Child day care

Children up to the age of 3 are cared for in a traditional day care centre. For children from the age of one up to the age of three, there is a legal entitlement to childcare in a day care centre or in a day care facility in accordance with § 24 Para. 2 SGB VIII.

Under certain conditions, such as the parents' employment, childcare in a day care centre is possible before the child reaches the age of one.

As a rule, a childminder looks after up to five children in their own household. Childcare in a large day care centre (a group of day carers with a maximum of 9 children under the age of 3) or in other suitable premises are other models of child day care.

Under certain conditions, children up to the age of 14 can also be cared for in day care centres in addition to day care centres, schools or open all-day schools.

Childminders are qualified to educate, care for and bring up children; they have at least one qualification based on the so-called DJI curriculum.

They accompany the children in their development. They offer a wide range of educational opportunities that also promote the children's social and linguistic development in a holistic way. They plan educational programmes and enable the children to make their own experiences and get to know the world.

In child day care, individual support and encouragement according to the inclinations and abilities of the individual child are combined in a special way with joint education and upbringing in a small group.

As a child and youth welfare service, child day care is no more expensive for parents than a place in a day care centre. The so-called parental contribution is based on the annual income, age of the child and the amount of time spent in childcare.

If siblings attend the open all-day school, a day care centre or a day care centre at the same time, parents only pay one contribution.

Parental contribution from 01.08.26

Statutes on the collection of day care costs from 01.08.26

Statutes on the collection of day care costs from 01.08.25

Statutes on the collection of day care costs until 31.07.25

Info sheet: Parental contributions

Note: Day carers receive a fee from the Youth and Family Department for their childcare services and material costs, among other things. Day carers are not permitted to charge parents any fees, with the exception of an appropriate contribution for meals.

In addition to the daycare centres (Kitas), the daycare centres are also represented in the daycare portal of the city of Bocholt. The portal provides a comprehensive overview with information on the range of day care centres.

A selection is possible according to individual search criteria (e.g. location search, childcare times, etc.). Parents can register their child or children with one or more daycare centres and/or daycare centres via their own user account.

After making a reservation, parents contact the counsellor at the selected daycare centre(s) within six weeks. The child is then placed on the waiting list of the day care centre. During the childcare relationship, the specialist counsellor remains the point of contact and supports both the parents and the childminder.

Click here to go to the daycare centre portal of the city of Bocholt.

If parents cannot find a suitable childcare place for their child in the Kita-Portal and have received a rejection from all the selected childcare places, they can contact the child daycare or daycare centre counselling service directly by registering their requirements. The notification of need can be submitted in writing by post or by e-mail to the responsible counselling service.

You can download the form here:

• Application form for a childcare place

The Youth and Family Department of the City of Bocholt is looking for motivated people who are interested in working as a childminder.

If you enjoy working with children, can offer a family environment, are flexible, responsible and co-operative, we would like to recruit you as a childminder.

Child day care offers an attractive way to combine family and career. As part of this self-employed activity, you will have the opportunity to organise your working hours freely within a coherent concept.

To find out more about the opportunities and prospects of this varied field of work and the entry requirements for qualifying as a day carer, please contact the specialist advice centre. In a personal discussion, you can find out more about the remuneration or the aptitude assessment procedure, among other things.