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Child Care Centers Publications

This list is compiled from a broad range of resources. Some can be downloaded either directly from this site or from linked sites, while others have order forms attached to them.

If you have trouble accessing any of these publications please contact the BCC toll-free line (888-411-3535).

All publications are listed by the step in the facilities development process for which they are most useful.

1. The Planning Stage

   1. General Planning
   2. Identify Market Demand
   3. Assess Financial Feasibility and Organizational Capacity

2. The Predevelopment Stage

   1. Select a Site and Obtain Site Control and Approval
   2. Design the Interior Facility
   3. Design the Playground
   4. Secure a Contractor
   5. Complete the Business Plan
   6. Secure Financing

3. The Development Stage

   1. Manage the Site Construction Process
   2. Ensure the Safety of the Facility and the Site
   3. Obtain Licensing Approval for the Site
   4. Equip the Classroom
   5. Market the Program in the Community

4. The Start-Up Stage

   1. Phase in Staffing and Children
   2. Sustain the Program

5. Other

   These documents are not specific to one stage but may also be of help during the facilities development process.

1. Planning

General

• Child Care Center Facility Development Checklists: A general guideline for understanding the steps involved in the process of financing and developing child care center facilities in California. Available in Spanish.

• Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual: A revised and expanded version of the Insight Center Maneuvering the Maze materials. This Manual includes four detailed chapters designed to help child care center directors and owners manage the financial side of their businesses and plan for a facility development project including expanding, renovating, building or purchasing a center. Available in Spanish.

  
  
  • Chapter 1: Budgeting and Basic Financial Statements
  • Chapter 2: Developing Pro Formas and Determining Debt Capacity
  • Chapter 3: Developing a Child Care Business Plan
  • Chapter 4: The Facilities Development Process

• Child Care Facility Development Budget Guide The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) Affordable Buildings for Children's Development (ABCD) Initiative developed this Child Care Facility Development Budget Guide to help illustrate for child care operators the elements of a development budget. The development budget below is intended to be instructional and does not represent an actual budget. Start up costs such as a three-months operating reserve, furniture and equipment, marketing and staff recruitment and others are not included in this development budget however must be considered.

• Child Care Center: Manual of Policies and Procedures (Community Care Licensing Division)

  • Chapters 1-2: General Requirements and Definitions/Licensing
  • Chapter 3: Application Procedures
  • Chapters 4-5: Enforcement Provisions/Administrative Actions
  • Chapter 6 Part One: Continuing Requirements
  • Chapter 6 Part Two: Continuing Requirements
  • Chapter 7: Physical Environment
  
  

• Considerations for Child Care Providers Partnering with Housing Developers in California: Offers detailed guidelines on how to work on child care projects within housing developments. It includes an example memorandum of understanding (MOU), lease, and timeline.




Identify Market Demand

• 2007 California Child Care Portfolio: The 2007 California Child Care Portfolio presents a compilation of California statewide and county-by-county statistics on child care. The Portfolio includes a comprehensive California statewide report in both narrative and graphic format highlighting child care supply, demand, and cost issues in the context of current policy, demographic and labor force trends.

• 2005 California Child Care Portfolio: The 2005 California Child Care Portfolio presents a compilation of California statewide and county-by-county statistics on child care.

• Guide to Market Rate Surveys for CCDF Tribal Entities: Written to assist tribal grantees in making decisions regarding the Market Rate Survey.

• Identifying Local Need and Demand for Child Care: Outlines the difference between Need and Demand for child care, and provides descriptions of community resources that have information about the existing child care market.




See: Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual;Chapter Three: Developing a Child Care Business Plan for information on conducting a Market Feasibility Analysis.

In Spanish: Centros de Cuidado Infantil: Manual para la planificación financiera y el desarrollo de instalaciones




Assess Financial Feasibility and Organizational Readiness

• Establishing a Nonprofit Organization: This tutorial from the Foundation Center describes 12 tasks you will need to accomplish as part of the process of establishing a nonprofit organization.

• Filling the Cookie Jar -Child Care Budgets and Cash Flow (Order Form): A computer CD that includes budget and cash flow spreadsheets for family child care and child care center businesses.

• Financial Readiness Assessment (Red and Green Flags): Identifies criteria for determining "Red and Green Flags" that should respectively discourage or encourage an organization in pursuing a facility development project.

• Get Ready, Get Set - What You Need to Know Before Starting a Nonprofit: This booklet is not a how- to as much as it is a guide to help you answer the question, "is creating a nonprofit organization the best way to accomplish my objectives?"

• Starting a Nonprofit Organization: Provides an overview of information and checklists that can guide you in the process of planning and applying for nonprofit status.




2. Predevelopment

Select a Site and Obtain Site Control and Approval

• Basic Licensing Requirements for a Child Care Center or Preschool: This publication was developed by the Child Care Advocate Program to provide a quick reference guide to licensing requirements. It's a great resource to bring with you when you are selecting a site for your child care center.

