United States Department of Agriculture Rural Information Center

Starting a Child Care Center

Contents

 

Image: Story Telling Session

Introduction

Access to quality, affordable child care is a national priority as the number of two income and single parent families continue to increase.  Most parents select one of three types of child care facilities: family care, home care, or day care. Each type has advantages and disadvantages to consider in establishing a child care facility along with the decision to establish either a nonprofit or for profit child care facility.

This resource guide was revised and updated by Patricia LaCaille John June 2005 and partially revised and modified by July 2008.

Types of Child Care Programs

  1. Child Care Options. Mary Duncomb. WW-07268. St. Paul: University of Minnesota, Extension Service, 1998. 4 p. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/familydevelopment/components/7268i.html

  2. Choosing Child Care: Child Care Options. Amy Fackler. Boise, ID: Healthwise, Inc., 2003. 3 p. http://www.pamf.org/health/healthinfo/index.cfm?section=healthinfo&page=article
    &sgml_id=aa43308

Child Care Partnerships and Cooperatives

  1. About Cooperatives: Childcare and Preschools. Washington, DC: National Cooperative Business Association. http://www.ncba.coop/abcoop_child.cfm

  2. Child Care That Works: Child Care Cooperatives. Lesia Oesterreich. PM 1808. Ames: Iowa State University, University Extension, 1999. 2 p. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publications/pm1808.pdf

  3. A Guide to Successful Public-Private Partnerships for Child Care. Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center, n.d. 23 p. http://nccic.org/library/index.cfm?do=oll.viewitem&itemid=17935

  4. Partnerships and Collaboration Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center. http://nccic.org/topics/topic/index.cfm?topicId=4

  5. Public-Private Partnerships in Child Care. Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center, 2004. 11 p. http://nccic.org/poptopics/public-private.html

Starting a Child Care Center

  1. Child Care: An Action Manual for Communities. Lesia Oesterreich. PM-1739. Ames: Iowa State University, University Extension, 1997. 52 p. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1739.pdf

  2. Child Care Financial Basics. Lesia Oesterreich. PM-1751. Ames: Iowa State University, University Extension, 1998. 24 p. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1751.pdf

  3. Early Childhood Facilities. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2005. 28 p. http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/earlychildcenters.cfm

  4. How to Start a Quality Child Care Business. MP-29. Washington, DC: U.S. Small Business Administration, 1987? 69 p. http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/pub_mp29.pdf

  5. Liability Insurance and the Child Care Center. Carol Volker. Ames: Iowa State University Extension, 1995. 10 p. http://www.nncc.org/Business/liabil.ins.ccc.html

  6. Perspectives on Rural Child Care. Betty A. Beach. ERIC Digest, ED403102, 1997. 4 p. http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-3/rural.html

  7. SBA's Online Business Course: How to Start a Business. 12 Session Course. City of Industry, CA: My Own Business, Inc. http://www.myownbusiness.org/course_sba.html

  8. Small Business Planner. Washington, DC: Small Business Administration. http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

  9. Starting and Operating a Child Care Business. Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center, 2008. 22 p. http://nccic.org/resources/index.cfm?do=resource.viewitem&resourceid=13558

Family Child Care Providers

  1. Liability Insurance and the Family Child Care Provider. Brenda Cude, Carol Volker. NCR 395. Ames: Iowa State University Extension, 1993. 12 p. http://www.nncc.org/Business/liabil.ins.fcc.html

  2. Starting and Operating a Child Care Business. Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center, 2008. 22 p. http://nccic.org/resources/index.cfm?do=resource.viewitem&resourceid=13558

Employer Sponsored Child Care

  1. Child Care Options for Employers. PM-1712. Ames: Iowa State University, University Extension, 1997. 56 p. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1712.pdf

  2. Employer-Support Child Care. Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center, 2005. 6 p. http://nccic.org/poptopics/employersupportedcc.html

  3. Employer Toolkit Template. Fairfax, VA: National Child Care Information Center, 2005. 63 p. http://nccic.org/library/index.cfm?do=oll.viewitem&itemid=3777

  4. Kids at Work: The Value of Employer-Sponsored On-Site Child Care Centers. Connelly, Rachel, Deborah S. DeGraff, and Rachel A. Willis. Kalamazoo, MI: Bowdoin CollegeW.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2004. 175 p. http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/titles/kaw.html

Funding Sources

When starting the funding search be sure to review federal, state, and private resources that you could use for your child care service.  First determine your profit or nonprofit status,  then develop a business plan, http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/small_business.htm. Next consult Grant Writing Resources for assistance in preparing successful proposals and in obtaining funding applications and a DUNS number that is required of all organizations/entities applying for a federal grant or cooperative agreement.

Federal

Child Care Facilities

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has two agencies with start-up/expansion funding programs.  The Rural Housing Service, http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/index.html, (RHS) has facility funding available for non profits or local governments that support child care facilities. The Rural Business-Cooperative Service, http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/index.html, has guaranteed loan programs for small business development available for profit child care programs. To determine eligibility or to apply for any of the programs listed below, contact your state or local Rural Development Office, http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/recd_map.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has funding programs that support child care services. The Child Care Bureau, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/ has several funding programs for child care facilities.

