Child Care
What is Child Care?
The term “child care” is used to describe the care provided to a child by someone other than a parent or guardian. Care can be provided in a licensed child care center, by a licensed family child care provider or by an informal caregiver. For parents who work shifts, regular overtime or weekends and parents who may have school-age children, child care can also mean:
- Extended hour care
- Before- and/or after-school care
- Holiday and summer care
- Emergency back-up care
As the demand for licensed care grows faster than the number of places available, finding quality, affordable child care is one of the biggest challenges for working families.
Navigating the network of centers, family child care providers and informal caregivers in the community can be daunting and very time-consuming. Care that goes beyond the traditional hours of 9 to 5 can be expensive and also hard to find.
