Inspection records · Arkansas
What Arkansas daycare inspectors cite
Arkansas inspectors cited at least one rule at 45% of the 1,610 daycares they visited since October 2023. Background check and supervision rules are cited most often, and the single rule cited at the most daycares, 209 of them, says children may never be left unsupervised.
- Daycares visited
- 1,610
- Visits in the records
- 13,852
- Had at least one rule cited
- 45%
How it works
How daycare inspections work in Arkansas
The Arkansas Office of Early Childhood licenses daycare centers and home daycares and inspects them. Routine visits come without notice, and inspectors also look into complaints from parents and the public.
Each finding names the rule that was not met, quoted from the state's licensing requirements. Arkansas lists every visit, including visits where inspectors found nothing to cite, so a daycare's record shows the whole run of visits.
- Who inspects: Arkansas Office of Early Childhood.
- Routine visits: Arkansas reported inspecting licensed centers three times a year, without notice (national survey of state licensing agencies, 2017).
- Visits in the records since October 2023: 11,113 inspections, 765 complaint investigations, 1,974 other visits, at 1,610 daycares (1,425 centers and 185 home daycares).
- Records on each listing go back to: 2023.
How common
How often inspectors cite a rule
- of the 1,610 daycares visited had at least one rule cited
- 45%
- cited rules for the middle daycare over three years
- 0
These figures describe Arkansas's own inspection records since October 2023. States write and cite their rules in different ways, so a figure here cannot be compared with another state's. A cited rule is one finding at one visit, not a rating of a daycare.
What gets cited
What Arkansas's cited rules are about
Share of the 2,972 rules cited since October 2023, sorted into plain groups.
Background checks and supervision together make up about two in five cited rules: background check rules are 20% of the rules Arkansas inspectors cited, and supervision and ratio rules 19.9%. Supervision reached more daycares, 18% of those visited, against 16% for background checks.
Staff training (11.8%), discipline and child guidance (10.8%) and safety (10%) come next. Paperwork is 8.7% of citations, and health, safe sleep, food and building rules are each under 4%.
Most cited
The rule areas Arkansas cites most
Ordered by how many daycares had the rule cited since October 2023. The wording is the state's rule; no daycare is named here.
- Supervision and ratios209 daycares (13% of those visited)
Never leaving children unsupervised
The state's rule: Rule 300.301.8 At no time shall children be left unsupervised or unattended. The child care center shall provide additional staff for any temporary absence of primary child caring staff for activities such as breaks, me
Children may never be left unsupervised or unattended, and a center must bring in extra staff to cover breaks and other short absences of a room's caregivers. A citation means an inspector found children without the supervision the rule requires.
Ask on a tour: Who covers my child's room when a teacher takes a break or steps out?
- Background checks151 daycares (9.4% of those visited)
A child abuse registry check for staff
The state's rule: Rule 100.109.1.b The following persons shall be required to have their background reviewed through an Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry Check. Prospective employees who have not lived in the State of Arkans
Staff and other adults named in the rule must have their background checked through the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry. A citation means a required registry check was missing, late or not on file.
Ask on a tour: Has every staff member and volunteer here cleared the Arkansas child abuse registry check?
- Staff training and qualifications111 daycares (6.9% of those visited)
Orientation for every new staff member
The state's rule: Rule 300.306.4.01 All new staff, including volunteers who are counted in the ratios, shall receive the following orientation within three (3) months of employment (and every three (3) years thereafter) and shall not be l
New staff, including volunteers counted in the ratio, must complete a set orientation within three months of starting and again every three years. A citation means a staff member's orientation was missing or overdue.
Ask on a tour: What training does a new teacher get before working with children, and when is it repeated?
- Discipline and child guidance104 daycares (6.5% of those visited)
Punishments staff may never use
The state's rule: Rule 500.501.5.h The following activities or threats of such activities are unacceptable as behavior guidance measures and shall not be used for children. These include, but are not limited to the following:
The rules list ways of handling behavior that staff may never use or threaten, such as physical punishment. A citation means an inspector found one of these methods used or threatened.
Ask on a tour: What do teachers do when a child hits, bites or will not listen?
