Starting as a private family day care provider

Private family day care refers to early childhood education that takes place in the provider’s home. To become a private family day care provider, you must have a suitable further vocational qualification in early childhood education (Act on Early Childhood Education and Care, section 29).  

Such qualifications include the following: family day care provider, children’s instructor, day care worker, childcarer, practical nurse (specialised in children and young people), early childhood education teacher or social pedagogue in early childhood education and care. All private family day care providers must have completed their qualifications before they start operating.

Contact the early childhood education specialists of the City of Espoo by email 3–4 months before you plan to start operations (see contact details at the bottom of the page).

Before you can start providing private family day care services in Espoo, you must take care of the following entrepreneurial obligations.

• Check your degree or qualification certificate and your eligibility for the role of a family day care provider (a suitable further vocational qualification in early childhood education is required under section 29 of the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care).    You can ask the early childhood education specialists about your eligibility.
• Get a business ID. More information is available on the YTJ service(external link, opens in a new window) and the Tax Administration website(external link, opens in a new window). 
• Join the Prepayment Register.(external link, opens in a new window)
• If you want, find out about the possibility of applying for a start-up grant from the TE Office before joining the Prepayment Register.(external link, opens in a new window)
• If you want, file a notification with the Trade Register as a private trader. For more information, see ‘Start-up notification for a private trader’ on the website of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH)(external link, opens in a new window). 
• Get liability insurance. The insurance must be valid by the time you start working as a family day care provider. 
• Find out the details of your YEL contribution from a pension insurance company so that you can assess your future cost structure in advance. 
• Draw up a self-monitoring plan. The forms and instructions(external link, opens in a new window) can be found in Finnish on the Valvira website.
• Read about Espoo’s early childhood education and care plan.

Espoo’s private early childhood education specialists will provide you with an application form that you must complete and return along with the required documents.

The following documents are required: 

• Copies of certificates proving your eligibility
• Extract from the Prepayment Register (printout from the YTJ website) 
• Record of processing activities in accordance with Article 30 of the General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR (https://tietosuoja.fi/en/organisations(external link, opens in a new window)) 
• Extract from the Register of Prohibitions to Pursue a Business (Legal Register Centre) 
• Extract from the Register of Guardianship Affairs (Digital and Population Data Services Agency) 
• Extract from the Register of Bankruptcies and Restructurings (Legal Register Centre) 
• Extract from the Enforcement Register (National Enforcement Authority Finland) 
• Rescue plan 
• Self-monitoring plan 
• Extract from the Trade Register (Finnish Patent and Registration Office) if you have filed a notification with the Trade Register
• A copy of the articles of association, partnership agreement, or the rules of the community or foundation, or a similar statement (Finnish Patent and Registration Office) if this applies to your company

Provide the documents specified below if you have roles entered in the Trade Register: 

• Printout of name search on roles entered in the Trade Register during the past three years (Finnish Patent and Registration Office)
• Extracts from the Register of Bankruptcies and Restructurings for the communities where you have exercised control during the past three years (Legal Register Centre) 

When you have submitted the application and the above-mentioned documents to the early childhood education specialist, agree with them on a home inspection visit.  

During the home inspection visit, the specialist will: 

• check the suitability of the facilities, equipment and yard used for outdoor activities; 
• check your criminal records extract. Order one in advance from the Legal Register Centre. The extract is subject to a fee and must not be older than 6 months; 
• check your liability insurance certificate; 
• discuss safety-related plans
• discuss document storage, archiving, confidentiality, private day care allowance, sibling supplement, free early childhood education for five-year-olds, and the client’s right to file a complaint, among other things; 
• discuss the content of early childhood education and the implementation of pedagogy in line with Espoo’s early childhood education plan.  

The private early childhood education specialist will make a written decision confirming that you have been approved as a private family day care provider. Submit the decision and the Kela WH 2 form to Kela. After this, you can start your operations on the start date indicated in the decision.

Once approved by the City of Espoo, you will set the client fee and create a service agreement template. As a private family day care provider, you have to find your own clients. You must conclude a service agreement with each client family before the child starts attending early childhood education provided by you. Your group may have a maximum of four children in full-time care and one child in half-day care.

You must also register with the national data warehouse for early childhood education and care (Varda) maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education (website in Finnish).(external link, opens in a new window)

As a private family day care provider, you can join an unemployment fund for entrepreneurs. In this case, remember to terminate any membership in an employee’s trade union and unemployment fund. Also, contact a pension insurance company to determine your YEL contribution. 

The City of Espoo has a statutory obligation to keep a personal data register of private family day care providers. The privacy notice is available on the City of Espoo website. 

You can also visit the Espoo Private Family Day Care community’s website for more information.(external link, opens in a new window)

The private early childhood education specialists will guide and advise you in matters related to early childhood education. Information and training events will also be organised for private family day care providers, if necessary. 

You will meet with a specialist once a year during a guidance visit. The meeting can be arranged remotely or in person. The guidance visit includes discussing pedagogical and operational matters and reviewing the statutory documents. 

As a family day care provider, you are responsible for maintaining information on the child group and submitting the requested information to the specialist according to the agreed schedule. Always report any changes to the child group’s information. 

As a private family day care provider, you must use the ‘child’s early childhood education plan’ form provided by Espoo or the Finnish National Agency for Education. In addition, you must use the ‘group’s early childhood education plan’ form provided by Espoo. 

As a private family day care provider, you will receive login credentials to the private early childhood education extranet. On the extranet, you will find materials related to safety and pedagogy.

Kela pays private day care allowance (applied for by a child’s guardian) directly to the private family day care provider. Private day care allowance includes care allowance, an income-based care supplement and a municipal supplement to Espoo residents. Kela’s website provides more information on how to apply for private day care allowance, the amount of the allowance, and its payment to a private family day care provider(external link, opens in a new window) (in Finnish).

Finnish Early Childhood Education
vaka.yksityinen@espoo.fi  

Swedish Early Childhood Education
Mia Reimars
mia.reimars@espoo.fi