Child care questions (long)
BabyCarryingVessel
member
Please help! I got a great recommendation for a child care provider from a good friend, and from a member of my church whom I trust. Early in this pregnancy I called and got on her list, and I went by the daycare yesterday to pick up some paperwork. I couple red flags went up during my visit. My first impression was that the neighborhood looked rough, but I wasn't going to judge the quality of the daycare based on the neighborhood. The inside was very clean. I asked her how many kids she had, and she said she has 4 or 5 during the school year and 8 or 9 during the summer. Now I'm kicking myself for not asking her 1.) whether she has certified help during the summer and 2.) when can I meet the other helper.
While I was there, another woman passed through the room, but she didn't stop to talk to me. This other woman was rough-looking. She looked like she just rolled out of bed, wearing pajama pants, and just sort of gross-looking. The daycare owner said "that's my friend, she comes over to help sometimes." I wondered if that friend was her winter help, and I wondered whether she had a background check.
Now for my questions. Does the helper have to be certified, or can it be just anyone? If it can be anyone, I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not exactly sure what the Illinois care care laws are, but I'm sure one adult can't have 9 children at once, plus my twin babies. My main concerns are the helpers and the quantity of children. I just wish I would have been prepared with questions beforehand.
I'm not getting my hopes up yet, but we may potentially have a friend who's a SAHM who would want to keep them full time for a little extra income. If this were to work out, we would drop the babies off at her home, and pick them up. Do any of you have arrangements like this? If so, how does the arrangement work? Have you been happy with it? We would not pay under the table, we want to do it the right way. I'm sorry I have so many questions! I promised myself I wouldn' be the crazy mom, but here I am, crazy!!
Re: Child care questions (long)
We are in Oregon, and I don't know much about IL - but this PDF might help you out: https://nrckids.org/STATES/IL/il_406.pdf
Our girls are with a SAHM who is registered (not certified or licensed) with the state. Being registered but not cert/lic means that she can have a maximum of three unrelated children in her home at a time. Her children do not count toward this number. If all of the children in her care are related and from the same household, this limit is void (i.e. she will be able to legally care for my girls and my twins when they come without being in violation of her limit of three). She can also watch as many children as she chooses throughout the week, as long as she doesn't violate the 3 child/single family at a time law. There is also a law (which applies to all caregivers, registered, certified, or licensed) regulating a minimum square footage in the home/building where care is provided, per child. So, even if you're only watching 3 children plus your own 2 children, there must be a minimum amount of floor space available in the building for those children or you are legally over your limits.
Certified/licensed childcare providers can have up to 7 children per background checked adult in the home at a time. The assistants do not have to be certified with any special training, just the background check. But, good providers require their assistants to be CPR/Food Handling certified at a minimum. Most do not require or even encourage special child development classes unless they are larger financially profitable centers or registered as certified preschools, because individuals who have such training demand much higher wages than those who are not certified in such fields.
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I would go with your gut and nix the first one from your list. I would not be comfortable with a shady neighborhood and an unkempt friend passing through when dcp probably had a heads up that you were coming at a specific time and in theory would let this "helper" know, and therefore if she was there when you were coming she should look appropriate.
We used a family friend for the girls first year. it worked great (she was a SAHM with college age kids tho)...how many kids does your friend have? If she only has one, or an older toddler and one younger child, then I think it could work out just fine. GL!
In my state (CT) the ratio of kids is based on how many certified adults are in the home. Of course, this only applied to in-home daycares that are certified with the state, not ones that are off the books, but I would only look at certified ones. In my state some food is supplied after they turn 1 through grants with the state (like milk and I believe some meals), so if that applies in your state that's something to keep in mind if you were considering an unregistered daycare due to cost.
I agree with others and would go with your gut. You can certainly call or go back and ask other questions, but also think about how you would feel leaving your babies there every day. Do you want to be uneasy all day at work wondering if they're okay? At the very least I would check out others. In my state if there is one certified adult then they can only have 2 babies under 1 in their care so I would start looking around now at your different options because it can be very hard to find one since twins take up both spots. We only had one in-home daycare that could accommodate us and it's because the woman's mom - who is also certified - does the daycare with her. Luckily we loved them so it worked out.
AN RWMomma - holy crap, 12 kids for ONE adult??? That's insane! CT has a 6 child limit, including the provider's non-school age children. I can't imagine being one adult trying to care for 12 children, especially if 4 of them are under 2. It gives me anxiety just thinking about it!