- Background checks101 daycares (6.3% of those visited)
A nationwide FBI fingerprint check
The state's rule: Rule 100.110.1.b The following persons shall apply to the Identification Bureau of the Arkansas State Police for a nationwide criminal record check, to be conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which sha
Staff and other adults named in the rule must apply through the Arkansas State Police for a nationwide criminal record check run by the FBI. A citation means a required check was missing or not done on time.
Ask on a tour: Do all staff complete the FBI fingerprint check before they start?
- Background checks78 daycares (4.8% of those visited)
An Arkansas State Police fingerprint check
The state's rule: Rule 100.110.2.b Arkansas State Police Criminal Background Check The following persons shall be required to have their background reviewed through a fingerprint criminal records check (which includes the Arkansas Sexual
Staff and other adults named in the rule must also have a state fingerprint criminal records check, which includes the Arkansas sex offender registry. A citation means a required state check was missing or not on file.
Ask on a tour: How do you keep track of background checks for staff, volunteers and other adults in the building?
- Supervision and ratios57 daycares (3.5% of those visited)
Keeping to the staff-to-child ratio
The state's rule: Rule 300.301.2.a The following staff child ratios shall be maintained: Ages of Children Number of Staff Number of Children
Centers must keep the staff-to-child ratio set for each age group at all times. A citation means an inspector counted more children for each adult than the rule allows.
Ask on a tour: How many adults and children are in my child's room at drop-off, nap and pick-up?
- Records and paperwork42 daycares (2.6% of those visited)
A complete record for each child
The state's rule: Rule 600.604.1.i The child care facility shall maintain a record for each child in care which shall be on site. Records for children no longer enrolled may be maintained off site. Children’s records shall contain the f
A daycare must keep a record for each child in care on site, with the forms and details the rule lists. A citation means a child's record was missing items or could not be found.
Ask on a tour: Which forms do you keep for my child, and how do I update my emergency contacts?
On the tour
What to ask when you visit
Supervision is the rule Arkansas cites at the most daycares, so start there: ask who covers each room during breaks, count the adults and children yourself, and compare what you see with the Arkansas ratios by age.
Then ask how the daycare handles background checks for every adult in the building, and how teachers respond when a child misbehaves. If something on the state record worries you, ask the director to explain it.
The full tour checklist for Arkansas puts these questions on one printable page.
On each listing
How to read a daycare's record
Each Arkansas listing on DaycarePal shows the state's inspection visits for that daycare, with the date of each visit and each rule cited, including visits with no findings. The middle daycare Arkansas visited had no cited rules at all since October 2023, while 45% had at least one.
Arkansas records do not show when a cited rule was corrected, so ask the director what happened and what changed. Look at the dates too: a recent supervision citation says more about today than a paperwork citation from 2023, and the same rule cited again and again says more than a single finding.
More detail: how to read a daycare inspection report. Find a daycare's record on its listing from daycares in Arkansas, or search the state's records.
Questions
Questions about Arkansas daycare inspections
How often are Arkansas daycares inspected?
Arkansas reported inspecting licensed centers three times a year, without notice, in a 2017 national survey of state licensing agencies. Since October 2023, Arkansas made 13,852 visits to the 1,610 daycares listed here, including 765 complaint investigations.
How do I look up an Arkansas daycare's inspection record?
Open the daycare's listing on DaycarePal and go to its inspection section, or search the Arkansas child care provider records by name or city.
Is it common for an Arkansas daycare to have no cited rules?
Yes. Since October 2023, 45% of the Arkansas daycares inspectors visited had at least one rule cited, so more than half had none, and the middle daycare had no cited rules at all.
Does a cited rule mean a daycare is unsafe?
No. A cited rule is one finding at one visit. Look at what was cited, how recent it is and whether it comes up again, and ask the director about anything you want explained.
Can I compare Arkansas's numbers with another state's?
No. Each state writes its own rules and records citations its own way, so these figures only make sense within Arkansas. Compare Arkansas daycares with each other instead.
Source: Arkansas Office of Early Childhood, inspection records October 2023 to August 2026, for the daycares listed on DaycarePal. Inspection schedule: National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations (ACF), from a 2017 survey of state licensing agencies.