For Parents

What are Your Choices?

Child Care Centers
Child Care Centers provide care for groups of children in non-residential settings. They may be housed in a school, church, commercial buildings, or community centers. Centers are sometimes referred to as nursery schools, preschools, Head Start programs, and daycare. Centers provide non-medical care and supervision to infants, toddlers, preschoolers and/or school age children for periods of less than 24 hours. They are licensed by the the state of California.

Most centers prefer regular, full-time, enrollment. There is no sick care for children. The program is more structured, with 12 or more children.

In Santa Barbara County there are just a few centers that will accept infants. Parents are placed on waiting lists. Call the Quality Child Care Connections for a list of these centers in Santa Barbara 805. 962.8988, Lompoc 805.737.0073 or Santa Maria 805.925.1989.

Family Child Care Homes
Family child care is provided in the home of the caregiver. They are either licensed or exempt from licensing. Family child care providers care for up to 14 children or fewer in a family-oriented atmosphere for less than 24 hours.

Licensed Care
A Family Child Care Home may be licensed as a small family child care, 6 to 8 children, or a large family child care with 12 to 14 children. They are licensed by the Community Care Licensing Division of the state. All adults living in the home must be fingerprinted and pass a criminal record clearance and be free of Tuberculosis.

You may call the Community Care Licensing Division at 805.562.0400 to see if the licensed family child care provider or center has had complaints filed against them.
Community Care License Division

License Exempt Care
Exempt care means that the provider is not required to be licensed by the state of California. A child care provider is exempt from licensing if they care for the children of one family other than his/her own children. Exempt care also includes nannies, au pairs, family and friends. Parents choosing exempt care should consider doing a background check with the Trustline Registry at 1.800.822.8490.

In-Home Child Care
Many parents prefer to have their children cared for in their own home. Two sources of in-home care are nannies and au pairs. A nanny is a person who is employed by the family to provide care in the child’s home. They may live in the home or elsewhere. An au pair is a foreign national who comes to this country to experience American life for up to one year. Call us for a listing of nanny/au pair agencies in our area.  

Family Child Care Steps to Quality Program & Network
Children’s Resource and Referral of Santa Barbara County is pleased to invite you to be a part of the “Family Child Care Steps to Quality” Program and Network.  This new project has been designed to support a providers commitment to creating a high quality program.  The program focuses on four elements of success: education of the provider; high quality environments; strong business practices and planning; and the development and maintenance of positive relationships with both children and their parents.

 

 

 The program highlights include:

• Training on rating scales
• Self-assessment and independent ratings
• Mentorship and Learning Communities
• Business Planning, Basic and Advanced
• Incentives including Resource Kits, one-to-one technical assistance, training materials and access to mentors

Family Child Care Steps to Quality Network Members

Alma Cabrera
Blanca Cardoso
Pomposa Cendejas
Maria Del Rocio Cortez
Florecita Hernandez
Graciela Lundin
Edith De Leon
Maria Mendez
Irma Montoya
Patricia Moros
Josefina Paz
Laurel Penk
Griselda Ramos
Maria Saucedo
Maria Ubias
Joan Velazquez
Celiflora Villa De Torres
Melody Wynn
 

Family Child Care Steps to Quality Network Mentors

Ana Santiago, "Mimi’s Family Child Care"
Christine Fleenor, "Life’s Little Priorities"
Blanche Holford, "Holford’s Lil’ Jungle"
Becky Jenkins, "Busy Bees Preschool"
Danielle Monroy, "Creative Care for Children Preschool"
Krista Davis, "Davis Family Child Care"
 

Accreditation

Both family child care home providers and child care centers can be accredited by professional associations. In order to become accredited, homes and centers must meet certain standards in addition to basic licensing requirements. While accreditation can be an indicator of quality, the fact that a child care site is accredited does not guarantee quality.

National organizations providing accreditation:

National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC). Call 800.359.3817
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Call 800.424.2460
American Montessori Society. Call 212.358.1250
Association Montessori International, USA. Call 716.461.5920
Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Call 916.424.2460
National Early Childhood Program. Call 800.505.9878
Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE). Call 213.663.5330