Opening one’s home to provide child care isn’t as simple as hanging up a tire swing and then hanging out a sign. Far from it. An array of state and local regulations can come into play; among those, of course, are state rules capping how many kids can be watched in the home at one time.

For those providers who feel the rules could be a little more flexible without creating more risk, help is on the way. Senate Bill 110, co-sponsored in the Senate by Democrat John Kefalas of Fort Collins and Republican Larry Crowder of Alamosa, would raise the number of unrelated children a home-based child-care provider can care for without having to apply for a child-care license.

As described by legislative policy staff, the bill would allow an individual who provides care in a residence for less than 24 hours to be exempt from child care licensing if one of the following conditions are met:

Clear enough? Yeah, we’d probably have to read it a few times, too. Point is, small-scale child-care providers can take in more kids than under the current system without going through licensure. Current law allows for only one child or for two or more siblings from the same family to be cared for at unlicensed homes.

Said Crowder in a press release today from the Senate GOP press office:

“By expanding the number of unrelated kids a home-based caregiver can watch without obtaining a child care license to four, with no more than two children under two years of age, we’re helping moms and dads who want to get child care from neighbors, friends and other family members.”