Family Day Care Provider Certification

The Gloucester Department of Social Services certifies individuals to care for children in their homes. Certification for family day care allows a provider to keep up to five children, excluding the provider’s own children. Any home wishing to serve from 6 to 12 children, excluding the children of the provider, must be licensed.

Interested applicants for certification must submit a screening application. Applicants are prioritized based on the needs of our day care parents such as geographic location, hours of care available, ages of children requested, and ability to provide transportation to and from the child’s home or school. Prior child care experience and training is also considered in the screening process.

If the applicant meets the screening criteria, an additional packet of qualifying information will be sent to include: Criminal Records Check, Child Protective Services Clearance, TB test, References, and Release of Information. Once these clearances have been successfully completed, the family day care home will be certified for a period of two years. During that time, the agency will be required to monitor the home every six months to ensure that the home continues to be in compliance.

A day care certificate does not guarantee placement of children since it is the parent’s decision to hake choices among available resources. Income from day care children may be sporadic as the need for care is entirely dependent on the parent’s successful job or educational placement.

All day care providers are considered self employed and contact with Social Services as vendors. Providers are required to report all income to the Internal Revenue Service.

Interested applicants for Family Day Care Certification should call the Gloucester Department of Social Services for instructions on how to begin the application process.