Child Care Resouces at Yale

Choosing Child Care

The Yale University Child Care Directory provides detailed information about licensed child care centers in Greater New Haven.

Search the Child Care Directory

types of child care

Center

A licensed day care center may provide care for more than 12 children. If there are children under three years of age, the center must have a weekly health consultant visit. Ratios of care providers to children are:
  • Infants and toddlers (6 weeks-35 months) 1:4 (group size maximum 8)
  • Preschoolers (3-5 years) 1:10 (maximum group size 20)
  • School age 1:20

Group Home

A licensed group home may provide care for seven to twelve related or unrelated children outside of their own homes.

Family

A licensed family day care provider can care for a maximum of 6 children, including the provider’s own children not in school full-time., in the provider’s own home. Children of school age (not including the provider’s own) who receive 3 or more hours of care before or after school are included in the ratio. Maximum of 2 children under age 2.

Nannies, Au-Pairs, and Babysitters

This type of arrangement can be live-in or live-out.  

Backup Care and Babysitting

The university is deeply committed to developing responsive work environments that support obligations to home and community as well as changes that accompany various life events.  The listed resources below aim to help parents who may be experiencing a breakdown in your regular child care arrangements.

Emergency Back-Up Care

All benefits-eligible faculty, managerial and professional staff, post-doctoral associates, clerical and technical, and service and maintenance employees can use up to a total of 20 emergency back-up care days through December 31, 2020. A unique feature of the current Crisis Care Assist emergency backup-care program is that it offers the additional option to secure care from within your own personal network and receive a reimbursement of $100 per day. Since the program’s expansion, many members of our community have used this benefit to offset costs associated with the closure of daycare centers and schools. We are pleased to announce further expansions below.

New Childcare Resources 

  • Increased Access to In-Home Family Daycare Providers: Yale is finalizing a new relationship with All Our Kin, a non-profit organization that trains, supports, and sustains family childcare educators. This partnership will provide Yale families increased access to licensed family daycare homes in the greater New Haven area.
  • Emergency Back-Up Care for Students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Starting October 1, all GSAS students will qualify for a total of 20 emergency back-up care days through the Bright Horizons Family Solutions Company through September 30, 2021, including Crisis Care days through December 31, 2020.
  • Emergency Back-Up Care for Post-Doctoral Fellows: Starting September 1, all post-doctoral fellows will qualify for a total of 20 emergency back-up care days through the Bright Horizons Family Solutions Company through December 31, 2020. They will also have access to enhanced family support systems through Bright Horizons.
  • Care for School-Aged Children: The Phyllis Bodel Center, one of Yale’s affiliated childcare centers, will be providing onsite care for school-aged children who are engaged in distance learning this year. For more information contact the Executive Director of the Bodel Center, Kyle Miller at 203-785-3829 or kyle.miller@yale.edu.  A similar program is being considered by Bright Horizons at West Campus, another Yale-affiliated childcare center. If you are interested in care opportunities for school-aged children at Bright Horizons, please contact yalewestcampus@brighthorizons.com.
  • In-Person and Virtual Tutoring and Babysitting: The university is now connecting Yale students who wish to work as in-person or virtual tutors or babysitters with Yale families that would find such support useful. To explore these options further, please log into the Yale Babysitting and Tutoring website.
  • Virtual Educational Tools: The WorkLife office has created a web page titled Educating Children at Home that contains links to educational content created by Yale University galleries and the Peabody museum. This platform also connects Yale families with external educational tools targeting children of all ages.
  • OfficeAccord Virtual Parent Community: The university is launching a new digital platform that permits all Yale parents to connect, communicate, and share resources with each other. The WorkLife office will also use this platform to announce childcare-related news, workshops, and new resources. To create your own profile and explore this new digital community, visit the Yale OfficeAccord website.

How to use Yale’s Flexible Spending benfits for your child care expenses

The Yale flexible benefits plan permits you to save money by reducing your taxable salary to cover qualifying child/dependent care expenses.
 
How it works
 
Salary reductions designated for child/dependent care or medical/dental expenses accumulate in a reimbursement account on your behalf pending submission of claims for reimbursable expenses. (An individual cannot lump his or her reduction to correspond to a particular part of the year. Instead, the annual reduction is divided into equal periodic payroll reductions throughout the year.) Expenses are reimbursed until the cumulative total equals the annual amount designated. Learn more about flexible benefits.

Yale Affiliated Child Care Centers

There are seven child care programs affiliated with the university. The programs vary in size; eligibility is determined by university affiliation, ages of children served, calendar, hours of operation, and program philosophy.