Child care options continue to be limited in Greenville County.
It has become an ongoing struggle for families to find reliable, affordable care for their children. According to Greenville First Steps, there is a one- to two-year waiting period for more than 4,000 children to get into child care facilities within the county.
Greenville First Steps, a local nonprofit organization, continues to explore different strategies to help shrink the local shortage of child care spots. One of these strategies is to create more home-based child care. Only 51 out of the 223 registered providers in Greenville County are in-home child care providers.
Derek Lewis, the nonprofit’s executive director, said the main advantage of opening a home-based operation rather than a center-based child care would be the cost. He said it would be cheaper to open 20 in-home child care settings serving five children each than one child care center serving 100 children.
“The other advantage is that, in general, families like to have child care near where they live, so there’s nothing more local than being able to take your child to your neighbor’s house,” Lewis said.
Home-based care
The South Carolina Department of Social Services outlines two categories of home-based child care providers: group child care homes and family child care homes. A group child care home provider can care for seven to 12 children and must be licensed through the department.
In comparison, a family child care home can provide care to no more than six children. These operators must be registered with DSS but are not required to be licensed.
Cynthia Lara, DSS’s director of child care licensing, said home-based child care providers also are required to be registered before caring for a second child unrelated to them. To become licensed or registered, a child care provider must complete an orientation, an application, state and federal background checks, and a fire and health safety inspection.
Sarita Smith, owner of Smith’s In-Home Care, has operated a family child care home in Greenville County since 2016. She started her business after working in the child care industry for 15 years.
“I knew there was a bigger purpose for me, other than being in the classroom,” Smith said. “I began to (do) research, and then I saw the option of in-home child care, which I never thought about before.”
With her business, Smith typically cares for four children at a time, aged 6 weeks to 2 years old. She converted her garage into a child care space using a South Carolina Child Care Expansion/Operating Grant in 2021. Smith finds it rewarding to be able to provide a safe and living environment in which children can learn and grow.
“Providing my expertise to the community is rewarding to me,” Smith said. “Knowing that my babies are learning well and they they’re going to be prepared for preschool is rewarding for me.”
Potential barriers
In 2019, Greenville First Steps received federal funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission to help increase the number of home-based child care providers. Lewis said Greenville First Steps learned about several barriers that were prohibiting people from starting an in-home child care business.
For example, people living in an apartment complex might not be able to start a business due to their lease agreement. Residential lease agreements often include a clause prohibiting business activities, such as home-based child care.
Greenville First Steps recently partnered with Catalyst Community Consulting, a Greenville-based private consulting firm that focuses on affordable housing planning, community engagement, policy and advocacy, to explore these obstacles and identify solutions that would allow the creation of more home-based child care in Greenville County.
Tina Belge, owner of Catalyst Community Consulting, said one of the identified challenges involves zoning restrictions, which vary from municipality to municipality. An in-home child care provider wanting to become registered or licensed through the South Carolina Department of Social Services is required by law to provide proof of conformity or authorized nonconformity with county or municipal zoning ordinances.
Child care facilities are often excluded from residential zoning districts, creating a barrier for potential in-home providers. Lewis said Greenville First Steps staff have reviewed the zoning ordinance of the local municipalities in Greenville County and are meeting with each one to discuss changes that could be implemented.
“We have yet to meet a municipality where the staff say ‘No, we don’t want to do that,’ Lewis said. “Everybody wants more child care.”
By the numbers
Only 51 of the 223 registered providers in Greenville County are in-home child care providers.
Source: Greenville First Steps
Home-based care comparison
Group child care home: A provider that cares for seven to 12 children within their residence. Required to be licensed through the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
Family child care home: A provider that cares for no more than six children within their residence. Required to be registered with the South Carolina Department of Social Services. Licensing is optional.
