Daycare Licensing in Michigan: Violations, Inspections & License Lookup
How child care licensing works in Michigan: who regulates it, the rules providers answer to, how often they are inspected, and the exact steps to look up a daycare's violations and verify its license. Sourced from LARA/MiLEAP, Child Care Licensing Bureau.
Last verified 2026-08-03
How do I look up daycare violations in Michigan?
- Open the Statewide Search for Licensed Child Care Centers and Homes at childcaresearch.apps.lara.state.mi.us.
- Search by provider name, city, county, or ZIP code.
- Select the facility name to open its detail page.
- Review the license type, status, capacity, and regional office.
- Open the linked inspection reports and complaint or special investigation reports, posted in PDF for reports completed on or after July 1, 2002.
- Note that special investigations finding no rule or statute violation are not posted online, so ask the provider to see its on-site licensing notebook for the full record.
State portal: Michigan child care search
How do I verify a Michigandaycare's license?
- Open the statewide child care search at childcaresearch.apps.lara.state.mi.us.
- Search by provider name, city, county, or ZIP code.
- Select the facility to open its record.
- Confirm the current license status, the license type (center or home), and the licensed capacity against what the provider told you.
State portal: Michigan license search
Who regulates daycares in Michigan?
Child care licensing in Michigan is administered by the LARA/MiLEAP, Child Care Licensing Bureau, under Mich. Admin. Code R 400.1901-400.1963. It licenses providers, inspects them, and records the violations found.
How often are Michigan daycares inspected?
Michigan conducts a licensing inspection each year and again at renewal, since a regular child care center license runs two years. A licensing consultant can visit announced or unannounced. Any complaint triggers a separate special investigation, and fire safety inspections are required at application and every four years at renewal.
Michigan does not publish a public severity scale for its violations.
What our Michigandata covers, and what it doesn't
We track Michigan's licensed providers from the state's public records: license number, status, and capacity. For a provider's full inspection and violation history, follow the steps above at the state's own source.
| Michigan child care data | On record |
|---|---|
| Licensed providers tracked | 7,700 |
| Independently scorable (Confidence Index) | Not yet scorable |
| Inspection history on this site | Roster only, use state source |
Michigan daycare licensing: common questions
- How do I look up daycare violations in Michigan?
- Use the Statewide Search for Licensed Child Care Centers and Homes at childcaresearch.apps.lara.state.mi.us. Search by name, city, county, or ZIP code, then open the facility to see its license details and links to inspection reports and complaint investigations. Reports completed on or after July 1, 2002 are posted as PDFs.
- How often does Michigan inspect licensed daycares?
- A licensing consultant inspects each year and again at renewal, since a regular center license lasts two years. Inspections can be announced or unannounced. Complaints trigger a separate special investigation, and fire safety inspections are required at application and every four years.
- How do I verify a Michigan daycare's license?
- Search the provider on the statewide child care search at childcaresearch.apps.lara.state.mi.us. Open the record and confirm the current license status, license type, and licensed capacity. The search is maintained by the state's Child Care Licensing Bureau.
- Which reports are posted on Michigan's child care search?
- The search posts licensing study and special investigation reports completed on or after July 1, 2002, in PDF form. Special investigations that find no rule or statute violation are not posted. For the complete record, every licensed provider must keep an on-site licensing notebook available during business hours.
This page republishes the public licensing record and labels every absent field plainly. Primary source: https://childcaresearch.apps.lara.state.mi.us. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.