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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Pros And Cons
Unregistered 04:54 AM 03-02-2011
Hi I am writing a paper and need interviews from several people. So I need to know your side of having a registered daycare and your side if your against having to get registered? Thanks so much
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gbcc 05:10 AM 03-02-2011
There was a debate on this recently over in the parents forum I believe.
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Michael 08:11 AM 03-02-2011
Originally Posted by gbcc:
There was a debate on this recently over in the parents forum I believe.
Was it this one: https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21792
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gbcc 08:17 AM 03-02-2011
Michael, that may be what I was referring to! Lol it's an ongoing debate that I tire from so I tend not to read those!
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kendallina 08:39 AM 03-02-2011
I spent the first 8 years or so in this field in licensed centers. I just opened my own in-home preschool in Sept 2010 and have chosen to remain unlicensed.

Here's how I see it:

Pros of being licensed:
- parents might prefer it, especially before they get to know you. So, it may be easier to fill slots.
- you receive educational information from the licensing agency and your licensor
- you can be a part of the food program
- access to licensing workshops
- I think they list you on their site, so it's good for advertising
- Often you can have more children

Cons of being licensed:
- having visits from a licensor
- having rules that you have to follow, whether you agree with them or not


I have chosen to remain unlicensed, which I NEVER thought I would do before having my own in-home program (I'm a rule-follower by nature, so I thought unlicensed people were a little crazy...). But, I follow licensing rules pretty closely and haven't had any problems getting parents to enroll their children and trust me, so I'm perfectly happy not being licensed. I don't want to feel like I can't use whatever cleaners I think works best or have the children dry their hands on a towel instead of paper towels (not sure if that's a home daycare rule, but it was a center rule). I don't feel like I need to have the bottom of my stairs gated or my door locked or whatever other rules they might have for me.

ETA: I wouldn't say that overall I am either For or Against being licensed. For me, I prefer being unlicensed right now. I can understand, however, why some parents would only choose a licensed daycare.
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kendallina 08:45 AM 03-02-2011
Oh, another con to being licensed would be paperwork.

But, I kind of like paperwork, so it wouldn't bother me too much.
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Blackcat31 09:17 AM 03-02-2011
Originally Posted by kendallina:
Oh, another con to being licensed would be paperwork.

But, I kind of like paperwork, so it wouldn't bother me too much.
Cons of being licensed:
- having visits from a licensor
- having rules that you have to follow, whether you agree with them or not



I am a licensed provider and I have to disagree with the cons you listed.

I have no extra paperwork, I love my licensor and I think in 16 years I have been visited by her maybe 2-3 times unannounced. Any other visits were to be relicensed which occur bi-yearly and she is awesome so I actually would love her to visit more.....and I have no issues with any of the rules we are suppose to follow as licensed providers because I assume that they are rules for safety reasons and most are pretty common sense so they are never an issue. I also do not have any extra paperwork associated with being licensed except at re-license time (every other year). I am like you though and like paperwork so I wouldn't mind either.....

I know you were not saying that licensed or unlicensed is better or worse, I think you were right on with your post, I just wanted to add that for me personally the cons you listed are not cons.

I guess I am not sure why provider's choose to be licensed or not but I personally chose to be because:

1. I get paid more
2. I can have more children

No other reasons than that.
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ammama 11:41 AM 03-02-2011
In Alberta, you don't get licensed, but you can choose to contract with a government monitored agency, which I am. I like it because I don't have to collect payment from parents - the agency does all that for me. They also write my receipts to my parents, pay me even if a parent doesn't pay, have free workshops to attend every month, come into my home and do "quality enhancement visits" with my dayhome kids (which is basically 2 hours of pretty cool activities for whatever age group I have), and allow me to be eligible for several federal grants (such as staff incentive wage top-ups).

Down side is - I have to pay about $100 (out of my $700 FT Fee) or so for each full-time child I have, less for PTers - which pretty much cancels out my current government wage top up

They do a monthly random visit - which I don't mind too much really, but it is embarrassing if the house is messy.

