Like the other said, look into what your state and local area expects from you...
I am a licensed home provider, but am letting my license lapse... Why? In MI we need to be recertified in CPR (adult, infant, and child) YEARLY, plus, Blood borne pathogin training (as with a lot of laws the wording is so vauge, noone really is sure if its yearly or a one time thing. They say its up to the licensing agent for the area... Which changes frequently and without notice... So you really have to just do it, cause it might be ok with the one you have now, but not the next one and they would write you up as in violation... ), 10 clock hours of training yearly, and that is just the yearly stuff, not counting the logs that you have to keep monthly or daily for tornado drills, fire drill, attendence, menus, etc...
While I am all for all of the above because it helps better the providers and maintains a safe facility, I also have 4 of my own kiddos (One of them is 9 mos old)... So, although licensed for 6 kids, I can only care for 2 at any time because yes, YOUR kids count.... :-)
I can not in good consious charge the "going rate" knowing that the economy in MI is horrendous and the families I would be caring for are barely scraping by... so on our taxes it looks like I am operating as a loss business and I have been warned by our CPA that that is one really quick way to get audited... My hubby works 50 - 60 hour weeks so I would have to pay someone to watch MY kids so I can take the time "off" to get the trainings... Yes, some places offer night time trainings... But not all places do it consistently for you to fulfill the hours required.... (YOU can not leave the kids in the care of anyother person... EVER! Unless they are licensed under you = even less break away time even if hubby is home.)
I loved doing care! But I also want to be able to focus on my munchkins for a while.... :-)
I was licensed for 9 years and here are some of the things I did not realize when I first started...
You do not work a 40 hour week... If you are caring for a family full time its more like 50 plus hours... 5 days a week... depending on their schedule. You will have their kiddos THEIR whole shift, plus drive time... That means early mornings and late nights for you. If you have filled your legal allowence, You will not be doing your daily errands daily... Who wants to take 6 kids grocery shopping? So all those get pushed to the weekend and cut into the only "family" time you have unless you do care on weekends too... Then your shopping at midnight...
One year I had 6 kids in my home all summer 7,6,2,2,3 mos, 3 mos (my kids were the 6, one of the 2, and one of the 3 mos)... 12 hours a day, 5 days a week... I did have fun... right up till the point that my 5 month old ended up in the hospital (due to all the activity I was not able to sit and nurse him as long as he should have nursed so he got REALLY skinny during a growth spurt!) and the family switched providers and never paid me $300.- they owed me (they said the "check was in the mail" lol)...
You may have to be the only discipline a child ever recieves! And that is a tight rope walk!!! The 2 yr old mentioned above came to me and on the first day here he called me the "B" word 3 times... He bit, he hit, he swore, he played in his own excriment, he swore like a sailor... His parents blamed it on "friends who thought it would be funny"... But they did not stop them or teach him differently. It took me a week of just sticking to the rules (and lots of time outs) but he got it! He was a smart awesome kid that just needed guidance as to what was acceptable... His parents were even stunned at the change in him... Its been 3 years since they were in my care, but when we run into them in town he runs over and hugs me still! :-) (And the parents try to hide cause they have the guilty consious of not actually sending that check ... lol)
You will need to talk to the parents to find out how THEY punish their children and what THEY are comfortable with and will probibly at times have 2 sets of punishment standards... One for your kids and one for the other kids... Your kids will see this!
Also, do your drs and other appointment places have late hours, cause you will have to start doing all those AFTER the kids get picked up..
Yes, you can sign up with food programs and get a portion of your food expenses reimbursed back to you, you can get grants, you can claim a percentage of your expenses on your taxes...
Check what your laws are... Price out the actual cost of getting licensed (Furnace inspection, water test, finger printing, back ground checks, tb tests, to name a few)... Try it... I loved it... But also stay aware of your limitations.:-)