About Childcare Licensing in California
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About Childcare Licensing in California
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About Childcare Licensing
Who Needs a License?
About Licensed Daycares & Preschools
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About Childcare Licensing
The State of California's
Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) regulates
child care in California as well as senior and disabled care, adoption agencies,
shelters, and other facilities.
Licensed childcare providers have completed classes on child safety and health.
They have been fingerprinted and TB-tested, the site has passed
an inspection, and they have paid a yearly fee.
Childcare providers may also have a business license from their
city or county, but this is separate from a childcare license.
It is illegal in California to operate an unlicensed home daycare or
childcare center. There are
fines of up to $200 for each day of unlicensed operation.
Childcare facilities are required by law to display their license at their site,
as well as on any advertisements or announcements they post about openings.
The point of the licensing procedure is to protect children. The
regulations ensure that anyone caring for children meets
some basic standards, and that the site where the childcare takes place
is safe for children. Parents are also given certain rights under these
regulations.
Here are some of the benefits of licensed childcare:
- Childcare providers are required to take a course on child health and safety issues
including CPR and first aid.
- Directors of centers and preschools must complete coursework in early
childhood education.
- Fingerprints and child abuse and criminal record
checks are required for the childcare provider and any other staff
or adults who live in the house or teach in the school.
- An Emergency Care & Disaster Action Plan for the site is required.
- An initial on-site inspection checks for safety issues such as
covered heaters and fireplaces,
smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, ensuring hazardous materials are out of reach of
children, and that outdoor play areas are safe.
- For daycare centers and preschools, site requirements include a
specified amount of indoor and outdoor space, and toilet and
sink facilities designed for children.
- Periodic unannounced inspections may be conducted by CCLD; site inspections
are required within 10 days of someone filing a complaint.
- Parents can file a complaint, and view any past violations or complaints about childcare facilities.
- Providers must inform parents whether they have liability insurance.
- Providers must inform parents of their rights, such as the
right to enter and inspect the site at any time.
- Adult-to-child ratios are regulated; the number of infants under two is restricted.
In Nov 2010, Berkeley Parents Network began requiring license numbers on all
postings about daycare in the Childcare
newsletter, and on preschool postings
in the Schools, Preschools and Camps newsletter.
We made this change because
we realized that BPN has become an important resource for parents for finding local
childcare, and increasingly it is a primary resource for daycares and preschools to
post about openings. Childcare providers in California
are required by law to post their license number on any announcements
or advertisements about their programs. While many daycares had been doing this when they posted an
announcement in a BPN newsletter, many others had not, and we were concerned
that we were allowing unlicensed daycares to advertise their programs in the
newsletter. In addition, BPN has
an extensive archive of parents' recommendations for local small daycares, some
of which were not licensed. We did not want parents to have the
mistaken impression
that a daycare or preschool that other parents recommended was operating legally when
it may not have been.
We decided that we could no longer accept reviews of
unlicensed daycares, and we updated all our reviews with
license numbers, removing reviews for unlicensed facilities from our indexes.
Here are some of
the ways to get the license number for your child's daycare or preschool:
- Ask your childcare provider for the license number, or look at the
site for the license (it is required to be displayed on site).
- Check to see if the license number is on the BPN website. You can google
its name in the "Search BPN" box above, or look for its name in BPN's lists of
Preschools, or
Homebased Family Daycares,
or Childcare Centers.
- Look up the
license number in the CCLD Database. (Note small daycares with 1-8 children
are not in this database.)
* Childcare centers & preschools not in someone's home: Facility Type = Child Care Center; use "Area Code" and "Name" with all or part of the preschool's name.
* Home-based preschools and daycares with > 6 children: Facility Type = Family Child Care Home; use "Area Code" and "Name" with the owner's last name.
- Contact the CCLD regional office in Oakland -
see below for contact information.
Who Needs a License?
The CCLD defines two types of licenses for child care:
- Family Child Care Home = Childcare that takes
place in the home of the childcare provider, and involves care
for more than one other family beside the provider's children.
There are two levels:
Small (up to 8 children) and Large (up to 14 children).
See What are the limits? below for details
about capacity.
