How to read a daycare inspection report

What an inspection is

An inspection is a visit by the state licensing agency to check a daycare against the state's child care rules: staff records and training, child-to-staff ratios, safe sleep, food, the building and the playground. Some visits are routine; others follow a complaint or check that an earlier finding was fixed.

We copy inspection records in 27 states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. Each listing there shows the visits with their date and type as the state lists them. Delaware publishes only the visits where a rule was cited, so a listing there with no visits does not tell you how often the daycare was inspected.

What a cited rule means

A cited rule is a finding on the day of the visit: the inspector saw something that did not meet a rule. States call it a citation, a deficiency, a violation or a non-compliance. It is not a judgement of the daycare today.

Read the state's own words. A missing phone number on an emergency contact form is a different thing from a safe-sleep finding, even if both are cited. Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina publish the rule that was cited but not the inspector's description, so on those listings you see the rule only.

Severity labels

Some states rate each cited rule. South Carolina uses Low, Medium and High; Texas uses Low, Medium Low, Medium, Medium High and High; Utah uses Low, Moderate, High and Extreme. Where a state publishes a rating, we show it with the finding, in the state's words.

Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont and Virginia publish no rating, so a finding there without a label is not necessarily a minor one. Read what was cited.

California publishes counts per visit instead of each rule: Type A citations are the more serious, for a direct and immediate risk to children's health, safety or personal rights; Type B citations are for a potential risk to children if not corrected.

The correction line

Where the state publishes it, the correction line tells you that the finding was corrected during the visit, or gives a correction date. Some states set that date at the visit as the date to fix the finding by, so it can fall after the visit or even after today; read it as a deadline unless the record says the fix was verified.

Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Virginia publish no correction dates. Ask the daycare about any finding that worries you; a good director will explain what changed.

Next step

Read a daycare's record

FAQ

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