1. CIELO

Provide comprehensive support to under-resourced, immigrant, and BIPOC communities who are lacking quality childcare services that focus on child development while creating meaningful work for the Family Child Care business owners.

CIELO’s Child Care Business Incubator offers a 6-week interactive program and consist of:  3-weeks of in-person sessions that include empowerment and an overview of licensing procedure as well as Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) non-licensed opportunities.  Followed by 3-weeks of virtual business support and ending the program with a celebration session that honors the participants’ entrepreneurial journey as a child care provider.  As an added benefit, ongoing client navigation and support is offered to help individuals launch licensed in-home child care businesses.  The main goal is to provide trust-based relationships that encourage individuals as they ignite their passion and reach their business ownership goals.

This partnership is a collaborative effort between First 5 OC, CIELO, and the Small Business Development Center. Future providers are supported and encouraged throughout the entire process while equipping them with essential technical expertise, safety practices, and child care knowledge. These services are offered in both English and Spanish. During this training program, participants will learn:

• How to start a Child Care Business from their home
• Business Development, Growth Mindset, Customer Service
• Childcare Resources, Partners, Supplies
• Licensing, Permits, Certifications 

2. OCIE SBDC and OC WBC

In the program, future child care providers spend two months building their knowledge of business basics, early child development, and how to operate a child care program. Components of starting a successful FCC business, including but not limited to business plans, annual inspection, marketing, human resources, finance management, contracts, enrollment/enrollment analysis, taxes and more.

Each Cohort is comprised of eight sessions that are currently offered in English and Spanish. Assistance through the OCIE SBDC and OC WBC continues to be available at no cost to future providers beyond the program to ensure continued growth of their business.

The weekly sessions consist of: 

• An initial group meeting that outlines the process of the Cohort
• Weekly curriculum for the business venture
• At least four planned gatherings for future providers to meet in person as a group to network and receive licensing information and support
• Opportunities to schedule and receive confidential one on one guidance from business consultants through this process
• Continued access to the CIELO navigator
• One on one support of Peer Guides is also part of this process
• The virtual sessions include topics led by the OCIE SBDC and OC WBC teams:
  • Business Plan Template, Revenue Calculator and One-year Projections
  • Types of Entity Structures to Consider, Liability Insurance, Competition Analysis- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), and Business Plan Review
  • Start Up Costs, One Year Projections, Business Plan Section Funding, Licensing Supplemental Form, How to Accept Payment and Business Account
  • Basics of a Marketing Plan, Identifying Your Ideal Client, Understanding Your Competitors, Social Media Ads, A Basic Website/Landing page. Wrap it Up with Business Plan (complete this section), Develop, handouts for Booklet
  • Creating Digital and Social Media Presence, Google Business Profile, Yelp, Additional Channels for Communication
  • Complete the Business Plan Template, Go Through Each Section of the Business Plan to Readdress the Questions, Review the Financial Sheets and a 2-Minute Presentation
  • Overall Review Session and Q/A
  • Graduation with Certificate

OCAEYC Peer Guides

This group of dedicated Family Child Care Leaders are enthusiastic about guiding and supporting new providers on their journey to opening their own in-home family child care business. The Peer Guides understand the importance of quality training and information for early care and education providers. The value added provided equips future providers with knowledge and skills needed for their business to meet their professional endeavors. The Peer Guides offer:

• Individualized support to future Family Child Care Providers participating in SBDC cohort in alignment with Participant Agreement
• Knowledge and experience working with the licensing process
• Familiar with local resources supporting family child care programs
• Shared experiences working collaboratively with young children and families
• Experience with family childcare business practices (family enrollment processes, expectations, opening day strategies, recruitment efforts and more) 

Human Resources

Many in the human resource profession state a well-known fact that job satisfaction has a direct link to business goals. In fact, communicating and understanding staff needs even for those who may only work part-time or occasionally can have a direct impact on reduced absenteeism, improved staff retention, and parents feeling comfortable leaving their children in your care. This topic is covered in the Padlet and will appear in several other Sections of the FCC Toolkit.