Details and contact information for the programs below are available in our Federal Funding Sources for Rural Areas Database. Please search in the database by name or number for more information. Also, check with your state contact listed below for more information.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) supports child care facilities near or within public housing, EZ/EC's, or low-income areas through facility construction using block grants, programs, and networks.  To determine eligibility or to apply for any of the programs listed below, contact your state HUD office. http://www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provides small businesses financing options, technical assistance, and child care resource information. Check you local SBA offices at http://www.sba.gov/localresources/index.html for more information and applications.

U.S. General Services Administration has a program that allows the donation of surplus federal personal property (computers etc.) to state and local public agencies and qualifying nonprofits, which include child care centers.
http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/channelView.do?pageTypeId=8211&channelId=-13016.

Details and contact information for the program is available in our Federal Funding Sources for Rural Areas Database. Please search in the database by name or number for more information.
Donation of Federal Surplus Personal Property Program (39.003)

The U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section provides information to child care centers regarding compliance to the Americans with Disabilities Act.  This program has an ADA Information Line (1-800-514-0301) that provides answers to general and technical questions about ADA compliance.

Food Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has funding programs that support child care centers and family day care homes by providing assistance through the Food and Nutrition Service food programs.  To determine eligibility or to apply for the program listed below, contact your state agency that administers the Child Nutrition Programs, http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Contacts/StateDirectory.htm.

Additional Information on Food Programs:

Child Care/Youth and After-School Programs

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Head Start, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/ has programs that assist with nutrition, health, and education readiness for young children. To determine eligibility or to apply for any of the programs listed below, contact your regional office or the the National Child Care Information Center, http://nccic.org/.

  • Early Head Start National Resource Center, http://www.ehsnrc.org/

    • Regional Offices for the Administration on Children and Families: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/ (Region 1: 617-565-1020; Region 2: 212-264-2890; Region 3: 215-861-4000; Region 4: 404-562-2800; Region 5: 312-353-4237; Region 6: 214-767-9648; Region 7: 816-426-3981; Region 8: 303-844-3100; Region 9: 415-437-8400; Region 10: 206-615-2547)

  • Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Quality Improvement Centers, http://www.mhsqic.org/

  • Financing Strategies, http://www.nccic.org/topics/topic/index.cfm?topicId=14

U.S. Department of Education programs that assist with child care efforts:

  • The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (84.287) program offers an after-school environment that provides enrichment opportunities for children.
    http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/index.html

    Details and contact information for the program is available in our Federal Funding Sources for Rural Areas Database. Please search in the database by name or number for more information.
    http://ric.nal.usda.gov/nal_web/ric/ffd.php

  • The Child Care Access Means Parents in School (84.335) program provides funding to support or establish child care programs serving low-income students enrolled in college.  Only institutions of higher education are eligible.
    http://www.ed.gov/programs/campisp/index.html

    Details and contact information for the program is available in our Federal Funding Sources for Rural Areas Database. Please search in the database by name or number for more information.
    http://ric.nal.usda.gov/nal_web/ric/ffd.php

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has funding programs available that assist with the crime prevention aspect that some after-school care programs address.  These programs are mainly set up for public entities, established youth programs and nonprofit organizations focusing on crime prevention in their communities. http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/programs/index.html

Additional After-School Program Resources:

Native American Programs

Additional Resources

State

Consult the child care resources and referral agency in your area for information on available state funding and/or technical assistance programs, licensing and regulations.

Private

Most private funding is available to organizations and government entities

Technical Assistance

Funding Guides

Child Care Statistics/Data

  1. Child Daycare Services. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs032.htm

  2. Children in the States. Washington, DC: Children Defense Fund. http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_state_information_children_in_the_states

  3. ChildStats.gov, Washington, DC. http://www.childstats.gov/

  4. City & Rural Kids Count: Data Book. Baltimore, MD: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2004. 206 p http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/rural_databook/

Journals

Child Care Bulletin
National Child Care Information Center
http://nccic.org/ccb/index.html

The Future of Children
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
http://www.futureofchildren.org/

Organizations

Children's Defense Fund
25 E Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20001
202-628-8787
Email: cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

National Association for Family Child Care
5202 Pinemont Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84123
801-269-9338
Email: nafcc@nafcc.org
http://www.nafcc.org/

National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives
46 Blackjack Road
P.O. Box 6013
Mississippi State, MS 39762
662-325-4954
Fax: 662-325-5436
http://ruralec.msstate.edu/

National Child Care Information Center
10530 Rosehaven St., Suite 400
Fairfax, VA 22030
800-616-2242
Fax: 800-716-2242
TTY: 800-516-2242
Email: info@nccic.org
http://nccic.org

USDA, Rural Information Center
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Ave., Room 132
Beltsville, MD 20705-2351
ric@nal.usda.gov
1-800-633-7701