A Guide to In-Home Child Care in Cleveland, Ohio

What “In-Home Child Care” Means in Cleveland

Ask a handful of Cleveland parents what in-home child care means and you will get different answers. A family in a Detroit-Shoreway double may picture a nanny who arrives at 7 a.m. A parent in Old Brooklyn may think of the neighbor down the street who watches five kids in her converted living room. A nurse working twelve-hour shifts at University Hospitals or MetroHealth may be looking for someone who will come to the house before sunrise. All of these count, and each one comes with different rules, costs, and tradeoffs.

In practice, in-home child care falls into two groups:

• Care in your own home. This includes nannies, babysitters, nanny shares, and county-certified in-home aides who can be paid through Ohio’s child care assistance program.
• Care in the caregiver’s home. This is usually called family child care, and in Ohio it is split into licensed Type B homes, licensed Type A homes, and small unlicensed arrangements.

The need is real. When Signal Cleveland reported on a survey by the local coalition Early Matters NEO, more than 400 Cuyahoga County parents of children under 5 were asked about child care; 55% said they could not find care they could afford, and 78% ran into access problems such as finding an opening at all. Statewide, the Ohio DCY child care page notes that roughly 285,000 Ohio children attend licensed child care each day. Home-based options fill a big share of the gap, especially for infants, siblings who want to stay together, and parents with early or irregular hours.

The Main Types of In-Home Child Care, Side by Side

This table gives you the quick version. The sections below explain each option in more detail.

Nannies and babysitters

A nanny works in your home on a set schedule, often full time. Ohio’s legal definition of “child care” covers care in a place other than the child’s own home (with one exception for in-home aides), so a privately hired nanny does not need a state license. That gives you the most control over routines, naps, meals, and hours, but it also puts every safety check on you: background screening, references, CPR training, and a written agreement. Nannies are popular with parents who work early shifts at the Cleveland Clinic main campus, attorneys downtown with unpredictable days, and families with two or more young children, where one caregiver can be more practical than two daycare tuitions.

Nanny shares

In a nanny share, two families split one caregiver, usually alternating whose house hosts the day. It is common in dense neighborhoods like Ohio City, Tremont, and Lakewood next door, where families live a few blocks apart. The per-family cost drops, and kids get a built-in playmate. The tradeoffs: both households must agree on rules, sick-child policies, and who pays for what. Put everything in writing, including what happens when one family moves or no longer needs care.

County-certified in-home aides

An in-home aide is a caregiver who does not live with your child, provides care in your child’s home, and is certified by the county job and family services agency to be paid through Ohio’s Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) program. Under Ohio’s administrative rules, an in-home aide applicant must be at least 18, have a high school education, provide a recent medical statement, complete pre-certification training through the Ohio Professional Registry, and pass a background check. This route can work well for families who qualify for assistance but need care during nontraditional hours, or who have a child with medical or developmental needs that make a group setting harder.

Licensed Type B family child care homes

A Type B home is a provider’s own permanent residence where care is given to one to seven children at once, with no more than three under age 2. The provider’s own children under 6 who are on site count toward that total. Type B homes feel like a family: mixed ages, a consistent caregiver, and often a lower price than a center. Because they are licensed, you can look up their inspection results, and they can accept child care assistance if they sign a provider agreement with the state.

Type A family child care homes

A Type A home is still a residence, but it serves a larger group: eight to 14 children, or four to 14 if four or more are under age 2. A second adult must be present when more than three children under 2 are in care, or when the total group is larger than seven. In Cuyahoga County, Type A homes also need city approvals for zoning, building, and fire safety. Think of a Type A home as a middle ground between a small family setting and a center.

Unlicensed home-based care

The state notes that anyone can care for up to six children in their home, with no more than three under age 2, without a license. Many Cleveland families rely on a trusted relative, neighbor, or church friend in exactly this way. It can be wonderful, but there are no inspections, no required training, and no state record to check. It also cannot be paid for through PFCC. If you choose this route, use the vetting steps later in this guide just as seriously as you would with a stranger.

How Ohio and Cuyahoga County Regulate Home-Based Care

Child care licensing in Ohio now sits with the Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY), which took over the work from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. DCY licenses child care centers, Type A homes, and Type B homes, checks programs before and after they open, and investigates complaints. Here is what matters most for Cleveland families.

Group size limits changed in 2025

House Bill 96, which took effect September 30, 2025, updated the Ohio Revised Code definitions for family child care. Type B homes went to a range of one to seven children, and Type A homes to eight to 14. You may still see older numbers (six and 12) on some county pages and brochures, so if a provider quotes a group size that surprises you, ask to see their license, which must be posted where parents can see it, and confirm with licensing staff.