I can only have 6 children IN TOTAL, including my own. If I were private I could have 6 PLUS my own, which for me, would be 8.
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Cat Herder 12:39 PM 03-02-2011
Here:

You must be registered if you keep more than two children.

Pros... You don't end up in the newspaper, jail or with a huge fine.

Cons... Some of the regulations are absurd but I know that every one of them represents something stupid done by someone else...
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Unregistered 05:00 PM 03-02-2011
Thank you so much:} All great answers. I went on cl for help as well and omg those women are really imature. lol. They thought I was out to get them or something. lol. They assumed I wanted to start trouble between the two. Some women actually need advise:} So thanks so much! I love this site because you women may have diff opinion but you are all wonderful with advise:}
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jen 10:20 PM 03-02-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Cons of being licensed:
- having visits from a licensor
- having rules that you have to follow, whether you agree with them or not



I am a licensed provider and I have to disagree with the cons you listed.

I have no extra paperwork, I love my licensor and I think in 16 years I have been visited by her maybe 2-3 times unannounced. Any other visits were to be relicensed which occur bi-yearly and she is awesome so I actually would love her to visit more.....and I have no issues with any of the rules we are suppose to follow as licensed providers because I assume that they are rules for safety reasons and most are pretty common sense so they are never an issue. I also do not have any extra paperwork associated with being licensed except at re-license time (every other year). I am like you though and like paperwork so I wouldn't mind either.....

I know you were not saying that licensed or unlicensed is better or worse, I think you were right on with your post, I just wanted to add that for me personally the cons you listed are not cons.

I guess I am not sure why provider's choose to be licensed or not but I personally chose to be because:

1. I get paid more
2. I can have more children

No other reasons than that.
Seriously? We are bi-yearly on renewal as well, but we get an unannouced visit on our off year...so one visit per year, one announced, the next unannouced. I could do without some of the paper work too...especially the crib sheet! It's not like it's hard, but...

I'm licensed for the same reasons though!
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QualiTcare 11:16 PM 03-02-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Cons of being licensed:
- having visits from a licensor
- having rules that you have to follow, whether you agree with them or not



I am a licensed provider and I have to disagree with the cons you listed.

I have no extra paperwork, I love my licensor and I think in 16 years I have been visited by her maybe 2-3 times unannounced. Any other visits were to be relicensed which occur bi-yearly and she is awesome so I actually would love her to visit more.....and I have no issues with any of the rules we are suppose to follow as licensed providers because I assume that they are rules for safety reasons and most are pretty common sense so they are never an issue. I also do not have any extra paperwork associated with being licensed except at re-license time (every other year). I am like you though and like paperwork so I wouldn't mind either.....

I know you were not saying that licensed or unlicensed is better or worse, I think you were right on with your post, I just wanted to add that for me personally the cons you listed are not cons.

I guess I am not sure why provider's choose to be licensed or not but I personally chose to be because:

1. I get paid more
2. I can have more children

No other reasons than that.
this may not be true for everyone, but i got paid more PER CHILD than any childcare in my area that i know of. of course, i kept less children so i would have possibly gotten paid more if i had been licensed and kept more - but i'm just guessing bc my rates were able to be higher BECAUSE i kept less children.

anyhow, OP - something to think about - unlicensed doesn't mean "underqualified." i'm a licensed teacher, but i chose to be an unlicensed daycare so i could make my own rules. i think that's a common misconception that unlicensed = illegal or unqualified. not true.
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Cat Herder 04:12 AM 03-03-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
[b]
I have no extra paperwork, I love my licensor and I think in 16 years I have been visited by her maybe 2-3 times unannounced.

I want to move to your State.....

I get quarterly unannounced visits, 4 a year .... and I have had 3 ladies in the past 18 months....
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momofboys 04:27 AM 03-03-2011
In my state we are not required to be licensed & I choose not to be licensed. I still follow guidleines from the state though in terms of numbers that I am allowed. I typically only care for one family at a time so I didn't want to fuss with being licensed when I only have 2 kids other than my own in my care.
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morgan24 04:55 AM 03-03-2011
I've been licensed for 16 years. I got licensed because in MI it's the law. I also am a rule follower, but it has come to the point where I'm not relicensing and will only watch kids, I'm related to or drop-ins according to the new "babysitter law" MI has now.

