Understanding different Child care options in BC

A number of Parents have asked us time to time on what are the different types of Child care options in BC. With a number of child cares using different abbriviations, Parents sometimes feel confused and do not know how to go about searching the right Child care options that meets their needs. Through this post we will try to compare one-on-one different Child care options in BC

At a very top level there is Licensed & Unlicensed( (also known as licence-not-required) Child Care. Each Category has further sub divisions.

Licensed Child care

Licensed child care programs provide care for three or more children. They must meet specific requirements for health and safety, licence application, staffing qualifications, quality space and equipment, staff to child ratio, and program standards. You can check official list of Licensed child care in BC at the govt. of BC website.

Licensed Child care can be further categorised into three major categories – Group Child care (loosely referred as Daycares), Family child care (Also referred as Family home, Dayhome, Home based daycare, FCC) and Preschool. Group Child cares are full day programs while Preschools are part-day programs typically running one morening and one evening sessions of upto 4 hours each.

Group Child Care 

Usually Group Child care,also referred loosly as Daycare, serves children from birth to school age (Grade 1). Typically they run full day starting anywhere between 6:00-8:00 am in the morning until 5:00-6:00 pm in the evening. Snacs and foods are usually provided and included in the overall monthly fee. Most group childcare accept government subsidies.

Some Group Child care may have the license to run a Multi-age Child care (Also reffered as Before and After School Care, Out of school care). They are similar to Group Child Care but serve children from birth to age 12 and offer extended hours. The Multi-Age child care categories allow early childhood educators (ECEs) to care for the same number of children as they would care for in a group setting because of their specific training.

Group Child Care may provide Occational child care service as long as it is provided for children at least 18 months old and for part-time or occasional care only and care is for a maximum of 8 hours a day and no more than 40 hours per calendar month.

Family Child Care (FCC)

Probably the life-saver Child care options for Vancouver Parents where Group Child Cares are almost impossible to get due to a huge demand-supply gap in number of licensed child care spaces available. Licensed Family Child Care is almost similar to Group Child care with almost similar licensing requirements except that it can be offered in child care providers own home, and serves a maximum of 7 children from birth to age 12 [up to 8 children in case of In-home Multi-age Child care]. Family Child Care is the provision of care in a licensee’s personal place of residence, with the licensee personally providing care. It includes opportunities for the social, emotional, physical and intellectual growth of children. The importance of a home-like environment and the provision of family centered activities are emphasized. Check out the standards of Practice for Family Child care on govt BC website here.

Family Child Care, similar to Group Child care may choose to provide Occational child care service as long as it stick to the same directives as Group child care.

Preschools

Serve children from 30 months to school entry. Preschools are part-day programs, typically operating on the school-year, September to June. Some Preschools also run through summer and typically run 2 sessions one in the morning and one in the after noon, each session typically runs 3-4 hours each.

Unlicensed Child Care

This is the other major category of Child care in BC. An acute shortage of licensed child care spaces in BC has resulted in many Parents getting into a personal child care arrangement with care providers.

Within unlicensed category, there are again 2 subcategories. Licence-Not-Required Child Care (LNR) and Registered Licence-Not-Required Child Care (RLNR). While Both the LNR and RLNR providers are not required to meet standards of care set by any external agencies, RLNR  providers are registered with a Child Care Resource and Referral Centre. The registration process includes criminal record checks, character and physicians references, a home-setting review, as well as providing proof of first aid and child care training. Registered care providers have access to support, training, resources and group liability insurance. Also, families are eligible for a higher subsidy rate if they use a registered care provider instead of a non-registered one.

Babysitting services or In-Own-Home Care also kind of falls in this same Unlicensed category. Parents arrange for someone to look after their child in their own home. Parents choose how to screen and hire the provider which will be considered an employee. Choosing this option means that parents are responsible for:
– Making regular payments to Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan
– Registering the employment situation with Revenue Canada and WorkSafeBC

Which type of Child care option is best for me?

This is a question many new parents ask me and unfortunately I donot have a clear answer to this question. Every Parent is different, Every kid is different, Everyone’s situation is different. I suggest that before starting the search for the right Child care options, you need to answer few questions based on your current situation and preference. This will provide you a starting point. After that, its all about visiting as many Child care in that category as possible, getting on waiting lists of as many possible and then make a informaed decision.

Here are some of the questions you will need to answer first in order to decide what arrangement works best for you?

1. Is your child happier when in a big group of kids or requires more personal attention?
2. Do you need subsidy? Its easier to get a subsidy with Licensed Child care than an Unlicensed arrangements
3. How urgent is your need for a Child care?
4. Hiring for in-own-home care may mean additional tasks of registering employement and making payments to Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plans. Are you ready to take that up
5. In the end, Trust your own initial feelings about the facilities, the programming and the people – if the setting feels right to you, it will probably be good for your child.

Ready to start the Child care search?

A good place to start the Child care search will be to use the Daycare Finder from Carewiser . You can use different filter criteria to find the right daycare matching your requirements and location. Not only that, Carewiser daycare finder tool provides you the most-important “Vacancy” Information regarding a Child care listed on Carewiser. You can subscribe to Vacancy alerts and we will send you emails whenever a new vacancy is reported matching your criteria. So yeah, SEARCH -> SUBSCRIBE -> FORGET, and our hard working Child care matchmaker keeps workigng for you 🙂

Any comments, suggestions, mistakes, please let me know.