Family Child Care Homes

Family child care homes are child care programs run by one or two providers in their own home. A lot of parents prefer family child care for infants and very young children because it offers an atmosphere of home with a small-group, mixed-age setting. Family child care homes may also offer:

• School-age care options
• Part-time schedule options
• Flexible schedules
• Option to allow siblings to stay together

When looking for a family child care provider, it's important to be comfortable with the home, the children, and the caregiver. When you visit a family child care program, look at the activities the children are doing, see how the children fit in with the rest of the family, check out the space the children have to play in, and ask a lot of questions.

The State of Maine requires all family child care homes to be licensed if the caregiver cares for more than two unrelated children. The caregiver is also required to have a certain amount of training to be licensed.