Policies and Procedures

It is important to have written policies and procedures that you will follow in your family child care business and share them with families. California, the Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) requires Family Child Care (FCC) to provide a copy of their policies and procedures to families upon request, as part of the overall licensing regulations that aim to ensure the health and safety of children in care. Parents should be able to access a copy of the FCC provider’s policies and procedures, which outline vital details like discipline practices, meal plans, emergency procedures, and more.  These important topics will help keep your business running smoothly.

Family Handbook

The family handbook outlines your program’s policies and procedures and include other valuable information for families. Encourage families to read the handbook and ask questions. Family handbooks often include the following topics:

• Mission and philosophy of your program
• Description of your program, including your hours of operation and the ages of children you serve. (When developing your operating hours, think about the typical work schedule of the families in your program and your own family schedule and commitments.)
  • Information on when tuition payments are due and your policy regarding late payments
  • Description of the curriculum and daily schedule for children
  • Description of family involvement/engagement activities
  • Required forms for families to complete such as the
    • Enrollment forms, health forms, medication administration forms, emergency contact information, and field trip permission forms
    • Information on policies regarding communication with families, guidance and discipline, drop-off, and pick-up procedures, emergency closings, fees, and payment schedules, food and nutrition, program calendar and transportation policies
    • Description of your disaster and emergency plans

Staff Handbook

The staff handbook outlines the expectations you have for your employees. If you want the handbook to be a binding agreement between you and your employee(s), even for families it will be important to review the document with each staff member. Consider having them sign the form document stating they read and understand the contents. The following topics are often included in staff handbooks:

• Mission and philosophy of your program
• Benefits and pay scale
• Job descriptions, evaluation procedures, and hiring and termination policies
• Information on child abuse prevention, identification, and requirements for reporting
• Child behavior and guidance policies
• Health and safety procedures
• Family communication and involvement
• Professional development requirements

Financial Management

Finance management is the backbone of your FCC business. Planning for your child care business involves many decisions that impact finances, starting with your business structure and decisions regarding the cost of care. The cost of care is impacted by many things including overhead costs of the rent/mortgage, insurance, personnel costs, the cost of materials, supplies and more. Your business income is primarily driven by tuition payments. The tuition for child care services can be funded directly by the family or by subsidies from local, state, or federal funds.

When creating a budget plan for your business child care center, you should consider costs such as licensing, legal and accounting, educational materials, and supplies, facility renovation, insurance, utilities, employee salaries, and marketing.

Consistent record keeping is foundational for operating a strong business. Record keeping is essential to many components of your business. It can help you to ensure licensing compliance and safety, to track and predict enrollment and keep track of attendance, to assure timeliness of payroll and accounts payable, to assure the program has needed food, materials, supplies, and more. All elements of the business are financial record keeping and taxes and should include the following:

• It is important to keep your business and personal finances separate
  Among other things, business accounts keep business income and expenses clear, simplify financial reports and tax preparation.
• Track ALL sources of income
  Tuition, fees, grants, donations, any sales, other
• Save all receipts for expenses associated with your home
  Mark personal/business & percent to each. If there is no receipt, provide adequate documentation, such as a cancelled check, credit/debit card statements, last: written record or a photo
• Record all meals/snacks served to children
  Keeping track of meals and snack (and attendance at meals!) is required for food program participation and reimbursement for meals served.
• Track all hours you work in your home
  All business owners work hours beyond their hours of operation and should be compensated for them! Be sure to consider all your time when calculating the actual cost of care.
• Save all business records for at least three years

Click here for several video links from Tom Copeland that you may find helpful when considering strong financial management, record keeping and taxed for your new FCC business.

Taxes

As a small business, you will need to file business income tax information with local, state, and federal agencies unless your business is tax-exempt. Taxes should be a part of any budget for a child care business.

You may want to consult with a tax professional, such as an accountant or a lawyer that specializes in business practices, to help you. Family child care providers can take advantage of tax benefits and employment benefits such as:

• Home business tax write-offs to offset expenses
• Direct expenses such as food, toys, equipment, and insurance that are 100% tax deductible
• Indirect expenses such as real estate taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, etc.

