Contents
The point with Remi Ghezzi, Deputy Head from the Childhood, Youth and Parenthood Department at the Cnaf and Laurent Ortalda responsable from the Early Childhood Center to the Cnaf.
Pre-registration: better not to delay
Priority of the request is essential: the earlier the registration is carried out, the more likely the file will be successful ! Also, as soon as you know you are pregnant, you can get information from the Early Childhood service of the town hall of your municipality or from the director of the establishment of your choice: private nurseries, associations, etc. The latter obey the same safety standards, personnel qualification or pricing than municipal day nurseries.
Fishing for information allows you to set the right timing for pre-registration, the necessary documents… But it also depends on the size of the towns and places. Sometimes we will be asked to pre-register at the start of pregnancy or in the 3rd or even 6th month.
More than an administrative formality, this first contact with the reception structure is also an opportunity to meet the early childhood services of your municipality, to specify your needs, to speak with a social worker, with a crèche manager… and the opportunity to discover ALL the existing childcare arrangements and the alternatives, which very often we do not yet know. To see that there are other means of childcare than the classic nursery, not necessarily more expensive, is a guarantee of serenity!
The request must be confirmed at birth, and it is only when the allocation committee has confirmed the place that the final registration can be made.
Full of hope !
The National Family Allowances Fund (CNAF) wishes to develop 30.000 nursery places and 1.000 childminders relay posts by 2022.
Varied award criteria
“Everyone has the right to a place in a crèche, the aim is to meet all families”. So much for the theory. But, “There is bound to be priority situations, such as accepting a disabled baby for a few hours a week, welcoming a child desocialized by the great precariousness of his parents and who will be given a chance like the others to be socially integrated ”, explains Marie-Christine Chaumette, director of the crèche Babilou / Les Galopins de Saint-Cyr sur Loire… To help with the decision, a report made public in November 2018, conducted by the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), was made available to municipalities. It contains, among other things, a list of award criteria on which the committees can rely. *: precarious situation, single parent, child’s disability, minor parent, twinning, professional transfer … But the recommendation is not to stop at a single type of criterion. For example, it is not because only one of the two parents works, that we have staggered hours, that our income is correct… that we cannot hope to have a place. And the criteria may vary depending on the territory.
*L’AMF. https://www.amf.asso.fr/documents-presentation-du-vade-mecum-sur-lattribution-places-en-creche-/3907
Concretely, what do we do?
We anticipate by registering in several nurseries and by increasing the number of requests. We drop a pre-registration file in different types of structures : municipal, private, company, family day nursery (with a childminder), parenting, micro-nurseries, etc.
During the first contact with the management of an establishment, the person in charge of Early Childhood from the town hall or a person at the PMI, we show our motivation by explaining the need for this place, by specifying the desired days and times, by finding out about the educational project of the structure, the hours of the nursery and our work (atypical, flexible …), on the management of diapers and meals… In short, we are very very very interested! When possible, we pre-register online.
If you are an employee, you ask our employer if he would agree to finance a place in an inter-company crèche and would be “kids friendly” to set up a partnership with a local private structure, because there are companies which rent “cradles” to companies.
How much does it cost ?
Whether municipal, private agreement, family, parental, company, the Financial participation of the parents is identical. It is set by the CNAF according to a scale taking into account household income and the number of dependent children. We only pay what is really at our expense. These costs, for children under 6 years old, are subject to a tax credit of 50% of the sums remaining payable (excluding catering) up to an annual limit of € 2.
We can do a simulation on https://www.mon-enfant.fr/simuler-le-cout-en-creche
What if we don’t have room?
The schedule of allocation commissions varies depending on the municipality, but they meet two or three times a year to grant vacant places during the year. The most important allocation commission is that of May or June which allocates places in September. Not to be missed! If you have not been selected, nothing prevents you from resubmitting your file and learning about alternative childcare: micro-crèche, parental crèche, childminders, etc.
Le site designed by the CNAF www.monenfant.fr offers, among other things, a geolocated search, single or multi-criteria, of a reception mode close to home. You just have to type in your search type and locate yourself. And sometimes surprise!
Last but not least, our starting choice may change : we wanted a municipal collective crèche, but ultimately the project of such a private crèche, such as developing self-confidence in Babilou crèches, or around music, a universal language in Cap Enfants crèches, may appeal to us more.
Author: Elisabeth de la Morandière
And in collective nurseries?
The pro opinion:
“Parents can be reassured. The criteria are defined between the companies and the administration of the crèche. They are objective. For example, for a first child already in the nursery, the allocation will be facilitated for the second. But there is no favoritism, no injustice between families. The important thing for me is that parents think well beforehand if they really want the community for their child. This is essential for it to integrate well. “
Marylise Arizzoli, childcare director of a Cap Enfants inter-company crèche.