Child Care Options

Family Child Care Homes -- Care offered in the home of the provider, who is often a parent. The number of children a family child care provider can care for at one time depends on the ages of the children and whether or not there is an assistant or a second provider. Often care is provided for a mixed age group of children. Family Child Care Homes are licensed by the State.

Child Care Centers -- A facility that can provide care for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children all or part of the day. Although generally larger than family child care homes, centers may be large or small and can be operated independently or by a church or other organization. Sometimes child care centers are called nursery schools or preschool programs. Child Care Centers are licensed by the State.

In-home Care -- A friend, relative, babysitter, or nanny cares for your child in your home, full time or part time. This kind of care is not licensed, but you can use TrustLine, a registry of providers who have submitted their fingerprints to the Department of Justice and have no disqualifying child abuse or criminal convictions in California, to find out important background information about the caregiver.

Home Care Providers -- Home care providers may care for children from only one other family besides their own. Children go to the provider's home for care. There is no licensing for these providers. TrustLine is available if you choose a home care provider.

TrustLine -- a registry created by the California Legislature to give parents an important tool to use when selecting an in-home or home care provider for their children. All child care providers listed with TrustLine have submitted their fingerprints to the California Department of Justice and have no disqualifying criminal convictions in California. In addition, some but not all child care providers listed with TrustLine have also received a clearance from an FBI criminal record check. For more information about TrustLine, visit their website or call 1-800-822-8490 (within California) or 415-882-0234 (outside California).

Information source: California Child Care Resource and Referral Network