Child Care

Types of Child Care

In-Home Child Care Providers and Shared Care
Some parents choose to hire an in-home child care provider (often referred to as a nanny, or au-pair) to care for their children. This person may live in or out of your home and may have additional responsibilities such as light housekeeping, cooking, laundry, carpooling and errand-running. Live-in providers generally work for room and board plus a salary. In-home child care is usually the most expensive form of child care.

Parents generally find in-home providers by placing ads in the classified section of local newspapers, using an agency that specializes in child care providers, or reviewing listings at a resource and referral service. Your local resource and referral agency can provide you with listings of actual providers. It can also give you specific guidelines for interviewing prospective providers (such as translation services for limited-English speaking applicants), assist you in writing/placing an ad, and supply you with a sample contract to use when you have made your choice.

You can also place listings, with salaries, for student in-home child care providers at the Campus Career Planning and Placement Center at 510-642-0440. If child care is in exchange for room and board, listings can be posted at the Campus Housing Office at 510-642-3644.

When interviewing in-home providers, inquire about their level of experience and training in caring for children of the same age as your child. You should ask for references and make sure that you check them. Discuss the caregiver's willingness and/or special training to care for your child in case of illness or injury. You should also make a point of discussing the time commitment you expect of the caregiver, as well as planning for their sick and vacation requests.

Some families may choose to enter a cooperative care arrangement, referred to as a "share," in which two or more families pool their resources to hire one caregiver who will care for all their children either in one home or alternating among them. Such an arrangement is often more expensive than family day care, but costs less than hiring an in-home caregiver for one or two children in the same family.

Few regulations apply to care provided in your own home. No license is required of the caregiver. The parent is legally required to pay minimum wage and to follow other employer requirements, such as paying federal Social Security, state Disability and Unemployment Insurance. If the provider is not a U.S. citizen the person must have permission to work in this country. To find out more about state Disability and Workers' Compensation Insurance call (510) 577-2396. To find out about Social Security withholding you can call Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-829-1040 and request Publication 926, "Employment Taxes for Household Employees," or go to the IRS web site at http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/ and download the form.

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Family Day Care
Family day care is the most common form of licensed child care, particularly for infants and toddlers. It typically consists of a small group of children of varying ages cared for in the provider's home. Some family day care providers include your child in activities as part of their extended family; others provide programs structured like a nursery school, but in a home setting. There are no formal educational requirements for family day care providers, though they must complete a 15 hour training course in child health and safety. Persons who take care of children from only one other family (other than their own) in their home are not required to obtain a license.

Center-based Programs
Center-based programs may be called nursery schools, pre-schools, pre-kindergartens, child development centers, or day care centers. They differ in their goals, activities, and educational philosophies as well as the numbers and ages of children enrolled. There are very few center-based infant programs in this area. Those that do exist often have long waiting lists, so apply well in advance. Some centers may also offer kindergarten programs. Others have after-school programs for elementary school children and may provide transportation from neighboring schools.

Parent Cooperative Nursery Schools
In these programs, parents cooperatively form a philosophy, set rules and policies, and actively participate in the program for a set number of hours per week. These schools generally have a parent director and a paid teacher who organize the curriculum and coordinate the parent participants' schedules. The hours of parent cooperative schools are generally shorter than those at child care centers. Parent cooperatives' fees are lower due to the contribution of parent time in operating the program.

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Baby-Sitters/Baby-Sitting Co-Ops
Finding a person to provide occasional in-home child care may be a challenge. Parents with family and friends nearby or those having roots in a particular neighborhood may have more prospects, but for many these resources do not exist. Your local resource and referral agency can suggest guidelines for screening baby-sitters and can discuss current hourly rates for sitters, based on their age and experience. A few community agencies also offer training courses for baby-sitters.

Baby-sitting co-operatives (co-ops) are a type of parent-created child care that usually involves a group of parents providing care for each other's children on an as-needed basis. The organizer keeps track of who is available to sit at what times and helps the families needing child care to link up with each other. For each hour you use a baby-sitter, you owe one hour of baby-sitting to the co-op. Call your local resource and referral agency to learn more about baby-sitting co-ops in your area.

Playgroups
Playgroups are a way for parents working part-time to share child care with other parents. Parents make out a schedule of who stays with the children on a given day, while the others go to work or have some time off. The size of the group and how many days per week the group meets is determined by the parents. The location usually rotates from home to home. Playgroups are also a way for parents and children to socialize. Playgroups may develop into other forms of paid child care, as the situation evolves.

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