Charting Progress for Babies in Child Care

Expand Monitoring and Technical Assistance

Online Resources

Information on Recommended Standards and Best Practices for Monitoring and Providing Technical Assistance:

A group of national organizations has created a vision for reform of child care and recommends at least two visits a year, one announced and one unannounced, for all child care centers and family child care homes.
The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) has released a document that outlines best practices for human care regulatory agencies and includes recommendations on effective monitoring and technical assistance. In addition, NARA has published a research-based paper on child care licensing that offers strategies and principles for strengthening child care licensing programs.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, and the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education have developed comprehensive recommendations for state regulations for child care centers and family child care homes in Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-Of-Home Child Care Programs. The recommendations include guidelines on monitoring and providing technical assistance.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has developed a position statement on licensing and public regulation of early childhood programs, which includes guidelines on monitoring and enforcement of regulations.
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) releases biennial reports on state regulation and oversight of licensed child care programs, one for child care centers and one for small family child care homes. The reports rank states based on a set of benchmarks, which include frequency of monitoring and licensing staff caseloads.
The RAND Corporation conducted a comprehensive analysis of the Military Child Care Act of 1989, an act recognized for significantly improving the military child care system. The analysis identifies monitoring and enforcement policies that were critical to the act's success. Also, the National Women's Law Center released a report, Be All that We Can Be: Lessons From The Military For Improving Our Nation's Child Care System, which highlights key standards and policies, including those related to monitoring and enforcement, that promote high-quality child care.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, commissioned the development of an annotated bibliography of research on 13 indicators of quality child care that states can regulate through licensing. The document includes information on the effectiveness of monitoring and follow-up measures to provider training.

Information on Current State Monitoring Policies:

The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) released a study of state licensing requirements and policies in 2008. The study includes data on frequency of licensing inspections, licensing staff caseloads, technical assistance/consultations, and other relevant information. In addition, NARA has published a research-based paper on child care licensing that includes information on licensing requirements, enforcement procedures, and approaches to improving quality.
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) releases biennial reports on state regulation and oversight of licensed child care programs, one for child care centers and one for small family child care homes. The reports provide state-by-state profiles of regulation and oversight policies, including monitoring requirements in each state.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) submitted a report to Congress in 2000 on state efforts to monitor and enforce health and safety requirements in licensed child care. A follow-up report was later released in 2004 that provided an updated assessment of state monitoring and enforcement efforts.

Information on Training, Education, and Support for Monitoring/Inspection Staff:

The Office of Head Start has developed a website to support Head Start monitoring reviewers. The website includes information, such as preparing for the monitoring process and reviewer qualifications and requirements.
The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) and the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) released a study of state licensing requirements and policies in 2008. The study includes data on licensing staff qualifications. In addition, NARA has published a research-based paper on child care licensing that includes information on preparing monitoring staff to improve consistency and accuracy in interpretations.
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) releases biennial reports on state regulation and oversight of licensed child care programs, one for child care centers and one for small family child care homes. The reports provide information on training and education requirements for inspection staff in each state.

Information on Technical Assistance for Infant/Toddler Providers:

The National Infant & Toddler Child Care Initiative (NITCCI) has various resources available on its website to assist states with implementing infant/toddler specialist networks and providing technical assistance to infant/toddler providers. Resources include fact sheets, webinars, and other handouts.
The Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) offers training and technical assistance for infant and toddler providers that is based on the importance of early relationships.

State Examples of Monitoring and Technical Assistance Systems:

Tennessee requires that all licensed child care providers undergo an annual evaluation and post a report card of the results with their renewal license where parents can clearly read them. Information on Tennessee's Child Care Report Card System and other state monitoring efforts are available on the state's Department of Human Services website.
West Virginia's Infant/Toddler Professional Development Program for Caregivers consists of four training modules for infant/toddler providers and a follow-up component called Technical Assistance for Caregivers of Infants and Toddlers. The purpose of the follow-up component is to ensure that infant/toddler providers have the one-on-one support they need to translate their training to actual practice.
Indiana posts records of all licensed and registered providers in an online database that can be accessed by parents and other members of the public. For each provider, the database includes inspection results, validated complaints, and enforcement actions. The database also posts a provider's quality rating if the provider is participating in Paths to QUALITY, the state's quality rating and improvement system,. Other examples of states that post inspection reports online include Arizona, Florida, Texas, and Virginia.
Georgia has developed a quality continuum framework for helping child care providers make continuous quality improvements - from compliance with child care licensing standards to national accreditation.
Ohio has a select set of serious risk non-compliance rules and a progressive sanctions policy for enforcing compliance. The progressive sanctions policy is tied to the state's quality rating and improvement system. Detailed guides are available to help prevent providers from incurring violations in the four most commonly cited areas of serious risk non-compliance. In addition, Ohio's infant/toddler initiative, First Steps, offers various services and supports for infant/toddler providers, including training and technical assistance by infant/toddler specialists.
Texas has a weighted licensing system where every rule is weighted according to five levels of risk. The weighted rules are used in an automation system that calculates a program's last two years of compliance and suggests enforcement actions.
Virginia has an advanced risk assessment process and matrix for licensed programs that assesses each regulation's risk level based on the probability and severity of harm caused by violation of the regulation.
California has developed an Indicator Licensing System that allows monitors to use a list of regulations, or an indicator tool, to guide the inspection of licensed facilities that are in compliance. The indicator tools have been designed for different age groups and care settings, including one for child care centers that serve infants and toddlers.
The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) has published a research-based paper on child care licensing that includes examples of states that have strengthened their monitoring and enforcement systems.
The National Women's Law Center released a report that describes state uses of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds (ARRA) for child care. The report provides examples of states that have used ARRA funds to strengthen monitoring and technical assistance.

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