Colorado Regulations For Directors

[Elevenhounds]

Help!

I want to open a daycare center in Colorado but I don't have a college degree and I have never worked in child care. (I am a mom of older kids and former homeschooler)

What is the quickest and easiest way to start my own out of home daycare?

I work full time and cannot go volunteer at some child care facility to get the required hours under my belt.

Is my only course of action to get a bachelor's degree?

Please help!

[Blackcat31]

https://www.daycare.com/colorado/

Check here for Colorado's licensing requirements

[Elevenhounds]

Confusing at best..

I've read the Colorado regulations but the entire thing is a large paragraph of run on sentences stating "must have this and this or this equalling that or two of these and a pack of gum or...."

I need some help.

I know that some states aren't so strict.

What is the LEAST I can do to get licensed to run a daycare outside of my home (which is too small)

[Blackcat31]

Colorado requires family child care providers to reside in the home so operating a family child care business in another home is not an option for you. Unless you want to open a center.

Here are the general requirements for family child care providers in Colorado (See page 9) http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite...&ssbinary=true

[Elevenhounds]

I see...

I would love to open a center. I've worked in business for years and have more than enough experience to run a daycare but I don't have a degree.

The college degree is the wall I keep running into.

[Blackcat31]

I would love to open a center. I've worked in business for years and have more than enough experience to run a daycare but I don't have a degree.

The college degree is the wall I keep running into.

..and unfortunately it is only going to get worse... https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50392

[Elevenhounds]

Options

It looks as though my options are to:

A) open a center and hire a director - and still do the bulk of the work while paying someone else

B) take the required courses and somehow put in 3,600 hours of child care in a facility while working full time at my actual job and caring for my own family

C) give up altogether

Colorado is a difficult state to deal with.

[itlw8]

state regulations are minimum standards for the safety and education of the children. There is SO much more to running a childcare center than just the business part. If this is really a dream of yours do the work. Go take early childhood education classes. in the meantime volunteer Many people close after a short time and lose lots of money. So while you are getting your financing in order do the rest of the work needed.

[Unregistered]

In a way your posts or atleast some of your statements are kind of insulting to those of us who are providers and work in child care.

You have said "What is the quickest and easiest way to start my own out of home daycare?"

There is NOTHING quick and easy about doing child care.

You also said "What is the LEAST I can do to get licensed to run a daycare outside of my home"

Why bother if you are only looking to do the LEAST amount of work possible? That is kind of not very fair to the kids you would take care of or the parents who expect good quality care for their children.

Then you said "take the required courses and somehow put in 3,600 hours of child care in a facility while working full time at my actual job and caring for my own family"

For 100% of the providers on this forum...child care IS their ACTUAL job. That statement right there is very insulting to those of us who do way more than the minimum and go above and beyond the least amount of work required.

I think that if you are looking to make a quick dollar, then you should stay at your "actual" job and not bother with child care at all

If you want to really work with children and families and be a child care director in a center, put in the hard work and do what it takes to do the hardest, most under appreciated job in the world.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I think Directors SHOULD have a college degree, they have huge responsibilities. I worked very hard and paid a lot of money for my degree. I also spent 14 months going through zoning, hiring architects, having a parking lot built, installing landscape buffers, attending neighborhood impact meetings, traffic surveys, obtaining my credentials, making a sign.....and about a hundred other things. Its not quick or easy. It was easily my greatest accomplishment in life, aside from being a mom.

[Elevenhounds]

Wow, thank you for the hostility...

I came here looking for help not an attack.

You have misunderstood.. When I said "my ACTUAL job" I meant simply that I can't STOP working at my current job (a paycheck o family can't afford to lose) in order to volunteer my time or go back to college.

I am a mom of older children who wants to make a career change in order to realize my dream of child care BUT the laws are prohibitive for someone in my situation.

It's like a "catch 22". I can't run a day care unless I have years of experience in the business but I can't get the experience without quitting my job.

Dt misunderstand, I believe in education and training and I want to grow in the industry but I need to get started somewhere. I would like to determine the least I need to do to get STARTED.

I can see why people got the wrong idea from my posts but I would have hoped that the other people on this forum would not have assumed the worst.

[itlw8]

don't worry most of us understood.

but really if you have the money to buy a business you need to know if it is your calling before you do it...

I am sure there are other owners out there who are not qualified to be the director. So be the owner and hire a director Take the classes and work in your childcare. There are TEACH grants out there to help pay for your degree.

check out what you have to have to be the assistant director. In the mean time be a classroom teacher and get experience.Later you can be the director.

[Elevenhounds]

Thank you

Thank you Itlw8!

I guess I came across badly because I am disappointed at the time it will take to reach my goal

You have given me excellent advice and I believe that will be the path I take.

Thanks again!

[PreciousFootsteps]

Home Daycare in CO

Hello,

I actually work in my own home daycare in CO. You don't need a degree to run a daycare in your home. You need to go to the department of human services to look at the application and you will need to go through licensing class to get your home daycare license. I use Caregiver Network to get my classes done. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Destiny