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Child Care Health Promotion
This program supports child care providers and parents/guardians in providing a safe and healthy child care environment
where children thrive. A public health nurse is available for face-to-face or telephone consultations on any health-related
issue in child care.
Issues
Child care is no longer just "babysitting". Licensed child care providers are required to have knowledge of child
development and to have continuing training in topics relevant to providing high quality care.
Steps to choosing child care
(Adapted from the Washington State Department of Social & Health Services publication, Choosing Child Care:
A Consumer Guide for Parents.)
- Learn about the different kinds of child care and what makes quality caregiving.
- List the things you feel are important for your child and you.
- Collect names of potential child care providers.
- Screen several child care providers over the phone by asking about:
- Make appointments to visit three or more sites. It's important to check them out in person. You can't rely on hearsay or phone conversations alone.
- Be sure to ask all of your questions during the visits. Link to a checklist:
http://www.del.wa.gov/publications/licensing/docs/ChildCareChecklist.pdf
- Check references on your final choice(s) by talking to parents with children in the program and calling the local office of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services to find out if there have been complaints or actions taken.
- Take your child to visit the final choice(s). If possible, let your child help make the final decision.
- Trust your intuition and your observations. No setting is perfect, and you'll need to figure out which compromises you're willing to make.
- Read the caregiver's parent handbook or their written policies and procedures carefully. Be sure to sign a contract or agreement form with the caregiver, and make your mutual expectations clear, including the fee structure, holidays, vacations and refunds.
- Establish substitute caregivers in case your child is ill, or your provider goes on vacation or is closed.
Changes in caregivers are hard on children, so it's a good idea to make your decision and give it a fair trial period.
It's far better to do a careful job of choosing child care in the first place. But, if you or your child are unhappy with
the arrangement, change to a new site using the steps above. Unless the situation is critical, give your caregiver at
least two weeks notice of your intent to remove your child from their program.
Facts & Figures
- Licensed child care "slots" available in Kittitas County
declined from 754 to 690 from 2003 to 2007.
- It is very difficult to find infant care, and no
licensed providers offer overnight care.
- A teacher at a child care center earns about half as
much as a kindergarten teacher.
- Median household income in Kittitas County is just under $40,000
a year. Full-time infant care costs about 20% of
that.
- If a family needs care for both an infant and a
preschooler, it will take about one third of the median
income.
Resources & Links
The program is made possible by funding from the Washington
State Department of Health, Healthy Child Care Washington:
http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/micah/InfantChildHlth/infantchildsfty/default.htm
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