Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I am just wondering how the state pads their pockets? The license is free. They even give you your orientation class free. But they do check for unhealthy conditions in daycares. The state sets a minimum standard for day cares, and if you are in Key Stone Stars the standards go up from there, to help improve the daycare available in Pa and to help educate the providers. Sorry that so many are so against the states part in daycare.
I wish CA were like this. Here I had to pay for my orientation $25 and just to submit my application $65. Every year I pay to renew it. The fee to renew is based on how many kids we are licensed for. And then lets not forget to mention all of the other indirect costs that I had to pay for just to be able to qualify to submit my application like CPR training (renew each year), preventative health training (renew every 2 years), fingerprinting and tuberculosis testing for myself and for each adult living in my household. I hear our licensing renewals are going up next year but we'll see and then not to mention that CA now also wants to create a union for daycare providers. Sigh. I can agree with all of the other costs that I have to pay for except for the union fees should they decide to create one. I accept subsidy now (none of my clients are on it at the moment) but don't plan to if I will be forced to pay union dues that I don't agree with.
** Back to the original topic** I would check on the regulations to see what the process is when something like this happens. You may have strict laws about running an unlicensed daycare or the laws may be very slack. Here in CA if you are caught once running an unlicensed daycare you don't have the option of running a licensed daycare for 10 years. If you still go unlicensed and have been shut down once and get caught again you never have the option to run a licensed daycare again and you may be facing charges (fines and sometimes jail). Like someone pointed out, you are probably now on their radar and if they come around again and you refuse to open your door to let them in (which you have every right to) they may just call the police department to report you which the police department may decide to get a warrant to be able to enter your home and may even come with Child Services in tow. Again, this is the process here in CA and in my immediate area and of course things are different from area to area so please do your homework and make an educated decision based on your area. I would hate for you to run an unlicensed daycare and then have to suffer drastic consequenses when you didn't have to. And who knows? Maybe your areas regulations aren't harsh at all. Good luck.