The Department of Health Services (DHS) has announced a revised policy for increasing child care licensing fees. They received heavy protests that the originally announced fees of an immediate increase of up to $13,442 for a renewal license vs the present $150 would be an impossible burden for child care homes and centers.
The revised plan from DHS specifies three levels of licensing based on capacity. Under the new plan all child care centers and homes will still pay a lot more for their three-year licenses beginning in January. New fees will be $1,000 for facilities of 10 or less, $4,000 for those up to 59 children and $7,800 for larger ones. But according to DHS Interim Director Will Humble there will be a 50 percent discount for those facilities that adopt a 10-point plan he said will promote healthier children.
By following the plan called the “Empower Pack” public health program for preschoolers, the licensing fee for centers in the top tier, for example, will be reduced to $3900. The full announcement from DHS is available via the News Release link at the left. The Sycamore School already has implemented nearly all of these points and we look forward to participating in the new plan.