MEXICO — Janet Touchette is no stranger to providing a safe and nurturing place for children.

Touchette has been a child care provider for 15 years and her mother, Margorie Richards, was in the profession for 28 years before Touchette took over the family business.

Touchette, who owns Wee Care Daycare in Mexico, was recently awarded a national accreditation from the National Association for Family Child Care out of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The National Association for Family Child Care is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting quality child care by strengthening the profession of family child care.

“It took us over a year and a half to get the accreditation,” Touchette said. “A lot of work and training hours went into reaching that goal.”

Touchette said the accreditation is more for the parents than for her personal gain.

“It’s a tool to help ensure the parents are getting the best of what they need in child care,” Touchette said.

Wee Care Daycare operates Monday through Friday and takes care of 20 children throughout the week. Ages of the children range from 6 weeks to 12 years.

“I wanted to move up the quality rating scale and to have my program nationally accredited so families have a high quality child care for their children,” Touchette said.

The NAFCC offers accreditation to providers across the country, aiding them in raising their standards of quality care and gaining them the respect and recognition they deserve for their commitment to quality and children.

“It really helped you look around and see what improvements you can make,” Touchette said.

When asked what she loved about being in day care, she said, “The children: If I could just play with the kids all day, it would be perfect.”

Touchette’s day care is also rated at one of the highest levels under Maine’s child care provider rankings. She is currently at level four.