This is a useful link to another of Tom Copeland’s posts regarding choosing a tax preparer. As a business owner it is solely your responsibility to seek out these services.

Contracts

Creating contracts that communicate that you are a business professional is crucial. One major component of your business success depends on your ability to generate revenue. In other words, bring in income that supports and covers your costs and that includes your salary. A big part of this comes from establishing and maintaining a business relationship with your clients (the parents). Be sure your contracts say what you mean and then it is up to be consistent to enforce what the items listed.

Family Child Care gives the illusion of a comforting family friend; however, you are a business person first and foremost. Your goal is to operate a successful business because you offer a valuable service to families and your community. Going over your contracts with each family can be time-consuming but very necessary. This helps avoid misunderstandings about expectations when children are in your care, the cost of the care, when payments are due, when raising rates, and much more.

Signed contracts by you and the parent (s) or guardian are best. Relying on verbal contracts is risky and hard to enforce. If it is important to discuss the agreement, then it is important enough to have it in writing with signatures on the page.

Enrollment

Having children to enroll in your FCC can be challenging and often seems a little challenging on where to start, how to maintain, and when to advertise for enrollment. One consistent rule of thumb is to remember that your business is also your home, and you want to serve families and children in a way that supports mutual respect, integrity, and consistency. 

It is also important to remember that not only is it a parent’s choice to choose you as their child’s provider, but it is also important that you choose the families you serve free from discrimination of race, creed, color, etc.

Here are eight recruitment tips from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC):

1. Register with your local Childcare Resource and Referral agency. Parents look at agency websites to find licensed childcare programs that have openings. Make sure your information is listed on these websites, and that the information is up to date, including changes to ages served, hours open and holidays.
2. Post flyers. Think of places near your center where families tend to go, such as your local laundromats, grocery stores, and library. Be sure to ask business what their regulations are for posting and follow their direction. You can even try pediatrician’s offices as they sometimes keep a list of local childcare options for parents.
3. Let realtors know. Find the realtors in your area and give them a flyer (either physical or digital). This is usually well-received by realtors because they want to be prepared to let families moving into the area know about the services families will be asking about.
4. Talk with your school district. Ask your local schools or school district how they might allow you to get the word out. Some school districts ask that you have your flyer pre-approved with them first to post in teacher’s lounges. Others do not allow flyers at all, while others may let you send flyers home with the children. They may also allow you to advertise at kindergarten round-up or other Kindergarten enrollment events. Some elementary schools keep a list of childcare programs that have after-school care or do care for school-aged children during breaks, so letting them know you are available for those services is very useful for elementary schools.
5. Develop a website and be active on social media. Use your website and social networks to show families that you are active and give them a glimpse of the activities that take place in your program. You can write about your teaching philosophy and your ideas for families who have children with challenging behaviors, or fun things families can do at home to encourage children’s learning.
6. Have a presence at city events. Call your city’s chamber of commerce and ask when city events will be held and sign up for a booth. Set up a fun activity for children to do as they visit your booth. Hand out business cards and have additional information on hand for families who enquire about childcare. 
7. Work with foster care and social work agencies. These programs periodically need emergency care for last minute situations when the foster parent has something come up or if a child was removed from a home and needs temporary care until a foster parent can be located. 
8. Call business HR departments in your area. Call the local businesses in your area and let the HR department know you have openings for their employees. They often appreciate knowing that information for employees who ask.

In addition to this list of 8 recruitment items from NAEYC, First 5 OC’s sample FCC Recruitment Strategies and Scripted Recruitment Suggestion documents are linked in the webpage reference section.

Enrollment Analysis

WHAT’S NEXT?

Jump to Licensing

Process, requirements, planning, forms, fees, inspections, large and small FCC settings, indoor and outdoor space, hours of operation, reporting, effective use of the licensing website, staying informed, ombudsman services, what must be posted.