Sponsorship in plain language

There are many children's day care facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Every children's day care facility has a provider.
All providers have an important task:
They ensure that children are well cared for and supported.

Here we explain:

• What is a provider?
• What tasks does a provider have?
• What different providers are there?

A sponsor is an organization.
The organization takes care of children's daycare facilities.
For example:

• the employees
• the building
• and the money.

The organization ensures that the daycare facility functions well.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are four types of sponsors for children's daycare facilities.
These sponsors receive money from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

This is in the Children's Education Act.
The short form is: KiBiZ.
This law regulates:
How daycare centers work.
And who gets money for the work.

A provider has many different tasks.
The tasks are important for the work of the daycare centre.
Here are some of the most important tasks:

Administration and organization
The provider organizes the daycare centre.
And the provider manages the daycare centre.
The provider hires the employees.
And the provider pays the employees.
The provider also takes care of the house of the daycare centre.
And it buys things for the daycare center.

Pedagogical concept
The provider has a plan for the education in the daycare center.
The technical term is: pedagogical concept.
The children should learn a lot in the daycare center.
They should feel comfortable and safe there.
The provider must ensure this.

Financing
The provider takes care of the money for the daycare center.
He makes sure:
The money is put to good use.
This way, the children get a good education.

Working with parents
The provider works together with the parents.
The parents should be able to trust the provider.
That's why there are, for example:

• Parent evenings
• Conversations with the parents.

Compliance with laws and standards
The provider ensures:
All laws are complied with.
And all standards are complied with.
For example:

• There are enough educators in the daycare center.
• The educators have good training.
• The children are safe in the daycare center.
• The rooms in the daycare center are clean.

There are different types of providers in North Rhine-Westphalia:

Municipal providers
The provider is a city or district.
This means:
The city or district takes care of the child day care facility.

Free providers
These are associations or welfare organizations.
The facility is allowed to offer day care for children.
The Youth Welfare Office has inspected the facility.
And the Youth Welfare Office has said:
The facility is good.

Church-based providers
Some day care centers belong to the church.
These providers are called church providers.
These are, for example:

• The Protestant Church
• The Catholic Church.

Parent initiatives
These are groups of parents who set up and run a daycare center themselves.
This means:
The parents are responsible for the daycare center.
The parents help out in the daycare center.
And the parents have a say in many things.

Other providers
Others can also be providers.
For example:

• Companies
• Private providers
• Non-recognized providers of independent youth aid.

Non-recognized providers means:
The youth aid is not from the state or the city.
The same laws apply to these providers as to all other providers.
But:
They do not receive any money from the state.
This is stated in the Children's Education Act.
But they can decide for themselves:
How much money the parents have to pay?