Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I've been reading the threads about illegal/unlicensed home daycare and I'm curious what people will say about our situation:
Our in-home providers are a *wonderful* married couple, we've been with them for almost 9 years. She has degrees in ECE and psychology and he got certified for ECE years ago to be her assistant if needed. For more than 10 years the wife was 100% licensed for 6 kids or less (even though she didn't have to be in our state) and the husband helped out if she was sick or had an appointment or whatever. A few years ago his job got sent to Mexico, and at the same time 4 of the families were having our second babies, so she hired him full time and they've been working together ever since. We LOVE them; they never go over the ratios, the home is safer than mine with a better fence lol, they do everything they're supposed to and their curriculum is great! They charge around the same as the licensed homes around us and they pay all their taxes, I know because my brother-in-law is their accountant (I introduced them!) They go above and beyond for their families and even their two teenage daughters got certified in first aid and CPR to help out, I love having my kids with them! Problem: they can't get licensed for more than 6 kids, they tried and tried but the county won't give them a variance because they say others will want to do the same and it will bring down the value of the neighborhood. In our area they're supposed to be in a commercial space for more than 6 kids but don't even need a license for less than 7!
Would people here report them, or leave them be?
Then it looks like they can only have 6 kids.
Doesn't matter if they both have a master degree in early childhood and know more about kids than any other person alive.
Illegal is illegal no matter how you explain it.
My suggestion is that if they are that good and in that much demand, they should consider looking into opening a facility in an area that does allow more than 6 kids.