Unit B - Blog 6

There are many types of child care available to parents, but each one has there pros and cons.
Home-based care is very common, but not always available. It consists of family, close friends, neighbors, and nannies. Home based care is informal and isn’t always available due to the availability of family members and friends, and sometimes is affected by trust issues. It can also be unaffordable if the individual opts to have a nanny. This type of care is usually in the child’s own home or the home of the relative or friend.

Family day care is another option for families. These types of day cares include licensed and unlicensed, and also have network and group day care centers available. Many parents prefer this type for several reasons. The licensed centers are usually more trusted because they in fact are licensed. Family day care centers can also be regulated by government, which makes it a little more trust worthy as well. Some family day care centers have three to six children, others can have eight to twelve, and even some have twenty to two hundred. The eight to twelve is considered a family day care group, and the larger groups are called family day care networks. The family day care center is preferred as there are fewer children making it more beneficial. The networks are often the least preferred because of the amount of children.

Center-based care is another type of child care. This type of care includes day care, nursery programs, preschool, and prekindergarten. This care is usually in schools, churches, non-profit organizations and private companies. These are often preferred because of the type of development the child will receive.
Parental care arrangements are another type. Parental care is the care of the mother and/or father. It is called a subtotal parental care arrangement when the parents rotate in taking care of the child. This is also when a parent will stay home while the other one is working. This is ideal for many parents, but can result in one source of income, or less time together as an entire family.
Other care arrangements are also available. Some of these options are care available after schools and care centers provided by employers.

Many parents use multiple types of care centers at time, or different ones throughout time. Many of the individuals in the Putting Children First use more than one of these at a time. Others have switched frequently due to specific circumstances. It is called multiple care arrangements when they use more than one at a time. For example, this can be using family day care centers during the week and home-based care on the weekends. The parents that have switched often have to use what is called bridge care. This is when parents are between primary care centers and have to find a temporary solution until they can find a new primary care. In chapter 2 of Putting Children First, one mother had to use bridge care multiple times. While she was being trained to learn a trade she had to resort to home-based care multiple times as she could not afford family day care or center-based programs weren’t available. Other times the father took care of the child while she was working and she used a parental care arrangement.

Many parents would prefer home-based care centers for many reasons. They are affordable, convenient and trust worthy. This, however, isn’t always available or feasible for some families. I think the thing that influences the type of day care the most is the cost. Many parents spend more money on child care than they do on rent. The cost is usually what dictates the type of child care used. Parents sometimes used home-based care as a temporary solution though. When using kin care, it isn't always the preferable use of child care, but sometimes is the only option. I would like to note that many parents that have to settle with cheaper care often run into issues with trust and concerns for lack of development, which results in frequent change. Many of the government policies have also been reformed which has hurt the type of day care available to low income families. There are many forms of day care out there and parents often have many dilemmas in finding which one best suites them financially, their children’s development, the convenience, and how trust worthy the provider really is.