Choosing Schoolage Child Care

The problems connected to finding good child care do not vanish when your child enters kindergarten. In fact, frequently there are fewer child care choices for schoolage children than there are for preschoolers. School schedules can also make finding consistent care for schoolaged children more problematic (e.g., summer vacations, year-round schools, spring breaks, shorter hours for kindergartners, school holidays when parents must work etc.). Parents also need to plan for those times when a child is ill. It may take some juggling and lots of planning, but do not lose heart; by beginning your search early, you can find a solution that will work for you and your child.

What Are Your Options

This next section offers you an overview of the types of care commonly used for schoolage children. Not all types of care listed below may be available at or near your child’s school.

Family Child Care Homes: These licensed programs which operate out of a provider’s home are a natural choice for many parents. They are licensed to care for either 6 or 12 children and can choose to serve two additional schoolage children provided they reduce the number of infants in care and meet other standards. Please see our “Choosing Family Child Care Handout” for more on the regulations. Serving two extra schoolage children can increase a family child care home’s capacity to either 8 or 14. Family child care offers a small group setting (often with flexible hours) where a child can unwind at the end of a busy school day. These programs often open earlier and stay open later than centers. Many family child care providers walk or drive young children both to and from school. Some providers who are close to a school allow older children to walk back and forth in a group.

Some providers care only for schoolage children. Most, however, care for a mixed age group of children from infants on up. Some family child care providers will allow mildly ill (noncontagious) children to come to child care when they are too ill to attend school. Child care providers who care for the children from only one family (in addition to their own) are exempt from licensing requirements.

Child Care Centers: These are licensed facilities which operate in non-home settings. Many local groups (such as school districts, YMCA’s, Jewish Community Centers, Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs, etc.) offer center-based care right on the school site. This can be very convenient for parents and eliminates any concern about how children will get to and from school. In some cases, centers are located off the school site but within walking distance. And, in some communities, centers use vans to pick up children from several schools and transport them to one central location. Centerbased programs which are designed for schoolage children tailor their schedules to the children’s need for care. They usually (but not always) operate full days during the summer and school holidays. Centers serve larger groups of children (15 to 20 or more) and they often have less flexible hours than family child care. Centers will usually accommodate a mildly ill child only during the time necessary for the parent to pick up the child.

Complaints – Both center-based care and family child care homes are licensed by Community Care Licensing of the California Department of Social Services. This is primarily a health and safety check of the facility and does not insure the quality of care. Only parents can do that by careful evaluation. The licensing office investigates complaints against centers. To log a complaint, call licensing, 622-2602. Parents also have the right to obtain licensing reports or substantiated complaint investigations against centers from the center directly, or from licensing, 622-2614. BANANAS welcomes feedback from parents, and we hope you call us with your concerns. However, we have no authority to monitor, investigate or revoke licenses.

In-Home Caregivers: These are adults or teenagers who come to your home to care for your child before and/or after school. You can usually arrange for a caregiver to transport or walk your child to or from school. However, finding one worker to provide both before and after school care may be difficult because what you’re offering is a “split shift” job. It may be easier to find an in-home caregiver if you also have a younger child who needs care all day. Care in your home is more expensive than either family child care or a center. Most teenagers charge $5.00 or more per hour while adult rates begin at $10-12 per hour. Looking for college students or teenagers with flexible schedules is a good way to start if this type of care appeals to you. Remember that using this type of care may not answer your needs for child care when your child is too ill to attend school or for full days during holidays or school breaks. See our “Where And How To Look For a Caregiver to Work in Your Own Home” Handout for further tips on how to find an in-home caregiver.

Shared Caregiver Arrangements: These are parent-created child care situations where one caregiver is hired to care for the schoolage children from two or more families. The care can take place in one home or it can rotate among the homes of the participating families. This type of care is more expensive than family child care or center-based care but cheaper than each family individually hiring a caregiver. (More information on how to set up shared care is available in a “Shares” booklet from our office for $3.)

In-home caregivers and shared caregivers are completely controlled by the participating parents. There is no license for either type of care. All the responsibility for screening, calling references and selecting in-home caregivers rests with the parent-employer. Some parents ask caregivers to get a TB test. Parents can also ask the provider if s/he is in TrustLine, California's background check for in-home child care providers. Providers submit their fingerprints to the Department of Justice, which checks for criminal convictions or a substantiated child abuse history. Providers with no criminal background are listed in the TrustLine Registry. Since this is a relatively new program, few providers are listed, but some parents are willing to help pay the $130 fee for the added safety the screening provides. For more information, call (800)822-8490 or visit www.trustline.org. BANANAS also welcomes information – positive and negative – on caregivers listed in our caregiver referral files.