• Child Care Facility Site Selection: selecting a site for a child care program, whether you are interested in purchasing an existing facility, building a new center or incorporating a modular onto existing property, presents many challenges. Myriad factors, including capacity, program space requirements, accessibility, target neighborhood(s), as well as licensing and zoning requirements must be considered before a child care site is chosen. In addition to addressing all of these issues, this publication will include information on the types of professional consultants that can help you in the process and will provide recommendations on how to secure a site.

• A Citizen's Guide to Planning: provides information on the process and system of land use planning as it is practiced in California. Its purpose is to explain, in general terms, how local communities regulate land use and to define some commonly used planning terms. The booklet covers the following topics: State Law and Local Planning,The General Plan, Zoning, Subdivisions, Other Ordinances and Regulations, Annexation and Incorporation, The California Environmental Quality Act, A Glossary of Planning Terms.

• Directory of California City Planning Departments: Search here to find contact information for your local city planner who can provide information about land use and zoning issues related to your facility.

• Finding A Child Care Center Site: In addition to providing some guidance on how to work with real estate professionals, this document by the Low Income Investment Fund includes a list of useful local resources and websites that can assist in your search.

• Glossary of Common Planning Terms: Provided through the Governor's Office of Planning and Research.




See: Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual, Chapter Four: The Facilities Development Process for information on selecting a site and identifying land use and zoning issues.

Spanish: Centros de Cuidado Infantil: Manual para la planificación financiera y el desarrollo de instalaciones




Design the Interior Facility

• American Institute of Architects California Chapter Offices: Contact your local AIA Chapter Office to learn about which architecture firms have experience with child care facilities design in your region.

• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities; Building Elements Designed for Children's Use: Specifications based on children's dimensions and anthropometrics that apply to building elements designed specifically for use by children ages 12 and younger.

• What to Consider Before Hiring an Architect: This tool was designed to assist child care operators when hiring an architect to design a facility.

• BCC Architect Referral List: A referral list of Architects in California with child care facilities development experience.

• Center for Architecture and Urban Planning Research: Includes a section of publications on designing children's environments.

• Child Care Design Guide: Written by Anita Rui Olds, founder and director of the Child Care Design Institute, it includes over 550 floor plans, drawings, photographs, charts, and illustrations. This guide can walk you through the design process including program and site considerations; indoor and outdoor learning and activity spaces; sound, lighting, and color; and interior finishes and furniture.

• Child Care Design Guide for Center Operating on Federal Property: Contains criteria for planning and designing child care centers on GSA-owned or controlled spaces.

• Design Standards for Children's Environments (order form): Includes graphic standards for all product types; Cost and square-footage data; and Code and compliance information.

• Designing a Child Care Center - How to Choose an Architect: Guidelines for finding the right architect for your project, steps in the design process, and a description of roles and expectations.

• Designing Early Childhood Facilities
  Local Initiative Support Coalition's (LISC) national child care program (CICK) has developed this "how to" guide to assist organizations that are planning to renovate, construct or improve their child care facilities. This publication highlights the important connection between well-designed space and quality child care programming and helps providers, their development partners, and their architects create an effective space for young children. The guide includes an overview of design principles, a tour through each functional area of the center, and information on materials, lighting, security, urban settings and accessibility.

• Eight Steps in the Design Process for Child Care Centers: Provides information about the following: Feasibility Study; Programming; Schematic Design; Design Development; Construction Documentation; Bidding and Negotiation; Construction Administration; Post-Occupancy Training.

• Early Childhood Centers: An overview of key elements to remember when designing early childhood facilities. From the National Clearinghouse of Educational Facilities.

• Human Dimension and Interior Space - A Source Book of Design Reference Standards (order): Provides information about interior space requirements and human dimensions that are highly useful in the design process.

• Infant/Toddler Caregiving - A Guide to Setting Up Environments: Informs caregivers and program managers about designing settings suitable for groups of various sizes and children of different ages. Readers learn about dividing space in family child care as well as in center settings.

• Landscapes for Learning, Designing Group Care Environments for Infants and Toddlers (order form): A Manual that includes sample infant/toddler classroom plans; information about choosing and working with architects; building materials; early head start and ADA criteria.

• Removing Barriers to Child Care Facilities Development: A California statewide study of state-of-the-art child care centers. Based on sixty-one candid and revealing interviews with architects, developers, child care consultants, and center directors of a child care facility. The book includes color photographs, floor plans and more!

• Top Ten Mistakes Made in the Interior Design of Child Care Centers: A list compiled by child care designers to help the field avoid making mistakes in the design process.

