This past month, two children died, both infants, in day cares that were not licensed… one was supposed to be, the other was exempt because the day care was in a church.

Because religious exemptions for licensing and regulation exists for Church, we here at Child Care Virginia Beach cannot in good conscientious recommend any of these child care providers.

Now, the other case of a child dying in the home of an unlicensed provider raises the question as to whether or not you should choose a provider that is illegally run or one that is not required by law to be licensed.

I had my child in the home of an unlicensed day care provider for many years.  She had less than five children in her charge so licensing was not required.

She was however voluntarily registered so there was an inspection of her home and some over site by agencies contracted by the state of Virginia to see that the day care is run according to state laws for child welfare.

Now, I’m sure there are hundreds of moms out there making ends meet by providing child care in their homes and are doing an amazing job, voluntarily registered or not… and I seriously doubt in the case of the provider in her home who was just sentenced to 10 days in jail, being licensed may not have prevented this tragedy

From all accounts and numerous testimonials from her clients, she was a great day care provider… but she did break the law and did have to many children in her home so it is possible that if she had been licensed and followed proper guidelines the child would still be alive today.

There is some dispute as to whether the parents thought she was licensed or not but here is the thing, always use a licensed day care provider if they have more than five children in the home or use a voluntarily registered on if licensing is not required.

If you would like to read the story about these two cases you can do so here:  Child care

You can check to see if a child care provider in Virginia Beach is licensed by clicking here.