Precious cargo

Connie Roberson’s children are grown, but she remembers all too well what it was like when she had her first baby and was looking for child-care providers. Back then, she was a recent graduate of Chico State’s Child Development Program and planning to pursue a teaching credential.

But then that sweet little baby, a boy, changed those plans.

Instead of returning to the university, she opened a family-day-care business in her home, where she was able to care for her own children, four altogether, as well as children from other families—many other families over the course of 23 years.

For the past 11 years, she’s worked at Valley Oak Children’s Services. The local nonprofit specializes in assisting both child-care providers and families in a variety of ways, including helping working parents find child care, which, as Roberson attests, can be a difficult and stressful experience.

“The thought of talking to people you don’t know and leaving your baby with them is tough,” she said.

Roberson, a child-development coordinator with Valley Oak, gives parents referrals of licensed providers—family (in-home) providers, child-care centers and certain exempt providers—with openings to fill. (The service is free.) The options are narrowed by certain information, such as the child’s age, the desired location, along with the requested days and hours of care. That info is entered into a computer program, resulting in a randomized list, she said.

To make sure parents aren’t overwhelmed, Roberson said she gives parents only about 10 providers at a time. And her advice to parents is to call everyone on the list. Of course, that initial call should be followed up by an in-person visit, ideally more than one, she said.

“I encourage parents to spend a long time with the provider to make sure it’s going to be a good fit,” she said.

Parents should ask a lot of questions and thoroughly check out the environment, she said. To that end, Roberson gives them a list of good questions through a handout titled “Choosing Child Care—5 Steps to Finding Care,” which advises parents to be informed, look, count, ask and listen (as in “listen for joyful noise from the children”).

Roberson noted that the referrals aren’t recommendations and was echoed by Karen Marlatt, executive director of Valley Oak, who stressed that parents are encouraged to call the organization should questions or concerns arise. Workshops for parents and child-care providers are available through the organization, as well as books, toys and other resources through its library.

“We see ourselves as a family-strengthening organization,” she said.

Roberson said each family’s needs and preferences vary. Some parents like the idea of leaving their children with a family provider in a home-like environment, while others feel more comfortable with center-based care, where there are multiple caregivers on hand. She explained some of the major differences between the two types of providers. In a nutshell, family caregivers must be fingerprinted and have background checks, plus obtain 15 hours of health and safety training. Centers must adhere to those requirements, but have additional educational components for its staff members, including a mandatory on-site director.

(Check out the state Department of Social Services’ child-care fact sheets at http://ccld.ca.gov/PG2683.htm to learn more.)

Ratios are another factor families need to consider. The ratio at a center is one adult for a maximum of four infants (children under age 2) and one-to-12 for children ages 3 to 5. The ratios for family-day-care homes are more complicated. Small in-home providers licensed for six children, for example, may have no more than three infants. Large providers licensed for 12 children may have no more than four infants. (There are licenses for 8- and 14-child providers, as well).

Roberson refers parents to Community Care Licensing, the state agency under the Department of Social Services, to review the perspective provider’s facility file, which holds any complaints as well as info on mandated evaluations. Valley Oak isn’t an evaluating or licensing agency, and has nothing to do with enforcement, she noted.

But even if a provider has a stellar record, Roberson said parents should not hesitate to walk away should they sense something is off.

“I always tell people, ‘Go with your gut,’” she said.