Unscheduled child care by the hour

A lady in Los Altos has opened a child care center for what she calls "drop-in play care." (This is not what Licensing calls drop-in care. The parents do not stay on-site, so it's unscheduled licensed child care.)

They have an 8:1 ratio and charge $15 an hour for one kid, $24 for 2 and $30 for 3, ages 2 to 6, with multi-use discount punch cards.

There is a need for this. I hope there is enough business for her to make it.

The odd thing is that the center's website makes no mention of being licensed. I must assume they are. It says she got her city operating permit, but nowhere does it say she's licensed by Community Care Licensing. It says:

Child's Play is a play-based drop-in center, catering to parents and caregivers who need short-term childcare. The employees of the center all have early childcare experience – they have taken many classes and have worked in preschool and toddler facilities. They have all had background and fingerprint checks, and every staff member is CPR certified for children.

It goes on about the founder's experience babysitting and working at family camps and as a nanny in college. She worked some in a daycare in Vail. "She also has taken many early childcare development classes." I'm not sure "early childcare development classes" is the way I would phrase it, but hey, she's the expert.

Sometimes I wish I weren't such a cynical person. Of course, she's licensed. Nobody would open up and advertise a for-profit child care center without getting licensed. Would it be untrustful of me to email my friend in licensing to ask? No, I should go to ccld.ca.gov and check first.

Oh, my. The message reads, "No facilities match the criteria."

I should email my friend in licensing.