• Tribal Child Care Facilities - A Guide to Construction and Renovation: Designed to provide technical assistance to address major areas of the process, including:

  Conducting a child care community needs assessment; Identifying a site for the facility; Financing the construction and renovation costs; Developing a business plan for the facility; Conducting an environmental assessment; Building a facility; Designing and planning for the facility; Hiring a contractor; and Overseeing the project.

• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities - Early Childhood Centers: A resource list of links, books, and journal articles with extensive information on design guidelines, quality indicators and safety requirements for early childhood facilities




Design the Playground

• Kaboom! Playground Resources and Toolkits: Handbooks and guides from KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization that works to unite individuals, community organizations and businesses to develop safe, accessible and fun play environments for children.

• National Program for Playground Safety
  Including:

  a. Listings of Playground Manufacturers and Distributors
  b. Playground Safety Tips

• Natural Learning (order form): The Life History of an Environmental Schoolyard

• Play for All Guidelines (order form): Planning, Designing and Management of Outdoor Play Settings for All Children

• Plants for Play: A Plant Selection Guide for Children's Outdoor Environments

• The Complete Playground Book

• Top Ten Mistakes Made in the Design of Playgrounds and Children's Outdoor Environments: A list compiled by child care designers to help the field avoid making mistakes in the design process.




Secure a Contractor

• BCC Contractor Referral List: A list of contractors with experience developing child care centers throughout the state (updated in 2003).

• Some Things to Consider (Do's and Don'ts When Hiring a Contractor): Excerpted from What You Should Know Before You Hire a Contractor, provides a checklist of items to consider.

• What You Should Know Before You Hire a Contractor: A guide produced by the Contractor's State Licensing Board and designed to assist consumers working with building contractors. In Spanish: http://www.cslb.ca.gov/forms/wyskspan.pdf




See: Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual, Chapter Four: The Facilities Development Process for information on selecting a site and identifying land use and zoning issues.

Spanish: Centros de Cuidado Infantil: Manual para la planificación financiera y el desarrollo de instalaciones




Complete the Business Plan

• Directory of Small Business Technical Assistance Providers in California (May 1999). Publication from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, provides a detailed account of what types of services and resources each Small Business TA provider offers to California clients.




See: Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual;Chapter Three: Developing a Child Care Business Plan for information on conducting a Market Feasibility Analysis.

In Spanish: Centros de Cuidado Infantil: Manual para la planificación financiera y el desarrollo de instalaciones




Secure Financing

• California Resources and Training (CARAT) Community Partners list: List of and contact information for CARAT's Community Partners, who work to encourage and stimulate partnerships between lending institutions and technical assistance providers.

• Fannie Mae Foundation Publications

  1. Borrowing Basics: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
     Also available in Spanish and Vietnamese
  2. Knowing and Understanding Your Credit
  
  

  Both of these publications are also available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Polish, and Haitian-Creole.

• Glossary of Loan Terms for Facilities Development Financing: Definitions of terms used in the lending and facility development fields as they relate to child care projects.

• Glosario de Términos Sobre Préstamos (Now Available in Spanish!)

• Grant Proposal Writing - Orientation for Nonprofits: Foundation Center Online resource to help nonprofits understand the process of writing and editing grant proposals.

• Grant Proposal Writing - Short Course, Parts 1 and 2: Foundation Center Online resource to help nonprofits understand the process of writing and editing grant proposals.

• Loan Resources for Child Care Facilities Development in California (Revised March 2009): Designed to help child care providers and child care advocates identify and access financial assistance to build, purchase, expand and/or renovate child care centers and family child care homes in California.

• Potential Grant Resources for Child Care Facilities Development in California: (Revised 2008) List of foundations that have a history or an interest in funding child care programs, capital campaigns, and/or building and facilities development projects.

• Preparing Child Care Borrowers for Underwriting: LIIF has designed this checklist to help individuals and organizations seeking child care capital financing understand the type of documentation lenders need to determine the viability of a potential borrower.

• Statewide Foundation Resources for Child Care and Afterschool Programs: A guide from the California Council of Churches that identifies foundations in California that have a history or interest in funding child care and afterschool programs.

• Understanding Loans: Provides explanations of the advantages to using loans for family child care facilities development projects; information about a lender's perspective when considering an application; and an answer to the question: "what's the best way to apply for a loan?"

• The Benefits of Using Loans to Meet Child Care Facilities Development Costs: Provides explanations of the advantages to using loans for child care facilities development projects.

• Tips on Applying for Child Care Facilities Grant Funding: Provides a one-page guide to approaching the process of applying for child care grant funding.

• What Does a Lender Look For? The 5 C's of Lending: Provides an overview of the main criteria on which loan applications are judged for facilities development projects.

• What to Consider Before Purchasing a Child Care Center: The intent of this document is to provide a potential buyer with a list of considerations to keep in mind before purchasing an existing child care center business, facility and land.