Your local licensing contact

The Cuyahoga County Child Care Licensing Unit licenses and monitors family child care providers across the county, from Collinwood to Old Brooklyn to the suburbs. You can reach the county licensing unit at 216-987-8488 or CuyahogaChildCareLicensing@jfs.ohio.gov with questions about a provider or about becoming one yourself.

Background checks

Licensed family child care providers and certified in-home aides must complete a state background check. The caregiver requests it through the Ohio Professional Registry, submits fingerprints through the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and the FBI, and DCY reviews the results and issues a determination. DCY also publishes a list of offenses that bar someone from becoming a child care provider. If you hire a private nanny, none of this happens automatically, so you will need to arrange your own screening.

Quality ratings

Ohio’s Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) system rates programs that go beyond basic health and safety rules. The current model uses three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. A rating tells you the program has made commitments to school readiness, continuous improvement, family engagement, and teacher training. Home providers can earn ratings too, and every preschool in Cleveland’s PRE4CLE network holds a Silver or Gold rating.

Reporting a concern

If you believe a licensed program is not following the rules, DCY’s Family and Customer Support Center takes complaints at 844-234-KIDS (5437). Have the program’s name, location, and any details you observed ready when you call.

What In-Home Child Care Costs in Cleveland

Child care is one of the largest bills a Cleveland household pays. According to the Center for Community Solutions, the average cost of care for one child in Cuyahoga County topped $15,000 a year in 2025, more than a typical household spends on housing, medical bills, or transportation. The chart below compares estimated weekly full-time costs by type of care.

What drives the price of a nanny

Listings on Nanny Lane show most Cleveland families paying somewhere between $11 and $30 an hour, with each additional child usually adding $1 to $2 an hour. Experience, driving duties, cooking, and overnight or weekend hours all push the rate up. Remember the costs that do not show up in the hourly number:

• Household employer taxes. Once a nanny’s cash wages pass the IRS annual threshold for household employees, families generally owe Social Security and Medicare taxes and may need to file Schedule H. IRS Publication 926 or a tax professional can walk you through it.
• Paid time off and holidays. Most experienced nannies expect paid vacation and holidays in their agreement.
• Backup care. When your nanny is sick, or a lake-effect storm shuts down I-90 and the Shoreway, you still need coverage.
• Mileage and outings. If the nanny drives your kids to the library or the Metroparks, agree on mileage reimbursement up front.

What drives the price of a family child care home

Home providers set their own rates. Ask about registration fees, whether you pay during the provider’s vacation or sick days, holiday closures, late pickup fees, and whether meals and diapers are included. A licensed provider who accepts PFCC can also explain how your copayment fits alongside their private rate.

How to Pay for Care: Assistance and Local Programs

Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC)

Ohio’s PFCC program helps parents and guardians who are working, in school, in job training, receiving Ohio Works First cash assistance, homeless, or required by a children’s services case plan to have protective child care. Initial income eligibility is at or below 145% of the federal poverty level, or 150% when a child has a county-verified special need. Once enrolled, families can keep benefits as income rises up to 300% of the poverty level, with a sliding weekly copayment. Families at or below 100% of the poverty level pay a $0 copay.

To put 145% in dollars, Policy Matters Ohio puts it at $39,614 a year for a family of three. You can apply online through the Ohio Benefits portal or through Cuyahoga County Job and Family Services. The key point for in-home care: PFCC only pays providers with a state provider agreement, which means a licensed Type A or Type B home, a certified in-home aide, a licensed center, or another approved program. It cannot pay a private nanny or an unlicensed neighbor.

Child Care Choice vouchers

Families whose income is a bit too high for PFCC, roughly 146% to 200% of the poverty level, may qualify for Ohio’s Child Care Choice voucher program. Starting Point’s page on financial assistance options is a good local place to sort out which program fits.

Universal Pre-Kindergarten and PRE4CLE

Cuyahoga County’s Office of Early Childhood, known as Invest in Children, runs a Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program that uses a mixed delivery model, meaning high-quality preschool can happen in public schools, Head Start sites, child care centers, and in-home family child care. Inside the city, PRE4CLE works to connect every Cleveland 3- and 4-year-old with a high-quality preschool. Its PRE4CLE family resources list options that include home-based child care, along with scholarship tools.

Free CMSD preschool, plus wraparound hours

The Cleveland Metropolitan School District offers free, full-day CMSD preschool for Cleveland residents that follows the district calendar. The district does not provide transportation or before- and after-school care for general education preschool students, so many working parents pair a CMSD seat with a nanny, an in-home aide, or a center that covers early mornings, afternoons, and school breaks.

