Entrepreneurs complete a childcare course

In Rego Park, a neighborhood with a sizeable Russian-speaking population, the need for licensed home-based childcare services is not fully met.
But one organization is trying to change that by offering free courses in Russian on managing childcare service businesses to help its graduates become and stay licensed providers. Eighteen people completed such a course on Thursday, September 25.
This 45-hour course is offered by the Business Outreach Center (BOC) Network, a city nonprofit organization that helps people who want to start or expand their businesses. The classes take place in the Rego Park Jewish Center, at 97-30 Queens Boulevard, which was also the venue of the graduation ceremony.
Offered since 2005, the course teaches things like marketing, finance and childhood development to people who wish to provide childcare services out of their homes, said Rosalinda Martinez, director of the Queens branch of the BOC Network.
With the certificate received upon course completion, graduates who already have a license become eligible to renew it; those who have never run such a business need to take additional steps to get a license, explained Martinez.
Rego Park’s childcare course, which has 72 graduates so far, is not geared toward license receipt or renewal, but it provides help in that respect, said Martinez.
“With [their] help, I was able to get my Group Family Day Care License and open my business. I feel confident my day care will succeed,” said Roza Fuzaylovas, a graduate of the course.
Rego Park has only 38 providers who have a license to offer childcare services out of their homes, a number which is low, Martinez said, explaining that the number of people who offer the service without a license is likely much higher.
Unlicensed providers tend to charge less than licensed ones, whose weekly fees range from $80 to about $160 per child; however, unlicensed providers could be dangerous because they lack training about safety, nutrition, and proper activities, Martinez said.
“They’re just watching the children. They have them watch TV and do nothing,” she explained. “Sometimes they just don’t know how to go through the [licensing] process. So the training is very useful for them.”
The rest of the borough also has a high demand for home-based childcare services – in 2006, there was an unmet need for 21,231 children aged 6 and under, out of 79,370 kids with an unmet need citywide, according to the Citizens’ Committee for Children, a child advocacy organization in the city.
The BOC Network also offers childcare classes in Corona and Far Rockaway as well as in other boroughs.
Those interested in taking a childcare course should contact the BOC Network at 718-205-3773.