Most child care searches start with reviews and curb appeal, which skips the two facts that actually determine safety. State licensing and child-to-staff ratio are both checkable, and both vary more than parents expect between centers in the same neighborhood.
Every state licenses child care centers and sets a minimum child-to-staff ratio by age group, with infants held to the tightest ratio and school-age children to the loosest. A center can meet the legal minimum or state a better ratio in public, and we record which one a center actually states rather than assuming the legal floor.
National accreditation, through a body such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is voluntary and goes beyond state licensing minimums. We record whether a center states that accreditation, because it is a detail a center has to actively earn rather than simply claim.
Tuition structure is the last published detail worth checking. A posted weekly or monthly rate by age group tells a parent more before the first tour than a center that requires a call to get a number, and we record which approach a center takes.