child care center licensing

One important thing to ask the child care centers you choose to visit is about their certificate of compliance from the Department of Public Welfare. This is the center's license to operate. The center is usually inspected on a yearly basis. The inspection consists of many areas including the program and curriculum, equipment, physical site, child records, staff records, nutrition, health and safety and other general requirements. The certificate of compliance is issued for a 12 month period. The center is subject to announced and unannounced inspections in accordance with the regulations. The Department of day care licensing has the right to deny, revoke or issue a provisional certificate of compliance to a center that is not meeting the standards. It is important to ask the center the standing of their current certificate of compliance and also ask what their past inspections have been. The center should have a copy of the regulations, the current certificate of compliance and the the most recent inspection summary in an accessible location to all parents. You can find out more information at http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/