California especially is loaded with regs and requirements to do almost anything - especially day care. Those kinds of hurdles always drive up costs. I have a friend that ran a Christian day care out of her home - not in CA. But some of the stuff she told me she had to do just to be licensed at times seemed over the top. They even remodeled part of their home in order to accommodate the laws - state regs and taxes. She finally called it quits because the hassles of the business had become too prohibitive and the parents themselves could make it difficult through inconsistency.

I get trying to protect kids, but the unintended consequences of all the protection has put the cost of most day care out of range for many people. That forces them to find day care from those that may not necessarily be qualified to do the job. There needs to be a medium. Parents need a place to place their children where they can be reasonably assured their children will be okay without breaking the bank or having to take another job just to pay for the day care.