your application.
- Finally, your family child care home must pass a pre-licensing inspection. Your assigned Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) will contact you to schedule this.
Once you’ve obtained your license, it’s important to shift your focus to staying in compliance by keeping up to date with the CCL Quarterly Update, regularly inspecting your environment, pursuing professional development, and maintaining up-to-date business and child care records.
Want a deeper dive into starting your family child care business? Attend our Starting Up a Family Child Care Home Business workshop for an in-depth walkthrough of the licensing process, plus the opportunity to get your specific questions answered. Click here to look out for the next workshop.
References
https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CCLD/Provider%20Requirements%20FCCH%20-%20English.pdf
https://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/CCLD/CCP%20Documents/family-child-care-home-application-steps.pdf