Private Dayhome regulations in alberta

[JHolkemama]

Hi Ladies, I am looking for a website or some basic information on privately run dayhomes in alberta (edmonton specifically). I have no problem finding licensed dayhome information, but I was wanting info on regulations for those of us not licensed. I just opened a couple of months ago and have been going by the standards of licensed dayhomes, but I was just wondering if things like ages, number of children in care, etc. Thanks

[mom-in-alberta]

Funny you should ask... I just spoke with someone last week at the Alberta government in regards to the same things. I was getting very frustrated because I was trying to find some specific information and was getting very conflicting info. And I've been running my dayhome for over a year now!!
Basically; this is what I was told: there are no regulations when it comes to a PRIVATE dayhome in Alberta.
Crazy, no? That is why there is so much mis-information out there. The regulations changed in late 2009, to define the different types of childcare. People are still thinking of the old guidelines, or mingling the old and new. A licensed facility with 7 or more children in care is under one set of rules, a privately licensed facility with 6 or fewer children (that works with an agency) is under a separate set. A completely privately run dayhome is really under no umbrella of regulation whatsoever. I was a little surprised.
I believe that this is the governments way of "encouraging" parents to choose licensed childcare over non. IE: "Well, if you pick a private provider, you are on your own!!"
When I spoke with the woman at the government, I didn't give her an indication of whether I was a provider or a parent. She warned me that if I was looking for care for my kids, the onus was on me to make a judgment about the number of children being cared for and the ages, whether I felt the provider could give the proper care to them or react appropriately in an emergency (getting the kids out of the house, etc).
This was good news for me, because with 4 kids 10 and under of my own, I was quite worried about who counted for what in my ratios, etc. Apparently, I don't need to worry. That being said, I will continue to use the regulations for a licensed private dayhome as a guideline for myself, in addition to common sense. I won't take on 4 non-walking kids, because that would be madness should we ever need to evacuate the home. But I am not really going to include my 10 and 8 year old sons when I consider how many kids I take on, since they don't really require my "care" anymore, lol.
Anyway, I hope that helps. I don't have the name and number of the woman I spoke with handy, but I can see if I can track it down for you if you would like to talk to her as well.

[mom-in-alberta]

If you are interested in accessing information about Child Care Programs in Alberta, you can go to:

www.child.alberta.ca

[FS2011]

I have been researching this a bit because my parents live in Edmonton (me in BC, and am licensed) and we considered moving to Edmonton. I liked that as a licensed centre I could have 7 not including my own, right? It's very confusing in Alberta tho! I must say! Plus I found the rules very slack compared to us in bc. Not licensed can be shut down if they run with more then 2 kids(plus own) how can you feed a family on that kind of income!?

[BestforKids]

I have been researching this a bit because my parents live in Edmonton (me in BC, and am licensed) and we considered moving to Edmonton. I liked that as a licensed centre I could have 7 not including my own, right? It's very confusing in Alberta tho! I must say! Plus I found the rules very slack compared to us in bc. Not licensed can be shut down if they run with more then 2 kids(plus own) how can you feed a family on that kind of income!?

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Hello, Great thread here. I am with Best For Kids (Bestforkids.ca), we are a dayhome advocacy group in Alberta and are very up to speed on these regulations for both private and accredited. To say there are no regulations for private day homes is a bit misleading. For example, private dayhomes do have the ability for a caregiver not to count their children into the ratio, however, they also must count all children under the age of 16 (who are not theirs) into their 'children in care' ratio of 6 maximum unlike accredited programs who are allowed to include as many children as they live over the age of 12.

Therefore, a private dayhome is permitted have up to 6 children in care + the caregiver's own children, which do not count into the ratio. So, to clarify, the province does have regulations on private day homes, which are as follows:

1. No more than 6 children in care (no age restrictions, applies to both accredited and private dayhome programs. The only way you can have more than 6 children in care is if you are licensed with a 'Group Family Childcare' license or a 'Daycare' license. No regular dayhome, private or accredited, can have more than 6 children in care at any one time).

2. In a private dayhome program, the caregiver's own children DO NOT count into the 6 child ratio (unlike registered programs, where the caregiver's children do count into the ratio)

3. Private dayhomes DO NOT have age related ratios unlike registered dayhome programs. This is something that confuses many people because the Alberta Family services website only lists the regulations for accredited programs, and really does not make reference to regulations related to private programs. However, as mom-in-Alberta noted, if you call in the one of the Calgary offices, they will clear it up for you.

