How to Start a Home Child Care Business in New Jersey
- 1). Arrange to obtain a certificate of registration as a family day care home provider in New Jersey from a sponsorship organization that works with the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services. To get this certificate you must supply two letters of reference, provide background checks on everyone in your home over the age of 14 years, and provide your health care records. You must also pass a tuberculosis skin test or get a chest x-ray. Before you can be certified, a representative of the sponsorship organization will inspect your home to make sure that it will be safe for the children under your care. You must attend eight hours of pre-service training (facilitated by the sponsorship organization) and also pay a fee of $25.
- 2). Set your fees in advance. It is usually helpful to write down your fees, the hours that you will be open, as well as the types of activities that the children will be doing during the day. When a parent enrolls a child in your day care home, provide these policies in writing and have him sign that he received, understands and agrees with the policies. New Jersey day care homes are allowed to have up to five paying children who are under the age of six; no more than three can be under 12 months. However, if there are four children under two years old, only two of them can be younger than 12 months. The maximum number of children under six years old who are present in your home is eight, including your own children. To care for more children, you must have an assistant in your employ.
- 3). Keep records on file for each child who will be entrusted to your care. The records must contain information about the child's name and age, the parents' names, contact information and employment, and an emergency contact. You also must have each child's medical provider's contact information, shot records, a list of any medications they take, as well as information of any allergies that they have. If a child has an accident or is injured while in your home, such incidents must also be on file. Finally, you have to have permissions on file to take the children off-site as well as to allow them to engage in water play in pools, lakes or the ocean.
- 4). Hire assistant child care providers who are at least 16 years old if you want to have more children in your care than the maximums described above. Your assistants must also attend eight hours of pre-service training from your sponsorship organization as well as ongoing in-service training. Within six months of obtaining your New Jersey certificate of registration as a family day care home, you and your assistants must get CPR-certified.