Federal law requires that states have policies in place to protect the health and safety of children in child care in three areas:

• the prevention and control of infectious diseases,
• building and physical premise safety, and
• health and safety training appropriate to the program setting.

Because these federal requirements are general, the standards that states set for licensing child care centers and family child care homes vary greatly. The rules on who must obtain a license, what training they need to have, how many children they can care for, and what kind of environment they must provide differ state by state. On this page you will find information about what different standards mean, as well as tables that show how your state's child care rules compare with the rest of the country.

• We Can Do Better: NACCRRA's Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight (2011)
• Leaving Children to Chance: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Standards and Oversight of Small Family Child Care Homes (2010)
• Licensing
• Child/Staff Ratios
• Background Checks
• Training
• Inspections
• Health & Safety Requirements
• Child Development
• Parent Communication and Involvement
• NACCRRA Activity

Child Care Center and Small Family Child Care Home Standards and Oversight

NACCRRA reviewed state child care center policies and regulations and ranked the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) based on a set of key benchmarks. The results are shown on state scorecards and underscore the need to improve child care regulations across the nation.