Research & Records
How to Look Up Any Daycare's Violation History
Updated 2026-07-24 · By the DaycareAlert team
Here's something most parents don't know: every licensed daycare's inspection history is public record. The state inspected that facility, wrote down what it found, and you have the right to read it — before you ever tour, and at any point after you enroll.
The catch is that the records live on 50+ different state websites, each with its own search tool, its own vocabulary, and its own way of burying the useful part. This guide covers both routes: the fast one and the official one.
The fast route: search it here
DaycareAlert exists because we did the consolidation work once so parents don't have to repeat it: we collect inspection and violation records directly from the licensing agencies of 49 states, D.C., and Alberta — over a million records across roughly a quarter-million licensed facilities — and update them on a regular cadence.
Search any facility by name, city, or ZIP, open its profile, and go to the Violations tab. You'll see the facility's history with each finding's risk level, date, and description, plus a safety rating computed from that record using one published formula applied identically to every facility. You can also browse every covered state down to city-level rankings.
The official route: your state's licensing agency
Every state runs a public lookup on its licensing agency's website — that's the primary source, and we link each one in our state agency directory. Search by facility name or license number, then look for links labeled "inspection history," "compliance history," or "survey results."
The official route is the right choice when you need the full text of a specific report, when a facility is too new to have much history anywhere, or when you want to verify something you read here — we encourage that, and every facility profile on DaycareAlert identifies the state source its records came from.
What to check, in order
- License status — is the license current, and is the facility operating under any special conditions or probation?
- High-risk violations — the top-severity findings, which usually involve supervision, safe sleep, ratios, or background checks.
- Repeats — does the same category of problem appear across multiple inspection dates?
- Recency — a rough patch three years ago followed by clean inspections reads very differently than trouble last quarter.
- Corrections — were findings fixed on site or by deadline, or did they drag across follow-up visits?
If you can't find a facility at all
If a program doesn't appear in a state's licensing lookup, find out why before enrolling. Some programs are legally license-exempt — certain school-run, faith-based, or short-hours programs, depending on the state. Others are operating unlicensed when they shouldn't be, which is a serious red flag. Ask the program directly for its license number, then verify it with the state.