Daycare Record Child care inspection records

Daycare guides for parents

Plain-English answers for parents choosing, paying for and checking on child care. Each guide follows the state’s own rules and draws on the inspection records of the 27,833 licensed centers Daycare Record covers in Texas, California and Pennsylvania.

Choosing care What daycare costs Paying for care Health and sick days Safety and records

Choosing care

How to compare centers, what to ask on a tour, and the red flags to watch for.

How to choose a daycare: 30 questions to ask and a checklist All states · Seven steps, how to read an inspection record, red flags and a printable tour checklist. Read → Daycare vs preschool vs pre-K: what’s the difference? All states · Ages, hours, cost and inspections compared, who gets free pre-K in Texas, and transitional kindergarten in California. Read → In-home daycare vs a daycare center All states · Group size, hours, cost and inspections compared, Texas and California home permit types, and what Texas records show. Read → Mother’s Day Out in Texas: when it needs a license Texas · The two-hours, three-days rule, what part-day care costs, questions to ask, and licensed MDO programs with their records. Read → Texas Rising Star: what the star ratings mean for parents Texas · What 2-, 3- and 4-Star levels measure, the citations that cost a center its stars, and how starred centers’ records compare. Read → Daycare hours, schedules and nap time All states · What time centers really open and close, a typical day, nap and infant-sleep rules, meals, screens and pickup in Texas, California and Pennsylvania. Read → What to pack for daycare: checklist and first-day forms All states · A printable checklist by age and state, the forms Texas and California require, labeling rules and what to leave at home. Read →

What daycare costs

Prices by age and area, from each state’s own surveys of what centers charge.

How much daycare costs in 2026, by state and county All states · Center and home daycare prices by age for every state and county, with the newest Texas and California surveys. Read → Infant daycare cost: prices by state and county All states · What full-time care for a baby costs in every state and county, Texas areas, California and Pennsylvania counties, fees and ways to pay less. Read → Nanny share vs nanny vs daycare vs au pair: a cost calculator All states · Your county’s daycare prices next to a nanny, a nanny share and an au pair, with nanny taxes and overtime counted. Read → How much daycare costs in California California · Monthly prices for infants, preschoolers and school-age children in all 58 counties. Read → How much daycare costs in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania · Daily rates by age in every county, from the prices centers report to the state. Read → How much daycare costs in Texas Texas · Daily prices by age for every area of Texas, from the state’s market rate survey. Read →

Paying for care

Tax credits, flexible spending accounts and state child care assistance.

Texas child care assistance: who qualifies in 2026–27 Texas · Income limits, an estimate of what you’d pay, waitlists, how to apply, and the centers in each county that take scholarships. Read → Head Start and Early Head Start: who qualifies in 2026 All states · 2026 income limits and other ways to qualify, an eligibility check, how to apply, and what inspection records show. Read → Head Start and Early Head Start sites in Texas Texas · Every open site by county, with enrollment phone numbers and licensed centers’ inspection records. Read → Head Start and Early Head Start sites in California California · Every open site by county, with enrollment phone numbers and licensed centers’ inspection records. Read → Child and dependent care credit: 2025 and 2026 rates, and a calculator All states · The new 50% and 35% rates, which year you’re filing, what counts, Form 2441, your daycare’s tax ID and the California and Pennsylvania credits. Read → Dependent care FSA in 2026: the $7,500 limit and a calculator All states · Whether the FSA or the child and dependent care credit saves you more, what counts and what to get from your daycare. Read →

Health and sick days

When children must stay home, immunizations and safe sleep.

Safe sleep at daycare: the rules for sleeping babies All states · Back to sleep, bare cribs, bouncers and swings, swaddling, sleep checks and nap time, with what inspectors find most. Read → When to keep your child home from daycare All states · Fever, vomiting, pink eye, flu and more: the Texas and California rules, illness by illness, and when children can go back. Read → Pink eye and daycare: when your child can go back All states · Texas keeps children home until cleared; the AAP says most can stay. Notes and contagious periods. Read → Hand, foot and mouth disease and daycare: when your child can go back All states · When a fever or drooling keeps a child home, why the blisters needn’t heal first, and outbreak reporting. Read → RSV and daycare: when your child can go back All states · The 24-hour fever rule, how long RSV is contagious, and the breathing signs that need a doctor now. Read → Flu and daycare: when your child can go back All states · Home until 24 hours fever-free without medicine, warning signs, and California’s staff flu shot law. Read → Strep throat and daycare: when your child can go back All states · 24 hours of antibiotics in Texas, 12 hours under the AAP, and why strep is rare under age 3. Read → Head lice and daycare: when your child can go back All states · No state rule keeps a child home; the 48-hour Texas notice and California outbreak reports. Read → Impetigo and daycare: when your child can go back All states · Covered sores in Texas, treatment first under the AAP, and when a rash needs a doctor. Read → Ringworm and daycare: when your child can go back All states · Covered or treated in Texas, back once treatment starts under the AAP, and scalp ringworm. Read →

Safety and records

How to look up a license and inspection record, what the state’s rules require, and how to report a concern.

Daycare license lookup: the official search in every state All states · Every state’s official license and inspection-report search, and what each one shows: reports, inspector’s notes, complaints and how far back. Read → How to report a daycare All states · Where to report abuse, neglect or a broken rule in Texas, California and other states, what to write down, and what happens next. Read → California daycare license lookup California · How to use the state’s facility search, what Type A and B citations mean, and how complaints are handled. Read → Pennsylvania daycare license lookup Pennsylvania · How to use COMPASS, what a provisional certificate means, the most-cited rules and how to report a daycare. Read → How to check a daycare’s violations in Texas Texas · How to look up a center’s inspection record, what each risk level means, and how to report a concern. Read → California daycare ratios by age California · How many children each teacher may care for at each age, and how often centers are cited for it. Read → Pennsylvania daycare ratios by age Pennsylvania · Children per staff person and maximum group sizes by age, mixed-age groups, and how often the rule is cited. Read → Texas daycare ratios and group sizes Texas · Children per caregiver and maximum group sizes by age, and how often the rule is cited. Read →

Look up a daycare

Every licensed center has its own page with its full state inspection record.

Texas 9,611 licensed centers in about 750 cities and towns Browse → California 13,290 licensed centers in about 850 cities and towns Browse → Pennsylvania 4,932 certified centers in about 700 cities and towns Browse →

Data reports

Daycare inspection reports County-by-county findings from state records, with free data downloads Read →

Each guide lists its sources: state rules, agency pages and the inspection records themselves. Spotted something wrong? See corrections.