Family Child Care

A family child care provider cares for children in her home, often together with her own child or children. Family child care providers tend to offer a good deal of flexibility in enrollment policies, often allowing customized schedules and sometimes offering care at hours that begin earlier and/or go later than “standard” work hours. Most frequently, the family child care provider is the sole caregiver for the children in her home, although some providers employ an assistant either part-time or full-time. When a provider becomes ill, has a family emergency, or takes vacation, parents generally need to find alternative care unless a suitable “back-up” arrangement is offered by the provider.

The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) regulates family child care, allowing providers working alone to care for up to six children, as long as no more than three of the children are under two years of age and at least one of those three can walk unassisted. A provider who works with an assistant may care for up to six children of any age. Providers with three years’ experience and 30 hours or more of training may apply for a Large Family Child Care license, allowing the provider and one assistant to care for up to ten children, including six under age two. Many of the EEC regulations address home safety issues and emergency procedures, including a requirement that providers be certified in first aid and infant/child CPR; for details, visit the website at www.eec.state.ma.us. As a rule, homes are visited before licenses are issued, as well as when a complaint is received. Information regarding complaint histories is available to parents by calling EEC at 617-626-2000 and asking for the office and phone number of the regional office responsible for the town in which the provider lives.

Family child care providers vary in terms of training and experience with children, as well as the nature of the activities, physical environment, materials and equipment, and adult:child ratio they provide. Policies vary, and a written contract is highly useful in spelling out the policies that will apply to schedules, meals, illness, vacations, and rates. The cost of family child care in Cambridge generally ranges from about $6.00 to $9.00 per hour per child. Providers are considered self-employed, and are responsible for their own taxes, social security payments, etc. However, it is important to note that parents taking advantage of the federal child care tax credit or their employer's Dependent Care Assistance Plan (including MIT's Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Plan ) are required to use licensed providers and to ask for the provider's social security number.

Parents should allow six to eight weeks to search for a family child care provider, if possible; providers are generally unwilling to contract for care much more than eight weeks in advance, or before the birth of a child.

There are hundreds of licensed family child care providers in the Boston area; listings of licensed providers in Massachusetts are available on the web at http://www.eec.state.ma.us . You can download information on advertising child care positions or family child care screening forms; or the Center for Work, Family and Personal Life can provide you with a Family Child Care packet, including information on license requirements and tips on interviews, selection, contracts, and communication. The Center can also put you in touch with local referral agencies that, for a modest fee, provide information on current openings, hours, costs, and provider and program characteristics.