Resource Guide - Introduction
Child Care Center Facility Financing & Development
Resource Guide
Thank you for your interest in developing quality child care and
development programs in Amador and Calaveras counties!
The Amador and Calaveras Child Care Facility Financing and
Development Resource Guide was created as part of the Constructing
Connections project and is designed to assist those interested in
opening a child care program in Amador and Calaveras with the tools
and resources necessary to support this development.
Technical assistance is also available to help navigate the
facilities development process.
Constructing Connections of Amador and Calaveras works to create a
streamlined process for child care facilities financing and
development that increases children and families’ access to quality
child care and development services. Such access plays an integral
part in ensuring a strong local economy, reducing future government
spending, and producing an overall higher quality of life for members
of the community. The program is designed to create and/or strengthen
partnerships among the child care community and businesses, real
estate developers, government agencies, community developers and
others for the purpose of a more efficient and cost effective
development of high quality child care spaces. Better quality and
better availability of quality child care services in Amador and
Calaveras makes these communities more desirable places for people to
live, work, and play. The
program also works to integrate child care facilities development into
city and county land use planning, community development programs,
zoning and permit processes, and transportation plans.
Much of the information contained in this resource guide was initially developed by the Building Child Care (BCC) Project and has been tailored to meet the needs of those potentially interested in opening child care programs in Amador and Calaveras. BCC exists to provide a centralized clearinghouse of information and services designed to improve child care providers' access to financial resources for facilities development projects in California. BCC is funded by the California Department of Education, Child Development Division.
Acknowledgements
Constructing Connections of Amador and Calaveras staff would like to
thank the many community representatives of the project’s
Collaborative Partnership for their generous contributions of time and
resources to help produce this resource guide. We would particularly
like to thank the members of the Resource Guide Workgroup: Adele
Baroni, Brenda Bullington, Karen Dickerson, Tim Hildabrand, and
Gillian Murphy.
The
staff of Constructing Connections of Amador and Calaveras are:
Kerry Williams, Project Coordinator:
209-754-5349, ext. 107
P.O. Box 919, San Andreas, CA 95249
kwilliams@theresourceconnection.net
Joyce Stone, Amador County Lead:
209-257-5303
217 Rex Avenue, Jackson, CA 95642 jstone@amadorcoe.k12.ca.us
ABCD Constructing Connections is a program of the Low Income
Investment Fund, with major funding from First 5 California. For more
information, please go to
www.liifund.org
How to Use This Guide
This Resource Guide to Opening a Child Care Center in Amador and
Calaveras Counties has been developed by a Workgroup of the
Constructing Connections of Amador & Calaveras Collaborative
Partnership to assist potential operators in both counties with
expanding or opening a new child care facility. The focus of this
guide is on child care centers rather than family child care homes, as
centers are the focus of the ABCD Constructing Connections project. If
you are interested in opening a family child care program, you will
need to contact
The
Resource Connection.
If
you are currently operating a child care program and wish to expand,
this guide was developed with you in mind. If you have not operated a
child care program, there are many resources contained in the guide to
help you. Keep in mind, however, that you may face additional
challenges such as obtaining financing without a proven track record.
This guide was created also for entrepreneurs and housing or business
and retail developers, who may see the business potential of starting
a child care and development facility and who may need a better
understanding of the facility development process. For this latter
group, information is available to help identify and choose a
qualified operator for a new facility.
Technical assistance from project staff is also readily available, so please contact any of the project staff.
Opening and Operating a Child Care Center
When planning to expand, renovate, build or purchase a child care
center, it is essential to think through the entire process by
breaking activities down into four stages:
The above four stages will assist and guide you through the necessary
phases of successful child care center facility development.
Though the steps laid out in these stages are listed
sequentially here, some may occur simultaneously and other might not
be necessary depending on the type and scale of your project.
While this list represents a number of the activities involved in a
child care center facilities development project, each project is
unique. Therefore, in addition to reviewing these steps you should be
sure to identify what other steps might be required for your own
project.
Additional information is also available at Building Child Care
Project, a California statewide collaborative designed to help child
care providers navigate the process of financing and developing
facilities. For more
information about this project and its services call (888) 441-3535,
or visit the website at
www.buildingchildcare.org.
The River City Child Care Regional Office is responsible for processing and issuing child care centers licenses for Amador and Calaveras. You may call them at (916) 229-4530 or visit the website at http://www.ccld.ca.gov
Types of Child Care
There
are several types of child care available to children and families.
For the purposes of Constructing Connections of Amador and Calaveras
and this Resource Guide, the focus here is on center-based child care
programs.
Licensed
Family Child Care
-
Licensed family child care is offered in the home of the
provider, who is
licensed for care for up to eight children (with a small home license) or 14
children (with a large home license and an assistant).
License-exempt Care
-
License-exempt care may be offered by an individual in the home, if the care
is given to children from only one family, other than the provider’s.
This type of care is also referred to as Family, Friends and Neighbor
(FFN) and License Exempt Program (LEP) care.
Other programs may be license-exempt if they are provided on a school
site, such as an after school program, or on tribal lands, such as the
program provided by the Jackson Rancheria.
Licensed
Center-based Care
-
Licensed center-based care is offered in a facility other than a home, which
is licensed to care for more than 14 children and has specific requirements
for safety, staffing and other elements.
Child
care is typically divided into infant care (for children under two years),
toddler care (for children from 18 to 30 months).
Pre-school care can include children from two years until
kindergarten, and after-school care from kindergarten through grade 9.
Separate licenses are required by the state for serving different age
groups.
Subsidized child care is available for families who qualify by income level,
and includes Head Start (federally funded), State Preschool (ages 3 years to
kindergarten enrollment), and vouchers for all age groups through the
Alternative Payment Program, which is administered by
The Resource
Connection in Amador and Calaveras.