How Do You Determine Need For Childcare In Your Area?

[ghostlykisses]

Hi everyone.

Last spring I put a lot of time, effort, care, and of course money into opening a daycare home. During the process I found that there were just too many people in my area who were unemployed and desperate opening daycares with out proper licensing undercutting everyone else. I could not get a client to save my life because I was told I was charging too much (even though I was charging slightly less than the established homes in my area). I had one family but she could not pay so I had to let them go.

I have since then moved to a new state and my heart is really yearning to work with little ones again. I have looked at the rules here (Alabama) and it seems like they are pretty strict about you needing to get licensed before you even advertise or get one family to care for.

I was wondering if you have any good suggestions for determining if there is a need for childcare in the area? My children are all older and homeschooled so I do not have connections with other parents through school and we have not yet found a home church so I can't really tell from word of mouth.

Help!

[AnythingsPossible]

Do you have a referral agency in your area? Our states resource and referral is ran through the food program, you could contact them and inquire as to the amount of calls they receive and the amount of providers in your area. You could also speak with the licensor to see how many licensed daycares are in the area and if there is a large problem with unlicensed providers. We live in a town of 9,500 and currently have 23 licensed providers and numerous unlicensed. Needless to say their are numerous openings. I wish you luck, and hope you find some answers. IMO this is a common problem right now.

[ghostlykisses]

I just went to the states website where you can search their listing of licensed providers in a zip code. There is only one at a church one street over from me in town. Of course I live in a town with a population of 2,500 people and is only 2.9 square miles so maybe there is not a lot of need.

[kendallina]

You can also call around to local providers and see if they're full, if they are anticipating any vacancies and whether they have a wait list. You can pretend to be a prospective parent. If they're full and have a wait list, then that would be pretty clear that there is a need. Of course, you probably won't get such a clear-cut answer, but it's worth a shot.

ETA: I just saw your response that there was one provider in your small town. I would definitely not assume that just because there is only one provider that there isn't a lot of need. It might help to find out more about your new town- has it been hit hard with lay-offs? What's the industry there? Are there child care centers and are they full?

Good luck on your search. Calling the resource and referral place might give you more information than just what they have on their website too. Also, try calling licensing and asking them a few questions.

[AnythingsPossible]

If there is only one licensed provider in your area, I would definitely call them. I would be up front and tell them that you are contemplating opening a home daycare and were curious as to their opinion on need for daycare in your area. Before we moved to this town we lived in a town of 135, with quite a few outlying families. Very rural. I consistently had 6 to 7 children at any given time. I would strongly suggest making some calls and getting different opinions. You could also try calling your local employment agency and getting their opinion as well.