child care in cook county - Illinois Action for Children

The 2010 Report of Child Care in Cook Countyeffective analysis of child care supplyand demand can be so complex.WHAT TYPES OF CHILDCARE ARE AVAILABLE?A family’s success in finding qualitychild care is based on many factorsincluding the family’s location, achild’s age, the hours of care needed,the amount the family can affordto pay, a child’s specific needs, andthe parent’s particular preferences.Assuming for a moment that familiescan access all types of child care,let’s look at the available options.First, many families only useparental care. Either one parentstays home to care for the children,or both parents stagger their sched -ules so one can care for the childrenwhile the other works, goes to school,or fulfills other responsibilities.Parents who need or want to lookbeyond parental care may find homechild care an appealing option.They may take their child to thehome of someone they know well,such as a family member, closefriend or neighbor, or someone theydiscovered through word-of-mouthor through a referral service. Theymay also choose a caregiver whocan provide care in the child’shome, as a nanny does.Many home-based child careproviders, especially those who providecare as an on-going profession,choose to become licensed. Thismeans the care provided in theirhomes is regulated by the IllinoisDepartment of Children and FamilyServices (DCFS) as well as theirlocal licensing agency, if one exists.Throughout this report, we refer tothese caregivers as licensed homeproviders, and we refer to thosewithout licenses as license-exempthome providers or family, friend, orneighbor care (see the glossary fordetailed definitions of these terms).License-exempt home child carecan be provided in the home of thecaregiver or the child.Parents also have the option of takingtheir child to a child care center.While most of these facilities arelicensed by DCFS, centers suchas those based in school or affiliatedwith religious groups are exemptfrom being licensed. Center caremay include all or part-day childcare programs, before- and afterschoolprograms (including thoseprovided by park districts andYMCAs), and full-day summerprograms for school-age children.Parents who may not need full-timechild care but wish to prepare their3- or 4-year-old child for kindergartenmay consider a part-dayor part-week preschool program.These programs include private,tuition-based programs as well asfree public programs such as HeadStart and Preschool for All (dataon public and private preschoolprograms are not included in thisreport).HOW DO FAMILIES FINDCHILD CARE?Families seek child care by askingrelatives or friends for referrals,looking at notices and advertisements,and visiting child care centersin their communities. The State ofIllinois offers a resource for familiesin the form of a referral service—Illinois Action for Children administersthis service for families in CookCounty through its Resource andReferral Program, maintaining adatabase of child care providerswho register voluntarily to bereferred to parents. Child careproviders supply detailed informationabout their programs so thatreferral consultants can help parentsfind providers that match theirneeds and preferences. Referralconsultants help educate parents onwhat constitutes quality child careso parents are more equipped toevaluate the programs they visit.WHAT IS THE TYPICALFAMILY EXPERIENCE?While many parents and guardiansare quite satisfied with the care theirchildren receive, many others findthe process of searching for anddeciding on a child care providerstressful. These parents frequentlyexperience frustration finding theright care at the right hours, rightlocation, and right price.Families search for child care undersuch vastly different circumstancesthat no one family’s story can beconsidered wholly representative.However, we will introduce several“typical families” in an effort toexplore the complex and oftendifficult decisions Cook Countyfamilies face in arranging child care.4