4. In a private dayhome, all 'children in care' under the age of 16 count into the ratio, as opposed to an accredited program where children 12 and over do not count into the 6 'childcare in care' ratio, hence why many accredited programs earn additional revenue by running an after school program without ratio concerns. This is one of the give and takes of a private program. Whilst the caregivers children do not count in to the program ratios, a private program cannot have any more than 6 children in care regardless of age). The kicker on this is that the city bylaw does not allow more than 6 'children in care' (not including the caregiver's children because the city's concern is over residential traffic vs childcare concerns). So, if an accredited program does accept after school care kids that cause them to exceed the 6 'children in care' ratio, they are technically in contravention of the city's bylaws. However, this does not seem to stop them as this is quite a common operational policy for providers, and does help alleviate the after school bottleneck in the city.

Conclusion: Private programs are a very good way for a mother with children to stay home and run a dayhome program while they care for their own children. This was a really good move by the province and does allow these programs to be both safe and lucrative for the program provider. Parents should always do their due diligence (we have noted MANY accredited and private programs in the city that are run, in our opinion, sub standard - so using accreditation as your measure might not be the best. Parents should judge a program based on a combination of their personal visit, program references, etc... rather than a reliance on a provincial designation).

There are also a few other considerations with regard to age related ratios. The other side of the coin is that if a program is trying to care for a multi-age group of children, then there may be safety concerns related to the developmentally appropriateness of toys (for example, a 4 year old can play with small toys that might be a choking hazard for an infant). Also, even if a program has 6 children under the age of 2, a good provider will ensure that 2 children are likely napping at any one time during the day meaning that, aside from mealtime, drop off and pick up, they would really only be actively caring for 4 children. I have seen this in action and it works well. Also, a having children of the same developmental level means they can engage in age appropriate group activities together. This is much more challenging in a care environment with age diversity ranging from infant to 4 years old. So there is a bit of another perspective on all this for you all to consider.

[Dcoole]

Ok so here's a scenario. Private day home in Alberta had two care takers full time in home. Does that mean the 1:6 ratio applies to bothe providers? Say there are 10 kids and two providers and 2 kids are only part time. Being that it's private is that ratio ok?

[MommaL]

Ok so here's a scenario. Private day home in Alberta had two care takers full time in home. Does that mean the 1:6 ratio applies to bothe providers? Say there are 10 kids and two providers and 2 kids are only part time. Being that it's private is that ratio ok?

What you are describing sounds like a group family daycare (where there are more than 6 children and more than one provider), which would require a license. Otherwise (from my understanding), it doesn't matter how many caregivers you have, you still can only have 6 kids in a private day home. I believe this is same no matter what province you reside in (i.e. you can't have more kids in a private daycare just because there is more than one caregiver).

[mom-in-alberta]

I found it very difficult to get clear and concise information. I was looking online, and for every 5 websites I found, I found 5 different answers. I tried to search the government of Alberta website, to no avail. The information I did find was vague (I was trying to determine whether my kids count in the ratios and what the ages should be). I called our local family services, who run a licensed provider agency. All they wanted to talk about was getting me to be a part of their program. They wouldn't answer any questions about what the rules are as they apply to my situation as is.
I need to run privately, since (as I mentioned) if I was working with an agency, most if not all of my kids would "count" and I would not be able to take in the extra child necessary for this to provide the income I require.

[MunchkinMinder]

Ok, so let me get this straight....I run a small private day home in Calgary...there are NO regulations on age/numbers/anything that I am to follow??? That just doesn't sound right!!!

[mom-in-alberta]

Ok, so let me get this straight....I run a small private day home in Calgary...there are NO regulations on age/numbers/anything that I am to follow??? That just doesn't sound right!!!

Kinda scary, huh?
As I said, I was told that it is up to THE PARENT to determine whether a private childcare arrangement is suitable/safe, etc for their child. We are bound by basic law, however to provide kids in our care proper food, hygenic living situations, etc. Child protective services could be called if basic care is not being provided. But it's more the people that would get involved if your neighbor was abusive and you reported them, as opposed to Alberta's childcare regulators.
On the one hand, it's nice, because I may not be able to take in enough kids with an agency to make it worth my while. However, as a parent AND a caregiver, it causes me to hope that there aren't any untrustworthy individuals taking advantage of the regulations (or lack of!).