Where the facts come from
Everything here comes from the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division. The list of centers is the state's open-data file of licensed child care centers. The address, phone, licensed places and license status of every center are checked against the state's current record.
What we show
For each center: name, address, phone, kind of license and the ages it covers, licensed places, license status and the date the license was first issued. We take the state's data; spelling of names and cities is tidied.
What we do not show
We do not publish names of children, parents, staff or directors. When a license is held by a person and not by an organization, we do not reprint that person's name. A center's own name is shown as the state lists it, even when the center is named after a person. Family child care homes are private residences and are not listed here.
Limits
The state's records change over time: a center may have closed since, and details can be out of date. Call the center and ask to see its license before you decide. This site does not rate, recommend or enroll, and takes no payment from centers for their position.