Terms of Service

1. Agreement

These terms apply to your use of DaycarePal at daycarepal.com ("we", "us", "the site"). By using the site you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the site. You must be at least 18 to write a review, create a provider account or buy a plan.

2. What the site is, and what it is not

DaycarePal is an independent directory of daycares in the United States. It shows information about daycares so that parents can compare them and contact them.

We are not a daycare, a child care licensing agency, a government body or a referral agency. We do not provide child care, enroll children, hold spots, inspect daycares or handle payments for a daycare. For enrollment, tuition, openings or a refund from a daycare, contact the daycare. For a complaint about a licensed daycare, contact the state licensing agency. If a child is in danger, call 911.

3. State records and listing information

License and inspection details are copied from state licensing agencies' public records. Other details come from the daycare's public business information or its own website, from the U.S. Department of Labor, or from the provider. Each fact is labelled with its source where it appears.

We work to keep our copy correct, but we cannot promise that a license status, inspection record, hours, ages or tuition is complete or current. The state's own record is the authority. A missing record, visit or cited rule on our site is not proof of anything about a daycare. Information marked "Provided by the business" comes from the provider, not from us or the state. Before you decide, check with the daycare and the state licensing agency.

You can report a mistake in our copy for free through "Report a problem" on any listing or our contact form. We may correct, hide or remove a listing at our discretion.

4. No endorsement

A daycare on the site is not endorsed, recommended or rated by us. Nothing on the site says that a daycare is safe, suitable or right for your child. Providers on paid plans are listed first, then A to Z by name. We do not rank daycares. A paid plan never changes the state record or a review. Ads are separate from listings and never change the list or its order.

5. Reviews and other content you send

Reviews must follow our review guidelines. By sending a review you confirm that it describes your own experience and that it is true to the best of your knowledge. You are responsible for what you write.

When you send us a review, a correction, a photo or any other content, you keep ownership of it and give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, show, edit for length or format, and publish it on the site and in its listings. We may decline, edit or remove content that breaks these terms or the guidelines. Providers cannot pay to remove or change a review.

6. Provider accounts and claims

A provider account lets a daycare manage its own listing. You may claim only a daycare you have authority for: as the license holder, the director or an authorized representative. A claim is approved as soon as you make it; we revoke a claim made without authority, and a revoked claim is not refunded.

You are responsible for what you publish on your listing. It must be accurate, lawful and yours to publish, and it must not name or show a child without the parent's permission. You cannot change the license or inspection record we copy from the state. We may edit or hide provider content that is false, misleading, unlawful or off-topic. Keep your password safe: you are responsible for activity under your account. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms.

7. Paid plans, billing, cancellation and refunds

Plans. Providers can buy one of three plans for one listing: Verified ($29.99 one time), Pro ($39.99 a month) and Enrollment ($59.99 a month). What each plan includes is listed on the plans page. Prices are in US dollars.

Payment. Payments are processed by Dodo Payments, our merchant of record. Dodo Payments sells the plan to you, charges your payment method and adds any sales tax or similar tax that applies where you are. Its own terms also apply to the payment.

One-time and monthly. Verified is a one-time payment with nothing to renew. Pro and Enrollment are monthly subscriptions: they renew automatically each month and are charged in advance until you cancel.

Cancellation. You can cancel a monthly plan at any time from your dashboard. Cancellation stops future charges. The plan stays active until the end of the month you paid for, and then it ends. After a monthly plan ends, your listing stays claimed with the Verified features.

Refunds. Payments are final and non-refundable, including one-time payments, monthly charges, upgrades and unused time, with one exception: if you pay to add a daycare that is not listed yet and we decline to publish it, we refund that payment in full and cancel a monthly plan at once.

Price changes. We may change prices or what a plan includes. For a monthly plan, we tell you by email at least 30 days before a new price applies to your next renewal, and you can cancel before then. A failed or reversed payment can end the plan's paid features.

8. Acceptable use

Do not:

• Scrape, crawl or bulk-download the site, or get around its rate limits or security.
• Copy, republish or resell the directory or a substantial part of it, including as a dataset.
• Use daycare contact details for spam, unsolicited marketing or harassment.
• Use a listing or a state record to harass, threaten or shame a provider, its staff or the families it serves, or try to find a home daycare's private address.
• Send false, misleading or malicious information, or pretend to be someone else.
• Use the site for anything unlawful.

9. Intellectual property

The DaycarePal name and logo, the site design, our text and the selection and arrangement of the directory belong to us. State records are public records; our terms protect our compilation and presentation of them. You may view, link to and quote the site with attribution for personal, journalistic or research use. Any other reuse needs our written permission. Map tiles and other third-party material are credited where they appear.

10. Links to other sites

Listings link to daycares' own websites, state agencies and map services. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them. Your dealings with a daycare are between you and the daycare.

11. Disclaimer of warranties

The site and everything on it are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not promise that the site will be available, uninterrupted or free of errors. We are not responsible for the care a listed daycare provides, its tuition or billing, or the accuracy of the state records we copy.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss arising from your use of the site or your reliance on it, including a decision about child care. Our total liability for any claim relating to the site or a paid plan is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Some places do not allow these limits, so they apply to you only as far as the law allows.

13. Indemnity

You agree to defend and compensate us for claims, losses and costs, including reasonable legal fees, that arise from content you send, your listing, or your breach of these terms.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The effective date at the top shows the current version. Using the site after a change means you accept the new terms. A change to plan prices follows section 7.

15. General

If a part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest stays in effect. If we do not enforce a right, we do not give it up. These terms and our Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about the site.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: use our contact form.