Many towns require businesses, including home daycares, to obtain an annual business license or permit. Cost and application process for these varied by location," said Wendy Doyle from UnitedWe. United Women Empowerment, or WE, has released findings on their study they conducted to find out how the licensing process has impacted childcare access. One of their findings included the amount of time it takes to go through paperwork. The amount of paperwork can be burdensome and can take hours of dedicated time to stay on top of," said Doyle. Crystal Newsom is the owner of Purpose Learning Academy in Tulsa.She said she had to be very diligent to get her daycare licensed. I would say if you really go hard, you can really get it done in about 30 to 60 days," said Newsom. Still, she said the amount of money needed to apply for licensing, opening and maintaining a daycare center was the biggest obstacle for her. It would be great if we could get more funding, I think thats whats needed," she said. To maintain a certain quality of staff, certain quality equipment, being able to pay your staff for their expertise- you dont wanna just hire anybody.Crystal aims to make sure families have a place they can trust their children to learn and grow. "A lot of daycares are just that- theyre babysitters," she said. "Here, we take pride in actually loving and caring for the children and giving them educational information they need to succeed.Newsom also said Tulsa is a bit of a daycare desert, with parents having to scrounge and look for places they feel comfortable leaving their children. "We get calls every day. We're almost at the point where we have a waitlist," she said. Currently, Newsom is licensed to care for 48 children, but she is working to get licensed to be able to accomodate more children. UnitedWE proposed that local governments decrease the variability in health, safety, and zoning permits across the board.They say this way, potential daycare owners can have a better idea of what to prepare for when getting their licenses.They think this would also help open daycare centers quicker, providing more places for children to enroll. To see the full study and its findings, you can visit the UnitedWe website here.Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere -- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices. Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram SUBSCRIBE on YouTube