Find Quality Child Care

How to Find Quality Child Care

5 Steps to Finding Quality Child Care

There are 5 steps you can take that will help you find quality child care:

1. Start Early
2. Call Agenda for Children
3. Visit Programs
4. Choose a Program
5. Stay Involved

1. Start Early

Start looking as far in advance as you can. No matter what type of care you are considering—a child care center, care in someone’s home, or a school-based program—finding the right child care option can take some time.

2. Call Agenda for Children

If you live in Southeast Louisiana, call Agenda for Children, your local Child Care Resource & Referral agency at 1-800-486-1712 to receive a child care referral or to use our online child care search option.

Questions to ask:

• What should I look for in a good early learning center or family child care home?
• What are the licensing requirements in my area?
• How can I get information about complaints and licensing violations?
• Does my family qualify for any financial assistance?

You can learn more about early learning centers’ licensing compliance, including licensing violations, at the Louisiana Department of Education.

Find more info at LDE

3. Visit The Program

When you visit a child care center or family child care home, you will want to consider these indicators of quality: quality rating, adult to child ratio, group size, accreditation, child care provider turnover, and child care provider qualifications.

Quality Rating

Type III early learning centers, preschools located in a public school, Head Start or Early Head Start programs and certain private schools must participate in Louisiana’s rating system for early care and education programs. Each program is rated on the quality of teacher-child interactions in their classrooms.

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) includes that information in the Performance Profiles they create for each program. As a parent, you may even be eligible to receive an enhanced tax credit on your Louisiana state income tax if you choose a center with two or more stars.

LDE Performance Profiles on LouisianaSchools.com

LDE Early Childhood Site Performance Profile Guide

Adult to Child Ratio

Ask how many children there are for each adult. The fewer the children for each adult, the better for your child. You want your child to get plenty of attention. The younger your child, the more important this is.

The experts at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) recommend that babies need an adult to child ratio of no more than 1 adult for 3 or 4 infants, while most 4-year-olds can do well with a ratio of one adult for 8-10 children. In general, Louisiana law allows centers to have higher child:staff ratios than what is recommended by NAEYC.

If you choose a licensed child care center, the center must have child to staff ratios of no more than:

If you choose a family child care home, the child to adult ratio should be no more than six children to one adult. Many programs choose to keep lower child to staff ratios than are required by law, so be sure to ask about it.

Group Size

Find out how many children are in the group. The smaller the group, the better for your child. NAEYC recommends that babies need a group size of no more than 6-8 in a room. Four-year-olds should be in a group of no more than 16-20 children.

State licensing regulations for group size are:

Accreditation

Find out if the child care provider has been accredited by a national organization. Accredited programs have voluntarily met standards for child care that are higher than state licensing requirements. The National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA) are two prominent organizations that provide accreditation.

Turnover

Check how long the child care providers have been at the center or providing care in their homes. It is best if children stay with the same child care provider for at least a year. It is hard for children if their child care providers change frequently.

Child Care Provider Qualifications

Ask about the child care providers’ training and education. Child care providers with special training in working with children are better able to help your child learn.

• Have the child care providers received training to work with children, such as a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an AA or BA degree in early childhood education or a related field?
• Are the child care providers involved in ongoing professional activities to improve their skills related to caring for children?
• Is there always someone present who is certified in CPR and first-aid training?
• Have the adults been trained on child abuse prevention and how to report suspected cases?
• Have the adults who work at the program received background checks with fingerprint?

4. Choose a Child Care Center

After visiting your child care options, spend some time thinking about what you saw during each visit. To help you make the best choice for your child and family, our partners at Child Care Aware have developed a checklist of things to look for as you make this decision.

Download Is This The Right Place For My Child?

Child Care Aware also offers information and a checklist of considerations for parents of children with special needs.

Learn more at Child Care Aware

5. Stay Involved!

Your work is not over when you find good care for your child. You and your child care provider are partners now. Stay involved!

• Meet regularly with your childcare provider and ask questions.
• Volunteer time when needed, like participating in clean up days or fixing broken toys.
• Visit your child at the program and read a book aloud.
• Join in special events, such as field trips, Career Day, Black History Month or Family Night.
• If you cannot get time off from work during the day, check in at drop-off and pick-up times. Ask your child care provider how things are going and how your child is doing.

Visiting and participating in events at your child’s program when possible sends a strong message. It tells your child and your child care provider that you think what your child is doing and learning is important.

These Five Steps to Choosing Quality Care were based upon publications developed by our partners at Child Care Aware.