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We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight

NACCRRA’s report, We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight, reveals that states fall far short of meeting basic requirements needed to protect the health and safety of children in child care, and to promote their school readiness.

The report ranks every state and the Department of Defense (which has its own child care system) on 15 basic criteria related to their current child care center standards and oversight. The results underscore the need to improve the quality of child care across the nation. NACCRRA calls on Congress and every state to do their part to ensure that children in child care are safe and learning.

In 2006, the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) released the findings of their research on the child care center regulations for each of the 50 states. This information provides a rich review of the basic standards and oversight in place for child care centers.

NACCRRA reviewed the work of NARA and NCCIC and ranked the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) based on key benchmarks to see how the states measured up. The results are shown on scorecards ranking state child care center standards, state child care oversight, and a combined score ranking states on both standards and oversight.

We know there is much that can be done to improve the quality of child care. As we reviewed the possible criteria for the ranking and put the scores together, we were shocked to see in real detail how low the bar is set for the quality of care that 12 million children under age 5 are in each week.

Simple steps undertaken by Congress and the states can better align federal and state policies with what children need to ensure a healthy and safe environment, and what parents believe and want for their children’s safety and development.

We can do better.

Download the complete report as well as the scorecards and state-by-state profiles below.

• Press Release (94 KB)
• We Can Do Better Report Contents:
• Introduction (556 KB)
• Scorecards (201 KB)
• Conclusion (315 KB)
• State-by-State Profiles (Link)
• References (33 KB)
• Summary One Pager (64 KB)
• Backgrounder: Child Care Standards & Oversight (73 KB)
• NACCRRA Backgrounder (76 KB)
• NACCRRA FAQ (73 KB)