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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Licensed vs Unlicensed in Home Daycare.....
Soccermom 01:29 PM 05-30-2012
Can anyone please tell me what the benefits are to licencing your in home daycare? I currently follow all guidelines for unlicenced in home daycare but am considering getting a licence and wonder how that may be of benefit to me other than being able to have a sign out front.
I am in Canada.
Thanks!
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Michael 01:36 PM 05-30-2012
Some related threads: https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...+vs+unlicensed
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Meeko 06:14 AM 05-31-2012
Some of the benefits are monetary. Paid at a higher rate on the food program, eligible for grants etc. Able to take state funding at a higher rate. Able to take more kids and increase income.

Some parents look for it. They see it as an extra safeguard for their child if they know that the state will pop in unannounced and inspect and that the provider is receiving ongoing child development training.

However, there are licensed providers who should be closed down and unlicensed providers who provide fantastic care.

I am licensed, but I always tell parents to choose by gut feeling and from references, never from the piece of paper on the wall.

Being licensed can sometimes be a pain due to paperwork, some nic-picky regs and so on.

So bottom line is your personal choice. If you are very private, prefer not to have regs dictating your life, go unlicensed. If you want more kids, and parents in your area seem to prefer licensed......then go licensed.
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Blackcat31 07:00 AM 05-31-2012
Correct me if I am wrong but being licensed or unlicensed in Canada means an ENTIRELY different thing that in the U.S.

Maybe someone from your area will chime in on this thread.
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Maddy'sMommy 07:16 AM 05-31-2012
I'm in Ontario. I'm not licensed. From what I understand, being licensed with an agency they would take a percentage of my income, but would provide support, equipment, deal with payment, etc. The number of kids you are allowed doesn't change, but I believe that provider's with an agency have age ratios to follow.m

I chose to be independent, because I don't mind doing everything myself, and I like keeping my own money. Lol.
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Creek 07:22 AM 05-31-2012
I'm in Ontario, and I am unlicenced. You can licence through an agency, and they will in turn be the one to find you children to care for. You may or may not have subsidized spaces depending. There is no way that I would personally go through an agency as you don't make much money. I make a lot more money doing it on my own.

It's not the same as in the US.
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countrymom 10:18 AM 05-31-2012
there are people who are now becoming licensed thru the goverment. I'm not sure (isn't there a mom on here who just did this) ontario and lets say alberta have 2 totally different laws. If you go thru an agency, then your own children will count in the ratio, they control all monies (they even pay you vacation pay) but they do drop in whenever and they also have one schedualled visit. I did this when I first started off, and I would never do it again. I was promised all these kids and only got one. I also didn't like unannounced visits, esp. during lunch time which they always were. I really didn't have, hmm like a personal contact with parents because there was a third party involved.
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jokalima 10:40 AM 05-31-2012
Wow! Things are so different in some areas, here if I operate a DC w/out license I am doing an illegal business and get fined for it.
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youretooloud 11:13 AM 05-31-2012
In my state, there's a big benefit to NOT being licensed. You'd think the state would figure it out.

The annual fee is astoundingly high. In fact some other states pay under $50 a year.... it's nothing like that here. You practically need to take out a loan.

You can only have a small number of kids, but unlicensed you can legally have more.

The licensing people are brutal and unforgiving. A friend of mine had 50 books out for the kids to choose from...but, she has at least a thousand books. She was written up for not having enough books.

She was written up for not having enough ethnic dolls, and having two white dolls.

Friends have been written up for the cactus in the NEIGHBOR'S yard that is hanging slightly over the property line...even though it's in front, and it's IN THE NEIGHBOR'S YARD.

It's as if the licensing people hate providers in this state.

I think if they would lower the annual fee, and lighten up a bit on the providers (it is a home) then more people would want to be licensed.
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