Monday Morning Thoughts...

[KristinsHomeCC]

Scrolling through my Facebook feed this morning while drinking my coffee and came across a woman who posted in multiple groups that she is a stayat home mother to an 8 year old girl and watches a 1 year old in her home. She is looking for more children to watch, if you are interested.

I see these quite frequently. These are obviously illegal - FL requires a home in most counties with anymore than ONE child outside of family to be registered or licensed with the state as a daycare. The woman I'm specifically posting about today has obviously already reached her limit, and now if she enrolls another child with her - she *will* be illegal. This is all saying that she isnt already regjstered and its unknown to me, but FL law also requires any advertisement regarding daycare has to have your registration number.

Now, it would be very easy to NOT know that you need to be licensed to just watch 2 children, outside of family.

What do you do in situations like this? Initially, it makes me angry. I had to take several classes and become certified to do what I do. Unknowingly or not, people are cutting corners - let alone the dangers of maybe being uneducated and running a child care. It isn't hurting me PERSONALLY, not taking business from me. Do I report them? If so, how? Call and say I saw someone named "Alice Smith" on FB, wanting to watch children? LOL.
Do I casually say, FYI - you need a license?

I guess I don't want to come across as something Im not on social media. This is the internet, one sentence you type could be taken for 100 different meanings.

[Indoorvoice]

I always send a personal message on Facebook. I just say something like "I saw your add for childcare and I just wanted to make sure you knew it was illegal to care for that many children without a license here. I would hate to see someone get in trouble over this! I can help direct you to info on becoming licensed if you wish!" If I post something on their post people attack me for not letting this poor mother just make a few bucks while helping out other families blah blah blah

[Blackcat31]

I always send a personal message on Facebook. I just say something like "I saw your add for childcare and I just wanted to make sure you knew it was illegal to care for that many children without a license here. I would hate to see someone get in trouble over this! I can help direct you to info on becoming licensed if you wish!" If I post something on their post people attack me for not letting this poor mother just make a few bucks while helping out other families blah blah blah

YES!!! Its much more productive to reach out to the individual privately. Sometimes they really aren't aware they need a license and are appreciative for the info. Other times, they KNOW and simply don't care but I still think it's better to reach out privately at first.

If the person continues to advertise despite knowing the laws, then I might take it in another direction but initially reaching out in a private message seems to be the best and least volatile approach.

[CalCare]

Just comment "Nice play area! How many are you licensed for?" see what comes from that. But, really I think I wouldn't do anything publicly (on Facebook). I would maybe send the person an a pm saying something like "idk if you are aware, but seeing as you didn't include your license number in your ad as required by law, I'm thinking you might not know the laws regarding childcare. Ijust wanted to give you a heads up that it is illegal to care for children from more than one family without a license. If you are caught you would be fined $200/day, per a child and you will lose any future opportunity to do get a license in the future. The information for licensing procedures can be found here (website). Best of luck!" ... Or something.. It shows that you are trying to save them from getting in trouble and at the same time lets them know the laws. Idk... I suppose you could call licensing and tell them you see a lot of ads for what eould amount to illegal care on a certain facebook group, but I wonder if anything would come from that. I mean they did arrest that woman who illegally sold ceviche on that home cooking page!

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Scrolling through my Facebook feed this morning while drinking my coffee and came across a woman who posted in multiple groups that she is a stayat home mother to an 8 year old girl and watches a 1 year old in her home. She is looking for more children to watch, if you are interested.

I see these quite frequently. These are obviously illegal - FL requires a home in most counties with anymore than ONE child outside of family to be registered or licensed with the state as a daycare. The woman I'm specifically posting about today has obviously already reached her limit, and now if she enrolls another child with her - she *will* be illegal. This is all saying that she isnt already regjstered and its unknown to me, but FL law also requires any advertisement regarding daycare has to have your registration number.

Now, it would be very easy to NOT know that you need to be licensed to just watch 2 children, outside of family.

What do you do in situations like this? Initially, it makes me angry. I had to take several classes and become certified to do what I do. Unknowingly or not, people are cutting corners - let alone the dangers of maybe being uneducated and running a child care. It isn't hurting me PERSONALLY, not taking business from me. Do I report them? If so, how? Call and say I saw someone named "Alice Smith" on FB, wanting to watch children? LOL.
Do I casually say, FYI - you need a license?

I guess I don't want to come across as something Im not on social media. This is the internet, one sentence you type could be taken for 100 different meanings.

Personally, I just keep on scrolling. If you are unsure she is not registered or licensed, then it's not obvious that she is operating illegally. Maybe she is in the process or is considering becoming registered if she gets lot of interest. Who knows? Being unlicensed doesn't mean you are uneducated, and while I don't condone breaking the laws that are in place, we are talking about two kids, so safety issues wouldn't be the first thing I would think and again, since you don't know her situation, she may very well be doing everything right and you are getting upset fo nothing. I would say if you really feel like you need to say something, do as others have said and private message her with a friendly heads up. But honestly, if it does not affect your business and you have not seen anything unsafe going on, I would just move along. Not worth being angry over it, imo. Life is too short

[heyy'all]

Maybe she only watches the 1 year old a couple days a week? Maybe the 1 year old is related? (not sure if this matters in your state)

[MyAngels]

Maybe she only watches the 1 year old a couple days a week? Maybe the 1 year old is related? (not sure if this matters in your state)

I was thinking along these lines, too. In the particular situation you described I would most likely not do anything at all, just scroll by.

If there were something blatantly illegal I might send a private message. Though I know for a fact that my local DCFS office keeps an eye on many of the local FB groups to make sure people who advertise this way are made aware of the licensing regulations here. I'm not sure if they ever follow up, but I've seen responses to these ads from at least two of the local people from DCFS.

[Alwaysgreener]

Privately messaging them does not always work out well. There was a woman near me that posted something like " if you are sick of high prices of day care, message me" it sounded like a scam how she worded it. She reposted 3-4 times in different groups I was in. One day she pops up again with a same ad but added her number. So I sent her a text. I got a bunch of beeping back. Then I got a call, with her telling me to beep off. She will still post but now she has a different hobby.

Tom Copeland wrote to turn the illegal in to the IRS, they will react faster because they want there money. He has a form on his site to fill out and mail in. It a form that is used for anyone that makes money under the table.

[Ariana]

I always send a personal message on Facebook. I just say something like "I saw your add for childcare and I just wanted to make sure you knew it was illegal to care for that many children without a license here. I would hate to see someone get in trouble over this! I can help direct you to info on becoming licensed if you wish!" If I post something on their post people attack me for not letting this poor mother just make a few bucks while helping out other families blah blah blah

This is what I do as well. I saw one lady post "any and all ages welcome" which would be fine if she was just starting out but she said this in her ad every time for months on end and charges a crazy cheap rate We have pretty strict rules about ages here so I messaged her and posted under her ad for anyone looking for care who is not familiar with the rules.

Also had another care provider contact me to get together for a playdate which is illegal here and she didn't know!