My Pros are:

I can be on the food program.
I can claim my expenses on my taxes.

My Cons are:
It cost more money everytime I relicense.

The state licensors are never on the same page, one will let you do something one way and the next one gives you a violation for it. One of my examples is I have a sliding glass door in my walk out basement, my first licensor made me take a lock at the top off because it makes the door not egress, the next one gave me a violation for not having a lock up high enough that the kids couldn't reach.

It creates a ton of paperwork that has to be kept on file and the food program started that also.

If I take kids that are state paid, I have to give a share of that to the union.

Insurance cost are higher.
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nannyde 04:58 AM 03-03-2011
in my state the only reason to be registered is to be on the food program and it legally allows you to have more than five kids.

People who aren't regsitered aren't subject to inspection and the State would need a warrant to get into their home so they really have to DO something to get the child protective in their home... not the inspectors.

In July of 2013 it will be required to license but they are considering putting that off because the money involved in setting that up is more than the State can do.
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MommyofThree 06:53 AM 03-03-2011
Hi I am the op and decided its nice to see who is speeking lol so I decided to register. Thank you so much for all your help!
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Blackcat31 07:06 AM 03-03-2011
Originally Posted by QualiTcare:
this may not be true for everyone, but i got paid more PER CHILD than any childcare in my area that i know of. of course, i kept less children so i would have possibly gotten paid more if i had been licensed and kept more - but i'm just guessing bc my rates were able to be higher BECAUSE i kept less children.

anyhow, OP - something to think about - unlicensed doesn't mean "underqualified." i'm a licensed teacher, but i chose to be an unlicensed daycare so i could make my own rules. i think that's a common misconception that unlicensed = illegal or unqualified. not true.
I think most providers here in this state choose to be licensed because we are only allowed to care for 1 family in additionto our own so there reslly wouldn't be any money in it if there wasn't a license...kwim? unless of course the one family had 10 kids! LOL!!

Our area also seems tobe money driven as far as childcare goes because people tend to geo where it is cheaper. I guess quality isn't a high priority here.... Providers WANT to state assistance families because the state pays us 15% more than the going rate if we have a degree so if any provider has a degree they WANT the assistance families. Cash paying families seem to go where they get the most for their dollar and don't seem to care about the quality.

It's a small enough town that all of us providers personally know 3 or families who call around on a yearly basis and check prices (like they are shopping for auto insurance) and then go where ever it is cheapest. They have no issue pulling their kid(s) and switching up every time the rates change. I just got a call yesterday from one of these families and mom asked for rates and when I told her she said she will stay where she is at, she just thought she could do better (cost wise)...?!?!? She also said her kid has been in 4 other daycares (he is 3.5) so I asked her why and she said "Gotta go where you can afford it ya know?" Ummm...no I don't know.

Originally Posted by Catherder:
I want to move to your State.....

I get quarterly unannounced visits, 4 a year .... and I have had 3 ladies in the past 18 months....
I do love my licensor, but I gotta say I am surprised we don't see her very often.....but then again it could be because she travels alot and seems to be out of he country for 30 days at a time at least twice a year. ?????

I am not sure how she manages it (her job) but we honestly RARELY see her. She is available on the phone when we call or there is another back up person who will answer any question we have but the only unnnounced visits I get are from the food program lady. LOL!!
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DCMomOf3 07:21 AM 03-03-2011
Originally Posted by melissathayer28:
Hi I am the op and decided its nice to see who is speeking lol so I decided to register. Thank you so much for all your help!
I'm glad you decided to join the ranks of the named. LOL
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Unregistered 06:21 AM 03-04-2011
Originally Posted by DCMomOf3:
I'm glad you decided to join the ranks of the named. LOL
lol. thanks:}
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