Children with special needs

Ohio pays an enhanced PFCC rate for special needs child care, and a child who qualifies can keep receiving services until age 18. Starting Point offers special needs child care referrals for families looking for caregivers or programs prepared to support speech, motor, behavioral, or medical needs.

Employer benefits

If your employer offers a dependent care flexible spending account, you can set aside pre-tax money for eligible child care, including payments to a nanny who is on the books. Large Cleveland employers in health care, government, and finance commonly offer this, so check with human resources during open enrollment.

Finding and Vetting a Caregiver, Step by Step

Whether you are hiring a nanny or choosing a family child care home, follow the same order. Each step builds on the one before it.

1. Write down what you need. List your hours (including any early, late, or weekend shifts), how many children need care, their ages, any medical or developmental needs, and how drop-off will work. If you ride RTA, note which bus or rail line you use, since a provider near your route can save you an hour a day.
2. Get local referrals. Starting Point is Cuyahoga County’s child care resource and referral agency, headquartered at 6001 Euclid Avenue in MidTown. Its Starting Point referrals cover centers, preschools, and family child care homes, and a specialist can talk you through options at 216-575-0061.
3. Check the state record. For any licensed home, use Ohio’s Child Care Search tool (linked from the DCY page earlier in this guide). You can filter by county, city, zip code, program type, and rating, and review licensing details and inspection results.
4. Verify training. Licensed providers and in-home aides keep their education, training, and credentials in the Ohio Professional Registry. Ask for their registry number and current CPR and first aid certificates.
5. Interview in person. Use the questions in the next section, and bring your child so you can see how the caregiver interacts with them.
6. Walk through the space. Use the safety checklist below, whether the care happens in your home or theirs.
7. Call references and do a paid trial. Talk with at least two families who used the caregiver recently. Then schedule a paid trial day or week before you commit.
8. Put it in writing. A simple agreement should cover hours, pay, overtime, time off, sick-day and snow-day policies, discipline approach, screen time, meals, transportation, and how either side can end the arrangement.

Questions to ask any in-home caregiver

• How long have you cared for children this age, and why do you do this work?
• Are you licensed or certified? May I see your license or certification and your background check determination?
• Are your CPR and first aid certifications current, and do they include infants?
• What does a typical day look like: meals, naps, outdoor time, reading, and screen time?
• How do you handle tantrums, biting, or conflicts between children?
• Who else lives in or visits the home during care hours? Have those adults had background checks?
• What is your plan for your own sick days, vacations, and snow emergencies?
• How will you keep me updated during the day: texts, photos, or a written log?
• Have you cared for children with allergies, asthma, or developmental delays?
• What would you do if my child had a medical emergency, and which hospital is closest?

Home safety walk-through for Cleveland homes

Lead deserves special attention. Starting Point serves as the lead agency for the Lead Safe Child Care program, which gives participating providers access to vetted lead-safe workers and grant money for remediation. The program runs in partnership with the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, which also has resources for families. If you are considering a home provider in an older house, ask directly whether they have gone through this process.

Neighborhood Notes: Getting Around and Nearby Options

Cleveland’s geography shapes child care decisions as much as price does. A provider who looks close on a map can turn into a 40-minute trip once you factor in the Cuyahoga River crossings, I-90 traffic, and winter weather. If you or your caregiver rely on transit, RTA’s HealthLine runs along Euclid Avenue between Public Square and the Louis Stokes Station at Windermere in East Cleveland, passing MidTown and University Circle, while the Red Line connects the West Side and the airport with downtown and the East Side.

Many families use in-home care for part of the day or part of their child’s early years and a center for the rest. If you want a licensed classroom close to home, here is where Clever Bee Academy’s Cleveland centers sit:

• West Side: Ridge Road, at 3545 Ridge Road, serves West Side families with a bilingual learning environment, and many of its families have stayed five years or longer.
• Southeast side: Broadway, at 7710 Broadway Avenue, serves the Broadway and Slavic Village neighborhoods, a short drive from Garfield Park Reservation.
• East side: Kinsman, at 14001 Kinsman Road, is convenient for families commuting along the Kinsman corridor and sits near a Cleveland Public Library branch and RTA bus service.
• Glenville: St. Clair, at 10548 St. Clair Avenue, serves children from infancy through age 12 in the Glenville neighborhood.
• Near downtown: Arbor Park, at 3750 Fleming Avenue, serves families in the Arbor Park neighborhood and has a separate building for school-age children.

In-Home Care or a Center? How to Decide

There is no single right answer. The better question is which setting fits your child, your schedule, and your budget right now. This comparison can help.

