I came to this role in April 2018. At that time, we had a total of 67 Affiliated Providers who were actively working with Network. However, I noticed that there was a need in the community for more home child care. Not only did we have wait lists, but many of our homes were filled to capacity. There were also gaps throughout the city, where there was high demand for child care, but no providers in those areas. It was obvious that we needed an expansion to service more families who were in need of care.

We began recruiting right away, firstly by identifying the areas where we had no home child care providers and started from there. We posted ads around the community on bulletin boards, and the calls started coming in! The ads attracted a lot of attention from parents looking for care but also women who were interested in doing this in their homes.

Currently, many of our Affiliated Providers are single parents or stay at home moms, so it was important for us to offer these women an opportunity to run a business from their home and have employment that was fulfilling for them. Some of our Affiliated Providers were actually once teachers in their home countries, so this was also a unique opportunity for them to use their skills and past experience.

It was important for our recruiting efforts to meet the needs of the community, as well expand Network’s footprint. We started taking applications in from women who wanted to license their home for child care, then I connected with the interested ladies and began the process.

It’s a process! (laughs) We start with a screening interview and a questionnaire. Once they pass that, I set up an appointment to go visit their home (safety is everyone’s top priority, so we use a buddy system when going into homes). From there we’ll do an assessment of the care space they want to use, such as a living room or dining room. We’ll look at the space from a health and safety perspective, all while following Ministry of Education Guidelines.

We do what’s called an Assessment for Quality Improvement, this measures the program quality in early learning settings, and is mandated by Toronto Children’s Services. Once that’s complete, we have yet more paperwork around vulnerable sector checks and immunization records for all members of the household.

All our Affiliated Providers are trained and certified in First Aid and CPR. They also go through all sorts of training provided by Network, in regards to child development, programming, menu planning using Canada’s food guide and behavior guidance amongst other topics. Before a new provider can take on their first clients, they need to do at least 20 hours of initial training. We want all our Affiliated Providers to not only be passionate about what they do but also understand the regulations and why it’s important.

We do all this to ensure this is a safe and trustworthy space before we can license the home. Just before the provider can receive their official license and provider number, the care taker will set up their space with tables, chairs, books, toys and shelving. The whole process can take up to 3 to 6 months to complete, as it’s quite lengthy and thorough. However, we want to ensure that as an agency we always provide the highest quality of care, and that includes the care that our Affiliated Providers give to our families.

Home Child Care is licensed by the Ministry of Education, it’s regulated, and our consultants do home inspections every month to ensure that the space is compliant and that the standards of care are consistently met. What goes on in that child care space is controlled and monitored and we are transparent to our families about what’s going on inside the home, just as it would be a child care centre.

We want people to know that home child care is done by professionals whom we license, train and keep them accountable because they are operating under Network’s umbrella.

At the end of 2019, we had 81 Affiliated Providers operating under Network Child Care Services.

The work done this year has helped us to establish a solid foundation of presenting Home Child Care as another avenue for parents to look into when selecting care.

We did so much advertising and recruiting in those areas of the city that were in need of more care options, that we really got our name (Network) known. Before that, residents in those areas didn’t know who Network was but now they do.

Looking forward to 2020, we plan to continue to expand our home child care options into more neighborhoods and give more women opportunities to establish fulfilling careers for themselves, right from their own homes.

First and foremost, a parent should know that although the provider is working in her home, it is a licensed private residence. Like I said earlier, the care taker goes through a lengthy process to make that space licensed and that it abides by all Ministry [of Education] guidelines. Network takes this very seriously.

A huge benefit of home child care is that it’s care provided in a very small group setting. This means that more attention is given to the child, there is a lot more one on one time between the provider and child, as well more accommodations can be made to that child’s needs. It’s also an opportunity for the provider, parent and child to develop relationships that are extra special. Especially for new parents, as they really rely on that provider to guide them as parents. The providers themselves have experience raising their own children and it’s something that they’re very enthusiastic about.

Although it’s in a private residence, the environment itself is very stimulating for the children because the care space is set up like a mini child care. The children are also in a mixed age group setting, which means siblings can interact and be kept together during the day. Those are just a few things that make home child care unique over other care.