3. Development

Manage the Site Construction Process

• See: Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual, Chapter Four: The Facilities Development Process for information on selecting a site and identifying land use and zoning issues.

• Spanish: Centros de Cuidado Infantil: Manual para la planificación financiera y el desarrollo de instalaciones




Ensure the Safety of the Facility and the Site

• Certified Playground Safety Inspector/Inspection Checklist: A one-page guide to the process of working with a playground inspector.

• Environmental Health Conditions in California's Portable Classrooms: Presented by the California Air Resources Board, this publication is directed at Public Schools but is also very useful for anyone developing child care programs in modular/portable facilities.

• Liability Insurance Family Child Care Homes and Centers: A sample of information about obtaining liability insurance for a family child care business or a child care center from the National Child Care Information Center.

• Self-Assessment Guides: Designed to help child care administrators perform periodic assessments of the center's operation. These guides have been developed in multiple languages including Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Russion. Guides are available for family child care homes and child care centers. They have also developed disaster guides.




Obtain Licensing Approval for the Site

• Application for a Child Care Center License




Equip the Classroom

• Tips for Furnishing the Learning Environment: A list of "what to look for when purchasing or evaluating furniture needs."




Market the Program in the Community

• On-Target Marketing - Promotion Strategies for Child Care Centers: An updated version of "Marketing Your Child Care Program" reprints popular Child Care Information Exchange articles on how to build the enrollment and reputation of your child care center.




See: Child Care Center Financial Planning and Facilities Development Manual;Chapter Three: Developing a Child Care Business Plan for information on conducting a Market Feasibility Analysis.

In Spanish: Centros de Cuidado Infantil: Manual para la planificación financiera y el desarrollo de instalaciones




Also at this time: Prepare to start up (recruit staff, and develop curriculum).




4. Start-Up

Phase in Staffing and Children

• 101 Ways to Build Enrollment in Your Early Childhood Program: Provides practical tips on how to attract families to your center or home and how to keep them there. Written specifically with a busy director or family child care provider in mind.




Program Sustainability

• Managing Money - A Center Director's Guidebook: Provides expert advice on every aspect of money management, including long-range planning, fundraising, financial reporting, cash flow analysis, audits, salary schedules, fee policies, collection techniques, and management software.

• Top 10 Reasons Small Businesses Fail: Provides a quick list of problems to avoid in developing your small business.




5. Other

• February 4th, 2009, Insight Center hosted a Webinar, Creating Spaces for Children: The importance of High Quality ECE Facilities

• Strategies for Increasing Child Care Facilities Development and Financing: This report identifies seven sets of strategies for local and statewide policymakers and the child care industry itself to address persistent barriers to child care facilities development and financing.

  Full length Report

  Executive Summary

• Child Care Development and Financing: Barriers and Recommendations (A Report to the Legislature) Full Report : Report submitted by the Building Child Care (BCC) Collaborative partners in December, 2001 detailing the main barriers to child care center and family child care home facilities development efforts in California, along with recommendations for overcoming these barriers.

  (Executive Summary)

• Congregations Caring for Children In Your Neighborhood and Beyond - A Resource Guide for Potential Child Care Providers: Step-by-step guide for Congregations interested in incorporating child care into their facilities.

• Enterprise Foundation Child Care Resources and Publications: The Enterprise Child Care Library provides a reference collection for nonprofit organizations dedicated to increasing the supply and improving the quality and affordability of child care in low-income neighborhoods.

• Developing Early Childhood Facilities  Local Initiative Support Coalition's (LISC) national child care program (CICK) has developed this "how to" guide to assist organizations that are planning to renovate, construct or improve their child care facilities. This publication identifies steps in the real estate development and financing process, and helps child care providers and their partners overcome the hurdles that every project faces. Information is provided on carrying out early feasibility and planning activities, putting together a project development team, selecting and acquiring an appropriate site, raising money and completing construction.

• Financing Child Care in the United States: An Expanded Catalog of Current Strategies (2001 Edition): Catalog developed to share information on innovative financing strategies that are successfully funding child care in the United States.

• Innovations in Child Care - A Handbook of Child Care Innovations and Resources: Prepared by the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division, Child Care Advocate Program, and designed to provide information about the range of child care programs that address specific local needs throughout California.

• Linking Child Care Development and Housing Development: Tools for Child Care Providers and Advocates: Explores what child care providers and advocates can gain from partnerships with housing developers and housing advocates. Also provides examples of policy collaborations and development partnerships that child care providers and advocates can pursue.

• When Housing and Child Care Meet - Lessons Learned from Seven Child Care and Community Development Partnerships: The Enterprise Foundation identifies the challenges, opportunities and successes of programs that brought together the community development and child care industries to improve the quality of child care for low-income children. The book provides templates and resources for the benefit of others who might wish to pursue similar programs.

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