About three years ago, Jillynn Niemeier of Monroe found herself in a precarious position. Shortly after Niemeier had her second child, her child care provider said they could no longer care for Niemeier’s children.
“We were at a spot where I didn’t know where my children were going to go, and if I could find someone I could trust,” Niemeier previously told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
Niemeier had no option but to leave her job at a local nonprofit. But instead of forgoing her income altogether to stay home with her children, she decided to start Blue Door Daycare, a licensed child care, out of her home.
As pandemic-era funding that supports Wisconsin's child care industry wanes, quality care may soon be even harder to find — and more expensive. Providers may have no other choice but to charge families more to make up for this lost revenue.
With that increased expense, more parents and guardians may opt to stay home with their children. Some may follow in Niemeier's footsteps and open programs of their own. Many providers start child care programs in their homes to maximize the time they can spend with their own children.
These are just some of many reasons why Wisconsinites consider opening a child care out of their homes. Whatever your motivation, there are a few things you should know before jumping into the home child care industry.
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You may be legally required to be regulated
In general, anyone providing child care in their home to four or more children younger than age 7 unrelated to them must be licensed, according to Wisconsin state statute.
Family child care providers who don't meet this threshold may still choose to undergo certification, a voluntary form of regulation.
Although the exact requirements and regulations for licensed and certified family child care providers vary, many of the rules are similar, said Lesa Alston of Child Care Resource and Referral Fox Valley. As an early childhood technical consultant, Alston helps providers become regulated.
For example, for both licensed and certified family child care providers, all caregivers, employees, and anybody living in the household age 10 or older must have a background check. Many of the classes required to become licensed and to become certified are the same too.
Under current regulations, certified family child care providers may care for no more than three children younger than 7 who are unrelated to them. A certified provider can care for a maximum of six children younger than age 7, including children related and not related to them. The ages of the children can cause the maximum group size to fluctuate.
To determine the appropriate number of children a certified family provider may care for, use the group size estimator at bit.ly/maxcertification.
Licensed family child care providers can care for a maximum of eight children younger than 7, with the maximum group size also depending on the exact ages of the children.
The number of children in each age group and corresponding maximum group size for licensed family child care are as follows:
| children younger than age 2 | children age 2 and older | school age children (allowed in care for 3 or fewer hours a day) | maximum group size |
| 0 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 1 | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Should proposed child care legislation authored by Republicans go through, some of these specifications would change.
More:New GOP bills hope to alleviate Wisconsin's child care crisis. But how?
There are benefits to regulation
Alston said there are many benefits to becoming certified or licensed.
Regulated providers can participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Food Program and be reimbursed for meals and snacks they serve at their child care. They may also be eligible for scholarships through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood program, as well as other educational opportunities, not all of which are for college credit.
Determine whether family child care is right for you
If there’s one thing any family child care provider will tell you, it’s that it’s hard work with often little profit, and a lot of long days. Before jumping in, consider whether this fits your personality.
“It’s not easy,” said Nicole Leitermann, who runs Impressions Family Child Care, a licensed program, out of her Kimberly home. “You are working 10 hours a day with kids, then additional hours cleaning, planning, cooking, accounting, doing paperwork, continuing education and customer relations with parents — all of this by yourself.”
Ensure your family is on board
As a family child care provider, you will not be the only one adjusting to the changes of your home doubling as a business.
“If you are caring for children in your home and you have other household members living there, it will impact them,” said Kelly Matthews, co-director of Wisconsin Early Education Shared Services Network, a WECA program. “Making sure you have those conversations with your household members to be sure that they’re supportive will make a world of difference.”
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Plan to treat your child care like a business, because it is one
“Before you get into it, you have to realize that it’s a business — it’s not necessarily like just being a mom to extra kids,” said Amy Nogar, who runs the licensed program Amy and Kids Co. Nature Playschool out of her Appleton home. “You have to have policies, you have to have emergency plans, you have to take care of the finances part of it, so you have to be a business owner in order to do it well.”
Matthews encourages all family child care providers to make a contract with families specifying sick day, payment, holiday and other such policies, obtain business liability insurance and talk to their families about emergency medical releases.
“It’s amazing to get to be a consistent human in a child’s life as they grow up … it’s a privilege to be that adult for another child,” Matthews said. “I think that’s the part that can inspire people to do this work — and I want people to be super protected as they’re doing that work, so they don’t have that burden on their shoulders of ‘What happens if something goes wrong?’”
Alston said those who provide child care and are paid to do should check to see what tax benefits and liabilities they are subject to. She recommends visiting tomcopelandblog.com. Tom Copeland is an expert on family child care businesses.
Find support, and know your resources
“It’s a lonely thing when you first start out because you don’t know anything or anyone within the field,” Niemeier said, noting that speaking with someone who has already been there can make a world of difference.
Niemeier connected with other providers through the Green County Child Care Network. Now, Niemeier is the network’s president. Others may find community through social media groups or connecting with fellow providers with the help of their local child care resource and referral agency.
Resources for prospective family child care providers include:
- The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families’ Child Care Information Center, a mail-order resource library
- Child care resource and referral agencies and some family resource centers (they may be combined) that provide services to child care providers such as trainings, help with the licensing and certification process, resources and more.
- WECA’s free Provider Assistance for Licensing program, for those looking to start a licensed child care in Northern or Western Wisconsin. Participants receive professional business coaching before and six months after their business opens, toolkits, business training and are eligible for grants of up to $10,000 per licensed family child care program. Those interested should email WECAPAL@wisconsinearlychildhood.org.
- The WEESSN Start-Up Program, which provides all the same resources as the PAL program, minus the grants, for providers looking to become certified or licensed in remaining areas of the state. Those interested should email WEESSNstartup@wisconsinearlychildhood.org.
- DCF, which is crafting a provider toolkit similar to its toolkit for parents with more information to help current and future child care providers. DCF Communications Director Gina Paige said she expects it to publish in the next month.
- DCF has more online resources at bit.ly/CCproviderresources and bit.ly/dcfregulationinfo
More:Families with children will benefit from Outagamie County grants to resource centers
Madison Lammert is a Report for America corps member who covers child care and early education in Wisconsin at The Post-Crescent. Contact her atmlammert@gannett.comor 920-993-7108. Follow on Twitter @MadisonLammert0.
You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation online athttp://bit.ly/Appleton_RFAor by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Post Crescent Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Dr, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
