HOUSTON – Troubling reports of child treatment at day care may prompt parents of little ones to want to check on their family’s own day care situation.
In Texas, there is a website you can visit to search for the records of day care operations -- including licensed child care centers or licensed or registered child care homes -- listed family homes -- which are not licensed or registered by the Department of Family and Protective Services -- and a list of involuntarily suspended or revoked child care operations.
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To search the record of a licensed child care center or licensed or registered child care home, go here.
- When you arrive at that page, search your day care’s name. You can also search by address. This page can also help when you’re in the market for a day care and have specific needs. However, if you’re looking for a specific day care, we’ve found the page most useful if you enter the name or address first and press the blue “search” button at the bottom of the article.
- The results will load and you can click on your day care operation. An “operation details page” will appear with information about licensing. Perhaps the most helpful section is an area near the bottom of the page that offers “weights of the standard deficiencies cited in the past three years.” You can click on these individually and see additional details about each incident. On the far right of a table showing each incident is a box that reads, “Click for narrative.” A popup box will discuss what happened and what corrective measures were taken, if any.
- To view a full list of reports, navigate back to the “operation details” page and under the section which reads, “In the last three years, Licensing conducted the following” click the number beside “reports.”
- On the page where you land next, there is a chart. On the chart, click “All deficiencies.” The date, reported incident, type, standard risk level, correction deadline, date correction evaluated and narrative (with a popup window discussing each incident in detail) are shown.
The listed family homes, are just that -- listed -- on this website, because they are not routinely inspected unless a report is received alleging: child abuse or neglect, an immediate risk of danger to the health or safety of a child, or the caregiver is caring for too many children. There is no information about inspections or other reports on those pages, aside from name of the operation or caregiver, address, county and phone number.
To see a full list of involuntarily suspended or revoked child care operations in the past five years, go here.
There’s also this handy guide that can answer your questions about the types of child care operations in Texas.
Did you try this out? Let us know what your experience was like in the comments.