- Child Care Center = Any program that is not in someone's home
that supervises children, such as a preschool, childcare center, or other facility.
There are some types of childcare that do not need a license (check the
regulations for details):
- Nannies and babysitters who come to your home to care for your child.
- Childcare you provide in your home for only one other family besides your own.
- Childcare provided by a relative (aunt, uncle, grandparent).
- Parent co-ops where parents take turns babysitting and no money changes hands.
- Playgroups and similar programs where every child's parent remains with their child.
- School-run before & after school programs where care is provided by school employees.
- City & county recreation programs, with certain restrictions.
- Once-a-week programs that are 4 hours or less.
- Temporary childcare where parents are on site.
- K-12 programs "of an instructional nature" during summer and school holidays
- Programs for teen parents and adult education.
Regulations can change so check
the full regulations online on the State of California's website:
The CCLD regulations do not specifically address a situation where
the childcare provider comes to the child's home, even if she/he is caring
for children for more than one family:
- a Family Child Care Home is defined as "regularly provided care ...
in the care giver's own home"
- a Child Care Center is defined
as a facility that is not in someone's home.
Therefore, as long as care takes place in the child's own home,
and care and supervision is provided by someone who doesn't live in the home,
nannies and babysitters don't need to be licensed by the CCLD. However,
if the children are cared for in the nanny's own home, and more than
one other family besides the nanny's children is in the share, this is by
definition a "Family Child Care Home" and requires a license.
Although the State does not license or regulate babysitters and nannies who
come to your home, the
State Legislature created Trustline, a
database of nannies and babysitters who have cleared criminal background checks
in California. Parents can check the database for no charge. There is a fee
of $135-$170 for a nanny to register with Trustline.
Nanny agencies are required to
register their employees with Trustline.
See the Trustline website for more information.
- Playgroups, where every parent remains on site with their child,
do not need a license.
- Babysitting exchanges, where parents take turns caring for each others'
children for free, also do not need a license.
- Preschool co-ops that have their own site (not in someone's home)
do need to be licensed, and CCLD regulations specifically address the
adult-to-child ratio required when parents are participating.
- Co-ops or exchanges that are in someone's home need to be licensed if:
1) someone is being paid AND 2) the adults who live there are providing
some or all of the supervision. For more information, see
What is a babysitting co-op?.
About Licensed Daycares & Preschools
Capacity is displayed on the facility's license, which is required to be
visible on site. You can also find out the capacity in the
searchable database on the CCLD website, or at the Regional office (see below for contact info.)
Check the regulations above for any changes and for exact details,
but as of this writing (Jan 2011), here are general guidelines:
Your child's childcare provider is required to keep 3 year's worth
of any confirmed violations and show them to you if you ask. If you want to
check a daycare or preschool that your child doesn't attend, you
must contact the Regional Office and ask to review the daycare's file.
See Facility File Review
on the CCLD website.
Here is the information for Alameda and Contra Costa counties:
BAY AREA REGIONAL OFFICE
1515 Clay Street, Suite 1102, MS 29-04
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 622-2602
FAX (510) 622-2641
For other California counties,
see List of Child Care Program Offices (PDF file from CCLD).
For Alameda and Contra Costa counties, contact:
BAY AREA REGIONAL OFFICE
1515 Clay Street, Suite 1102, MS 29-04
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 622-2602
FAX (510) 622-2641
For other California counties, and for more information,
see Making a Complaint at the California Dept. of Social Services website.
For in-home care providers, the basic requirements are
a 3-hour orientation and $25 application fee, followed by
15 hours of coursework on health and safety, fingerprinting and
TB tests, and a home visit. You'll need to child-proof your
home (including smoke alarms, fire extinguisher, etc.).
As of 2011, the yearly license fee is $66 for
Small daycares and $127 for Large.
Bananas in Alameda County offers help and support
to people who want to become
child care providers. See Bananas' Child Care Licensing page for information about who needs a license, how to get a license, and
assistance that they can provide. They also have information sheets that you can
download which explain the process step-by-step.
More information can be found at the CDSS website:
Becoming a Licensed Child Care Provider
this page was last updated: Dec 20, 2011
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