906-228-3362 OR 877-614-7328

Becoming a Provider

Note: 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.

First you need to decide what type of day care you would like to open:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Applications and Rules for Family and Group Homes can be found here:

• Application
• Rules and Regulations
• Technical Assistance Manual

Applications and Rules for Centers can be found here:

• Child Care Center Original License Application
• Center Licensing Rules
• Technical Assistance Manual

Helpful Links:

• CDA information
• CACFP - Food Programs
• ACD - Food Program
• Mid-Michigan CACFP Food Program
• Product Recalls
• Family/Group Home Training Documentation
• Provider I-billing
• American Red Cross CPR/First Aid Classes
• National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC)
• National Assoc. for the Education of Young Children (NAYEC)

Existing Providers

Why update your profile?

Each time a perspective parent searches for licensed providers in your area, your profile is your best advertising tool.

The client will enter the child's age and any other relevant information into CONNECT and a search is performed based on the information you have in your profile. If you aren't updating openings etc., you may be missing out on new clients.

It also can provider parents with a snapshot of your program. This is especially true if you upload photos of your environment. (Please be sure to have photo permissions for any children in any photos).

**It is recommended that you review your information every 3-4 months to ensure that your information is correct and as up to date as possible.**

Accreditation

In an effort to promote the need for high quality child care, the 4C of the U.P. offers resources and support for programs interested in becoming accredited. Our agency not only has accreditation materials in their resource library, but also offers a variety of support opportunities for anyone working towards the goal of quality improvement.

Promoting Quality through Accreditation

NAEYC (for centers)
"For more than 80 years, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has worked to raise the quality of programs for all children from birth through age eight. A major part of NAEYC's efforts to improve early childhood education is through different systems of accreditation for programs that are committed to meeting national standards of quality."

NAFCC (for family/group homes)
"NAFCC is dedicated to advocating for the family child care profession by collaborating with other local, state, and national organizations who contribute to the family child care field to increase awareness about and improve the quality of family child care."