Inspection records · Iowa
What Iowa daycare inspectors cite
Iowa inspectors cited at least one rule at 88% of the 3,062 daycares they visited since October 2023. Health rules make up nearly a third of everything cited, and the rule cited at the most daycares is about keeping a center safe and clean indoors: 571 of them.
- Daycares visited
- 3,062
- Visits in the records
- 10,341
- Had at least one rule cited
- 88%
How it works
How daycare inspections work in Iowa
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services licenses daycare centers, registers home daycares (child development homes) and inspects both. Routine visits come without notice, and the state also investigates complaints and makes follow-up visits.
Iowa's compliance reports list each visit and the rules cited at it, by rule number. They rarely include the inspector's description, so the rule number is often all you see; this page explains what the most common ones cover.
- Who inspects: Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
- Routine visits: Iowa reported inspecting licensed centers once a year, without notice (national survey of state licensing agencies, 2017).
- Visits in the records since October 2023: 9,423 inspections, 361 follow-up visits, 557 complaint investigations, at 3,062 daycares (1,451 centers and 1,611 home daycares).
- Records on each listing go back to: 2021.
How common
How often inspectors cite a rule
- of the 3,062 daycares visited had at least one rule cited
- 88%
These figures describe Iowa'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 Iowa's cited rules are about
Share of the 15,118 rules cited since October 2023, sorted into plain groups.
Health, medication and illness rules make up 31.9% of the rules Iowa cited, and 54% of the daycares visited had at least one. Most are about health paperwork: physical exam reports for staff and household members, children's yearly health statements and shot records.
Safety and hazards come next (16.3% of citations, at 43% of daycares), then the building and play areas (10.7%, at 27%) and records (9.9%, at 23%). Background check rules were 8% of citations and reached 22% of daycares; supervision and ratio rules were 4% and reached 14%.
Most cited
The rule areas Iowa 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.
- Building, equipment and play areas571 daycares (18.6% of those visited)
A safe, clean and hazard-free center
The state's rule: 109.11(3)a
A center's building must be sanitary, safe and free of hazards, with enough light, fresh air and heating or cooling, and its equipment kept from injuring children. Because the rule is broad, a citation can mean anything from a broken toy to an unsafe room.
Ask on a tour: Can I see every room my child would use, including the bathrooms?
- Health, medication and illness377 daycares (12.3% of those visited)
Required papers in each center staff file
The state's rule: 109.9(1)d
Each center staff file must hold certain documents, such as a current physical exam report and, for staff who drive children, a copy of a valid driver's license. A citation means a file was missing one of them.
Ask on a tour: Who drives children on field trips, and how do you check their licenses?
- Health, medication and illness375 daycares (12.2% of those visited)
A yearly health statement for young children in home daycares
The state's rule: 110.9(4)e
In a registered home daycare, each child under age 6 needs a health statement signed by a licensed medical provider every year. A citation means a child's file was missing a current statement.
Ask on a tour: Which health forms do you need for my child, and when are they due?
- Background checks349 daycares (11.4% of those visited)
Record checks and physical exams for center staff
The state's rule: 109.9(1)b
Center staff files must show the state's record check results and a physical exam taken around the time of hire and repeated on schedule. A citation means a file was missing one of these documents.
Ask on a tour: Have all staff, including new hires, completed the state record checks?
- Health, medication and illness328 daycares (10.7% of those visited)
Physical exams for the provider and adults in a home daycare
The state's rule: 110.9(1)a
The provider of a registered home daycare, and every adult who lives in the home, must have a physical exam report on file. A citation means one of those reports was missing.
Ask on a tour: Who lives in the home, and have all the adults had the required exams and record checks?
- Safety and hazards276 daycares (9% of those visited)
Emergency plans in home daycares
The state's rule: 110.8(4)b
A home daycare must have written steps for evacuating, moving to a safe place, sheltering in place, lockdown and reuniting children with families. A citation means part of that plan was missing.
Ask on a tour: Where would the children go in a fire or a tornado, and how would you reach me?
- Health, medication and illness233 daycares (7.6% of those visited)
Shot records in home daycares
The state's rule: 110.9(4)g
Each child in a home daycare needs a signed and dated immunization certificate from the state health department on file. A citation means a certificate was missing or not current.
Ask on a tour: How do you keep track of the immunization records for the children in your care?
- Staff training and qualifications230 daycares (7.5% of those visited)
Training in the first three months for center staff
The state's rule: 109.7(1)
Within three months of starting, center staff must complete training such as child abuse reporting, CPR, first aid and basic health and safety. A citation means a staff member had not finished it in time.
Ask on a tour: How many of your staff are new, and have they finished CPR, first aid and safety training?
On the tour
What to ask when you visit
Health paperwork is what Iowa cites most, so ask how the daycare keeps staff exams and children's health forms and shot records current. In a home daycare, ask who lives in the home and whether the adults have had their exams and record checks.
Then walk the rooms and outdoor space, ask about the emergency plan, and ask the director about anything on the daycare's state record that you want explained.
The full tour checklist for Iowa puts these questions on one printable page.
On each listing
How to read a daycare's record
Each Iowa listing on DaycarePal shows the state's inspection visits for that daycare and the rules cited at each one. Iowa's reports carry no risk level and usually no description, so use the rule number and the plain titles on this page to see what kind of problem it was.
The records do not show when a cited rule was corrected, so ask the director what changed. A missing health form is a different thing from a supervision finding, and the same rule cited at visit after visit says more than one old citation.
More detail: how to read a daycare inspection report. Find a daycare's record on its listing from daycares in Iowa, or search the state's records.
Questions
Questions about Iowa daycare inspections
How often are Iowa daycares inspected?
Iowa reported inspecting licensed centers and home daycares once a year, without notice, in a 2017 national survey of state licensing agencies. Since October 2023, Iowa made 10,341 visits to the 3,062 daycares listed here.
How do I look up an Iowa daycare's inspection report?
Open the daycare's listing on DaycarePal and go to its inspection section, or search Iowa's child care compliance reports by provider name or location.
What does a rule number like 109 or 110 mean on an Iowa report?
Rules starting with 109 are Iowa's rules for daycare centers, and rules starting with 110 are for registered home daycares. The numbers after that point to the exact rule cited.
Does a cited rule mean a daycare is unsafe?
No. A cited rule is one finding at one visit, and 88% of the Iowa daycares visited had at least one, many of them for missing health paperwork. Look at what was cited and ask the daycare about it.
Can I compare Iowa's numbers with another state's?
No. Each state writes and cites its own rules in its own way, so the same daycare could collect a different number of citations elsewhere. Compare daycares within Iowa instead.
Source: Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, inspection records October 2023 to October 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.