Safety is a crucial factor families consider when searching for child care. Child care facilities take many steps to create healthy and safe environments, and licensing systems help monitor and support that effort. This brief examines licensing inspection data from the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to better understand the prevalence and types of required safety corrections across child care settings.

Why This Matters

States use licensing systems as the primary mechanisms to ensure child care programs meet basic requirements for a healthy and safe environment. Inspection results can illuminate areas where facilities could benefit from additional supports in creating healthy and safe environments.

What We Found

• Though most of Washington DC’s nearly 500 facilities demonstrated at least one required safety correction, a smaller share did so in 2022, whereas nearly all facilities in 2019 received at least one required safety correction.
• The share of facilities receiving required safety corrections related to recordkeeping decreased from 2019 to 2022. All facilities saw this improvement, regardless of facility characteristics we examined.
• The share receiving required safety corrections related to child supervision and staff−child ratios increased from 2019 to 2022. This trend was apparent among larger child care facilities in DC, such as child development centers and expanded homes.

How We Did It

We analyzed results from child care licensing inspections conducted by OSSE in 2019 and 2022. We linked this data to child care licensing records, which include licensed facilities’ characteristics.