Parent's Guide - information on child care referrals, child care licensing, and DHS child care billing
Click Here for a List of Important Questions to ask when interviewing Child Care Providers
Types of Licensed Child Care
The Great Start Regional Resource Center / 4C of the U.P. only refers childcare providers who are licensed or registered by the State of Michigan Bureau of Adult and Children Licensing Division. Anyone in the State of Michigan that cares for unrelated children in their home for more than 4 weeks in a year needs to have a license. There are three types of licensed providers available through the referral service:
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Family day care homes are registered to care for up to six children in the provider's own home. Of these children no more than two may be under the age of 18 months according to Family Day Care Licensing Rules.
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Group day care homes are licensed to care for up to twelve children in the licensee's home. Whenever more than six children are in attendance there must also be a second adult caregiver present. No more than two children per caregiver may be under the age of 18 months according to Group Day Care Licensing Rules.
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Child care centers are licensed facilities other than a private residence and generally described as a child care center, day care center, day nursery, nursery school, parent cooperative preschool, pre-kindergarten, drop-in center or school age before/after school programs. Centers may be licensed for infants to 13 years of age. The ratio of staff to children for 2½ years of age and under is one staff to four children per Child Care Center Licensing Rules.
Need Childcare?
Great Start has developed an online referral service for parents! You can now access a list of licensed child care directly by going online to Great Start Connect and click on "Early Learning". Click on Great Start Connect button!
It will open to a page where you select the type of care you want...family home, group home or center. Next, you will choose the location. You can either choose a whole county or just choose the city or cities you want. If you type in the first few letters, the options will appear. Checkmark what options you want. You will see what you are choosing along the right side of the screen. Next is the page where you choose the age of the youngest child you are seeking care for, the age of the oldest child, and the hours and days of the week. If only one child, put the age in both the youngest and oldest range.
Next is a preference page where you can get a little more specific in your search. Once you continue, a box will appear asking for your email address and also if you are eligible for the Department of Human Services Child Care Assistance. (If you don't have an email address you can get a free one - see below). After you enter your email and select an eligibility option, you will get a list of licensed child care. Check the box to the left of any provider noted or select all. Click on "View Summaries" and a page will appear that shows all the selected providers with their individual profiles. At the top is an option to print the list or email it. Once you print the list or email it, you can close out the screen.
To Get a Free Email Address
There are many companies that provide free email accounts. If you don't already have an email account, you can get one from one of the following:
Google Mail - www.gmail.com
Yahoo Mail - www.yahoo.com
Hotmail - www.hotmail.com
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DHS I-Billing Assistance & Forms
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