Data sourcing
Where our data comes from
Every fact on a provider profile traces back to a named public source. This page lists those sources, how often we refresh each one, and what we do not hold.
The four sources
State licensing agencies
The backbone of the directory. Most states publish a roster of the providers they license, and we read it directly. License number, status, type, capacity, and facility address all come from the state, never from a third party. Each state guide names the exact agency and links to its public lookup tool. A few states publish no roster we can republish; the table below marks them, and we hold no licensing record for those.
State inspection and violation records
Where a state publishes inspection outcomes, we ingest them and show the history on the profile. Coverage is uneven because publication practice is uneven. Some states post full deficiency reports, some post counts, and some publish nothing machine readable. The profile says which case applies rather than leaving a blank that reads as clean.
Google Business profiles
Ratings, review counts, hours, and photos, where a provider has a public listing. This is parent-reported opinion, not a regulatory fact, and the profile labels it that way.
Yelp
Ratings and review counts for providers with a public Yelp page. We never write, edit, or reorder a review. Summaries generated from review text are labelled as summaries and link back to the source.
Refresh cadence by state
Inspection frequency is set by each state, not by us. The date below is when we last verified that state's licensing facts against its official source. Open a state guide for its inspection cadence and lookup steps.
The middle column says where a state's provider records came from. Most states publish a roster of the providers they license and we read it directly. A few publish none we can republish, so those listings are built from public Google Business Profiles instead, and they carry no license number, status, or capacity.
| State | Provider records from | Last verified |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | State licensing roster |
Child care assistance figures
Every number in our guides to paying for child care comes from the agency that publishes it, never from a summary. These are the documents we read, and the date we last read each one.
What we do not hold
Absence is signal, so we name the gaps instead of hiding them. We do not publish tuition rates, staff names, waitlist status, or enrollment availability. We do not hold inspection history for every state. Some states withhold the street address of in home family providers to protect the operator's privacy, and those listings stay out of search results rather than appear incomplete.
We are an independent directory. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any state licensing agency or any provider listed here.
Found something wrong? Our corrections policy explains what we can change, how to report an error, and how long a fix takes.