Plenty of Cleveland families mix and match. A common path looks like this: a grandparent or nanny for the first months, then a licensed program once a baby is ready for a group, then preschool at 3 or 4, and before- and after-school care plus summer camp once kids start kindergarten. If you are weighing a center for the baby years, Clever Bee’s infant care programs start at six weeks, and the affordable Cleveland daycare page outlines what each center offers, from secure entrances and sign-in and sign-out journals to nutritious menus and age-appropriate classrooms. Clever Bee centers are Step Up To Quality rated, Pre4Cle approved, and Head Start partners, and they accept various forms of payment. For a broader look at how to compare programs, read this guide to finding daycare nearby.

Free and Low-Cost Enrichment for Kids in Home-Based Care

One of the best things a nanny or home provider can do is get kids out of the house. Cleveland has strong options that cost little or nothing:

• Cleveland Public Library. The Read to Me program invites children from birth to 36 months and a caring adult to read, sing, and play together, with giveaway books. The library also posts library family events, including preschool storytimes for ages 3 to 5 and the free Young Scholars’ Academy for ages 3 to 6. Its On the Road to Reading van even makes weekly stops at select child care settings in the city.
• Cleveland Metroparks. Most free group programs are open at no charge to Cuyahoga County groups, including child care providers, and can happen at a nature center or at your location. The Metroparks Nature Preschool also hosts free weekend programs at its Garfield Park location.
• Children’s Museum of Cleveland. Housed in the historic Stager-Beckwith mansion at 3813 Euclid Avenue in MidTown, the museum is designed for ages 0 to 8 and has a free parking lot. Check the Children’s Museum discounts page: families living in the Central, AsiaTown, and MidTown neighborhoods can request free Access Family Memberships, and community access events offer free admission to other Cleveland families.

Training, Research, and the Bigger Picture

Good in-home care depends on well-trained caregivers. If your nanny or a relative wants to build real credentials, the Tri-C early childhood program at Cuyahoga Community College offers an associate degree focused on development from infancy through age 5, and students who already hold a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential can receive credit toward it. Starting Point also runs a CDA preparation program for people already working with young children.

Local research keeps pushing the system forward. Case Western researchers at the Center on Poverty and Community Development monitor the supply of high-quality preschool for PRE4CLE and have evaluated Cuyahoga County’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten program. PRE4CLE’s kindergarten readiness snapshot reports that when the initiative began in 2014, only 16% of children entering Cleveland Metropolitan School District kindergartens were prepared, and that about half of the city’s 3- and 4-year-olds are now enrolled in high-quality-rated programs. Whatever setting you choose for the first years, planning for a high-quality preschool experience at 3 and 4 pays off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does someone who watches kids in their Cleveland home need a license?

Not always. Ohio allows anyone to care for up to six children in their home, with no more than three under age 2, without a license. A license is required to operate a Type A home, and any home provider who wants to be paid through publicly funded child care must be licensed. Licensed homes are inspected and have public records you can review.

How many children can a home daycare in Ohio care for?

Under the Ohio Revised Code as updated in 2025, a Type B home can care for one to seven children at a time, with no more than three under age 2. A Type A home can care for eight to 14 children, with a second adult present above certain limits. The provider’s own children under 6 who are on site count toward the total.

How much does a nanny cost in Cleveland?

Recent Cleveland data puts the starting average near $19 an hour, or roughly $770 for a 40-hour week, though most families pay somewhere between $11 and $30 an hour depending on experience, number of children, and duties. Budget for household employer taxes, paid time off, and backup care on top of wages.

Can Ohio child care assistance pay a relative or a nanny?

Only if that person becomes a county-certified in-home aide or a licensed provider and signs a state provider agreement. Publicly funded child care cannot pay a private nanny or an unlicensed caregiver.

How do I check a home daycare’s inspection history?

Use Ohio’s Child Care Search tool, which lists licensed programs by county, city, and zip code and shows licensing status, Step Up To Quality ratings, and inspection results. Starting Point can also help you interpret what you find.

What should I do about lead in an older Cleveland home?

Ask any home-based provider whether their home has been tested or made lead safe, and look for peeling paint and worn window sills during your visit. Starting Point’s Lead Safe Child Care program helps providers pay for remediation, and the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition offers guidance for families.

Is in-home care or a center better for an infant?

Both can be excellent. In-home care offers one-on-one attention and flexible hours, while a licensed center offers state inspections, trained staff teams, and coverage when one teacher is out. Many families start with in-home care and move to a center or preschool as their child grows.

Can a child in home-based care attend a PRE4CLE preschool?

Yes. PRE4CLE works to connect all Cleveland 3- and 4-year-olds with high-quality preschool, and its network includes public schools, Head Start, child care centers, private preschools, and home-based child care. Every PRE4CLE preschool holds a Silver or Gold Step Up To Quality rating.