East Palo Alto · Licensed family home
Maria Cardenas Family Child Care
A family home in East Palo Alto, licensed for up to 14 children. Run by the person who holds the license. Shortlist has found no website for it yet.
Full-size home. Full-size means licensed for 14 children, the most any Bay Area family home holds; 442 of Bay Area’s 466 licensed family homes are. Small is 10 to 13.
Who runs it: from ccld.dss.ca.gov.
Shortlist doesn’t have these yet: cost, hours and late pickup, teaching approach, ratios and staff, a typical day, sick and biting policies.
What the state has found
Routine visits: 1 of 2 cited something
Across Bay Area family homes, the state cites something at about 1 in 4 routine visits (2,008 visits). Two visits are too few to read as a pattern.
From California CDSS Community Care Licensing’s published reports, last checked September 25, 2026.
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — California CDSS Community Care Licensing
- Last visit
- January 30, 2025
- On file
- 2 visits since October 2022 — 1 cited nothing
- Most serious
- Type B —
(g) The home shall be free from defects or conditions which might endanger a child. Safety precautions shall include but not limited to: (9) Each family child care home shall have a written disaster plan of action prepared on a form approved by the Department. All children, age and ability permitting, and the provider, the assistant provider, and other members of the household, shall be instructed in their duties under the disaster plan. As their age and ability permit, newly enrolled children shall be informed promptly of their duties as required in the plan. (A) Each family child care home shall conduct fire drills and disaster drills at least once every six months. 1. The licensee shall document the drills, including the date and time of each drill. This documentation shall kept at the family child care home. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interview and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above as licensee was unable to show documented proof that an emergency drill was conducted, which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
· January 30, 2025
California CDSS publishes the full investigation narrative for a complaint, including its disposition, and classifies a citation Type A — an immediate risk to a child — or Type B.
Jan 2025 Licensing visit 3 findings
Licensing visit · January 30, 2025
CCR 102417(g)(9)(A)1 · Type B
(g) The home shall be free from defects or conditions which might endanger a child. Safety precautions shall include but not limited to: (9) Each family child care home shall have a written disaster plan of action prepared on a form approved by the Department. All children, age and ability permitting, and the provider, the assistant provider, and other members of the household, shall be instructed in their duties under the disaster plan. As their age and ability permit, newly enrolled children shall be informed promptly of their duties as required in the plan. (A) Each family child care home shall conduct fire drills and disaster drills at least once every six months. 1. The licensee shall document the drills, including the date and time of each drill. This documentation shall kept at the family child care home. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interview and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above as licensee was unable to show documented proof that an emergency drill was conducted, which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
HSC 1596.8662(b)(1) · Type B
(1) On or before March 30, 2018, a person who, on January 1, 2018, is a licensed child day care provider, administrator, or employee of a licensed child day care facility shall complete the mandated reporter training provided pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a), and shall complete renewal mandated reporter training every two years following the date on which he or she completed the initial mandated reporter training. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interview and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above as she has not done the Mandated Reporter training, which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
CCR 102421(a) · Type B
(a) The licensee shall maintain, in each child's record, the signed and dated notice form required in Section 102419(d). This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on interview and record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above as licensee was only able to show one out of the two children's file, which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
Details
- Phone
- (650) 566-8209
- Area
- East Palo Alto, 94303
- License
- 414001070, active
Do you run Maria Cardenas Family Child Care? Shortlist has no tuition, hours or ratios for it, because the state does not publish that. Add what is missing. It is free and takes about ten minutes.
Sources and dates
Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.
State record
Every state visit and complaint on file, shown in full and never edited. Open a date to read what the state wrote.
Details
- Phone, License — Checked July 2026 · ccld.dss.ca.gov
- Who runs it — Checked September 2026 · ccld.dss.ca.gov