Enrichment · Life Skills

Check the license,
then read the reports.

Every state posts child care licenses, and most post the inspections behind them. Look up each provider you are considering, note the ratio in your child’s room, and the page compares it to the national standard and lists what to ask on the next visit.

Check a providerWhat you get

Your providers

The worked example is made up: a center with an active license, four babies to an adult and a safe-sleep finding not shown as fixed, and a home provider whose license has lapsed. Saved on this device only.

Loading the provider form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · Life SkillsFree

What you finish with
A record per provider: name, type, license number, status on the state lookup and when you checked, your child’s age group, children per adult and room size, each inspection with findings and whether corrected, and nine questions with the answer you got. Compares the ratio and group to national standards and counts inspections and uncorrected findings; flags an expired, missing or provisional license, a license-exempt program, a ratio or group over the standard, findings not shown corrected and safe sleep.
Who it is for
Parents and caregivers choosing infant, toddler or preschool care, and grandparents helping them look.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per provider. Prints a provider sheet to take on a visit, every provider in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Life Skills space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Search the provider on your state’s child care licensing site.
  2. Read the last two or three inspection reports.
  3. Count the children and adults in your child’s room on a visit.
  4. Ask the nine questions and mark the answers.
  5. Compare providers side by side in the printout.

Check a provider

Ratios that matter

Recommended ratios and group sizesAgeChildren per adultLargest groupBirth to 12 months3613 to 24 months4825 to 35 months4123 years7144 and 5 years816Recommended ratios and group sizesBirth to 12 monthsChildren per adult: 3Largest group: 613 to 24 monthsChildren per adult: 4Largest group: 825 to 35 monthsChildren per adult: 4Largest group: 123 yearsChildren per adult: 7Largest group: 144 and 5 yearsChildren per adult: 8Largest group: 16
From Caring for Our Children. State licensing rules set the legal minimum and are often looser; fewer children per adult means more attention for each one.

Reading an inspection report

Most reports list each rule checked and any violation, with a date it must be fixed by. Look for patterns: the same finding twice, anything about supervision, sleep or background checks, and whether the follow-up visit shows it corrected. One minor finding fixed on the spot is common.

Free help finding care

Child Care Aware of America connects families to local child care resource and referral agencies, which keep lists of licensed providers and can explain subsidies. Start at childcareaware.org.

Sources

  1. American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association and National Resource Center. Caring for Our Children, fourth edition, Standard 1.1.1.2 ratios and group sizes (nrckids.org).
  2. Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 and 45 CFR 98.43: comprehensive background checks.
  3. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2022). Sleep-related infant deaths: Updated 2022 recommendations for reducing infant deaths in the sleep environment. Pediatrics, 150(1).
  4. Child Care Aware of America. Choosing child care and state licensing links (childcareaware.org).

The worked examples are made up. Licensing rules, ratios and what is posted online differ by state; the state licensing office is the authority. This page organizes what you find and does not rate any provider. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.