This is a copy of a new Arizona law that went into effect this past Fall as far as I can figure it out.
It states on page 1, Letter A, line 6 "A child care facility shall not receive any child for care unless the facility is licensed by the department of health services."
http://www.azsos.gov/public_services/chapter_laws/2010/49...
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This one says, on the bottom line of page 1, you cannot have more that a 1:5 ratio of kids at any time but it also states you can have up to 15 kids so that would mean hiring staff for the amount of kids you stated you wanted to consider.
http://www.azdhs.gov/als/guides/guide.pdf
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Here is a copy of the child care home regulations for you to read. I can't find this former note anywhere so this may be an outdated version of the state regulations.
According to what I read if you watch even one child that is not your own child you can face charges and fines for operating an unlicensed/un-certified child care business.
The fines can be quite high. It would not be worth it to do this with the risk of someone turning you in. If it happens you are out of luck. Not "knowing" you are breaking state law is not an excuse.
Please call your local office to get a copy of the most current regulations and ask them about what you are wanting to do.
Having a home child care business can be very fulfilling but doing it the right way will allow you to accept financial assistance from low income families, it will allow you to turn in receipts for food purchases to the national food program to get a lot of it reimbursed, it will allow you to claim all kinds of deductions on your taxes. There are many many benefits of being a legally certified business.
Good luck with this idea.
In Oklahoma we get $11-$15 per school aged child per day. So your fees are higher for kids in our state. I would charge less and tell the parents to buy their kids their own passes to the water park but you are taking on tons of liability for having the kids at a water feature anyway. The reg's will probably state you have to have 2-1 ratio with the kids at any kind of water activity.
Here is Oklahoma's pay scale to child care facilities and to child care homes if the family is getting assistance for the purpose of paying for their child care.
http://www.okdhs.org/NR/rdonlyres/2E81F###-###-####-487B-...
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Have fun!!!!
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Here is a link to an article from our Oklahoma DHS about how to get into child care as a business. It is good information that is thought out and easy to read. It may offer some good advice to you.
http://www.okdhs.org/nr/rdonlyres/e7de27a5-31a6-45ce-950f...