Non-licensed Maryland Child Care Centers: Who is watching your child?

It's always been a difficult task for parents to locate suitable child care. Juggling work demands and your child care needs can lead parents to make a hasty decision without properly checking the child care credentials. Many after care centers try and circumvent the licensing guidelines in Maryland by advertising themselves as a sports program. Sport programs are not regulated by the Maryland Child Care Administration. In laymen’s terms, The Maryland CCA licensing guidelines assert that any child that is picked up from school and brought to the after school center, without a parent present for a reasonable amount of time, should be licensed. Some issues that coincide with licensing are:

1. Non-licensed child care centers do not have to provide any background checks on staff. Does staff have any prior convictions? Do you know all the staff working at the center?
   Non-licensed child care centers do not have to provide any security or emergency plans. Are front doors locked or open?
2. Non-licensed child care centers do not have to provide planning for any medical or administrative plans. Can the center provide medicine to the child? If sick, do they have any area for containment until parent arrives?
3. After research into licensing for several centers in Prince George County I learned that many centers were not licensed for an after school program. In addition, drivers from those same centers that were responsible for picking up children had multiple speeding tickets and points against their license.

Any parent can check with the Maryland Child Care Administration to make sure their child care center is licensed. If the center is not licensed, you should always think twice about a back-up plan for your child. Unlicensed child care centers can be closed by the Maryland CCA without prior notice.