How Many Kids Are You Legally Allowed To Have?

[renodeb]

Im in Nevada and Im licensed for 6 which is plenty for me!
Deb

[MaritimeMummy]

I'm in NS, and I am a registered, approved home day care through my government. I am NOT licensed, but I have to follow the same standards for care and everything that a licensed day care centre would follow because I still get inspected. But again, I am not licensed.

I can care for a max of 6 kids at one time, including my own. There are stipulations on that.

I can care for all school-aged kids, or

no more than 4 infants (if that is the case, all the children MUST be infants under 18 months and 4 is then my max number) or

no more than 2 of each, infants to 17 months, toddlers, 18 months to 35 months, and preschoolers 36 months and up.

this is pretty flexible though, as I may have someone come into my care who is just on the cusp of going from one age group to another. Right now I actually have 4 toddlers and 2 infants (one is my son), but by the end of this month I am losing a toddler that I am not replacing, and by the end of August my daughter goes into the preschool age group. So I will have 1 preschooler, 2 infants, and 2 toddlers.

[itlw8]

Missouri
I am dual licensed I can either have 10 with 2 under 2 or 6 with 3 under 2

1st degree relatives do not count. My grandson is a handful so I count him as 2 even though I do not even count him LOL The state wants to get rid of the rule you do not have to count relatives.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I am licensed and have 12.

[Nickel]

I'm in texas. Legally listed (unlicensed) is three unrelated.

Registered is up to 6
Licensed is up to 12 including your own. BUT it also depends on number of infants for reg and lic. I think the max is 4 infants and no others, but I don't remember 100%. For now I'm just listed so I can take up to 3 unrelated children.

And for us it's per household. So even if a licensed how had three assistants they could still only watch 12 kids, but then they could take more infants. I hope that made sense!!!

[CountryMommy]

I'm in Saskatchewan, Canada and I can have up to 8 children, including my own, whether I am licensed or not. The age restrictions (3 under 3, 2 under 2, etc) also apply whether or not you are licensed. However, most providers in the area that are private do not follow the age restrictions.

[Loveyoustinkyface]

Florida & License vs. Non-licensed

Hello, I live in Florida. As I see it according to the Florida Statutes, you do not need to be licensed for a family home daycare *if* you "provide childcare on a regular basis in your residence for at least TWO unrelated families".

This is on page 7, paragraph (8) "“Family day care home” means an occupied residence in which child care is regularly provided for children from at least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not operated for profit."


If you want to see the FL Statutes, click here. http://ccrain.fl-dcf.org/documents/1...meddest=402.26

Am I reading this FL Statute correctly?? thanks

[Countrygal]

I'm no expert at this - just learning myself. I"ve only been in business a year, so still get all the legal gobble-de-gook confused sometimes.

However, I read it just the opposite of you. Any family day care with 2 or more families must BE licensed. If you only care for one family, you do not have to be licensed.

For one thing, where you took this out of is the "definitions" section. So they are saying that any home with 2 or more paying families is a "family daycare home" Thus, the statutes will apply if you have more than 1 family you care for with pay.

There is another regulation - (2) “Child care facility” includes any child care center or child care
arrangement which provides child care for more than five children unrelated to the
operator and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving
care, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The following are not
included: Which appears to also limit the number of children to 5. So...... I read it to say 5 children from one family is the most you could care for. There's more under "before and after school care" that might apply, I didn't read that far.

[Loveyoustinkyface]

I'm no expert at this - just learning myself. I"ve only been in business a year, so still get all the legal gobble-de-gook confused sometimes.

However, I read it just the opposite of you. Any family day care with 2 or more families must BE licensed. If you only care for one family, you do not have to be licensed.

For one thing, where you took this out of is the "definitions" section. So they are saying that any home with 2 or more paying families is a "family daycare home" Thus, the statutes will apply if you have more than 1 family you care for with pay.

There is another regulation - (2) “Child care facility” includes any child care center or child care
arrangement which provides child care for more than five children unrelated to the
operator and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving
care, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The following are not
included: Which appears to also limit the number of children to 5. So...... I read it to say 5 children from one family is the most you could care for. There's more under "before and after school care" that might apply, I didn't read that far.

Thank you CountryGal! Maybe my wording was off but yes, I agree with the way you see it too. One family (unless you are caring for two families maybe that are cousins, that's not "unrelated"?) is OK without a license in FL. Believe me, I don't want alot of children to care for, one or two is perfect for me!

I had Code Enforcements here last week and they didn't know anything about that statute's childcare defintion I referred to)! The code enforcement man said that if you are doing ANY childcare in your home you need to have a license and a occupational license. I am only babysitting one child! He's going to report the statute that *I* emailed him and send it to DCF. ugh. Any suggestions?

[Unregistered]

Maine you can have up to 12 licensed for a home daycare depending upon the square footage of your home. Inside that 12 there is a formula of ages that you may have. You would only be able to have 12 if they were all school aged children. Your children count in these numbers. It used to be that they didn't count, but they have changed it so that they do count.

If your not licensed you may watch up to 2 children other then your own and must register as an unlicensed home daycare.

Member but have logged out for privacy

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know for alabama?

[AmyKidsCo]

Is it per person? Its me and my boyfriend so could we have six kids? or is it per house hold?

You can never have more than 8, no matter how many providers there are. But with 2 qualified providers you could have up to 8 under-twos; otherwise you can only have 4 under-twos. Or a variety of under-twos and over-twos - it's complicated.

Your own children only count until they're 7. (My youngest turns 7 in September - hooray!)

[Sunchimes]

I'm a listed home in Texas. I can have 3 kids unrelated to me. But, I can have up to 12 if 9 of them are related to me.

From the DFPS site:
The total number of children in a listed family home, including those related to the provider, may not exceed 12 at any given time. Children who are related to the provider are her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, first cousins, siblings, nieces, and nephews.

So, I'm only capable of taking care of 3 if they aren't kin, but throw in family members and I'm suddenly capable of taking care of 12. Makes no sense.

[rmc20021]

I live in Ontario Canada as well. In the Province of Ontario, home child care providers may provide care for up to 5 children under 10 years of age who are not of common parentage (children who have different parents), in addition to his/her own children at any given time in his/her own home.

I have 5 full time children, as well as my 14 month old grandson and my own 7 year old son.

I truly find that the larger my group size, the easier it is to care for the children.

I agree that the larger the group the easier it really is...they entertain each other easier and if someone is having a difficult time with one child, they can always find another playmate.

I'm licensed for 6 in MI right now, but thinking about increasing to 12 soon. Not sure if it would be worth the extra effort as far as having assistants and such, but we'll see.

[CedarCreek]

I'm a listed home in Texas. I can have 3 kids unrelated to me. But, I can have up to 12 if 9 of them are related to me.

From the DFPS site:
The total number of children in a listed family home, including those related to the provider, may not exceed 12 at any given time. Children who are related to the provider are her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, first cousins, siblings, nieces, and nephews.

So, I'm only capable of taking care of 3 if they aren't kin, but throw in family members and I'm suddenly capable of taking care of 12. Makes no sense.

That's so weird! I was told that you can only have 3 including relatives. I find it odd that different reps tell you different things. They don't even know their own rules!