Washington child care inspection records

Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), Licensing Division

CheckedCare republishes the official child care inspection and licensing record for 2,517 Washington child care operations, verbatim and with citations, drawn from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), Licensing Division. These facilities have 13,203 inspections on record carrying 13,203 inspection reports; 3% have none.

What Washington publishes

These pages carry the inspection index DCYF publishes on its Child Care Check portal: the date, type and checklist of every inspection in the portal's rolling three-year window for each licensed center, school-age and outdoor nature-based program, each linking the official report. The verbatim findings live inside those linked reports, which these pages do not reproduce, and DCYF publishes no Family Home Child Care providers in bulk, so those homes are not covered here.

We publish counts and records, never ratings.

Statewide, at the 2026-09-07 sync

2,517

Facilities

13,203

Inspections on record

13,203

Inspection reports

Zero inspection reports

Computed from dataset wa-dcyf-childcare-2026-08, synced 2026-09-07. By operation type: Child Care Center 1,853 · School-Age Program 636 · Outdoor Nature Based Program 28.

How Washington regulates child care

Who has to be licensed

Which child care providers must be licensed in Washington?

Do you need to be licensed? The answer is usually yes, but it depends. According to RCW 43.216.010 (1): Any person or entity that provides child care services outside a child’s home must be licensed by DCYF unless they are exempt.

Washington DCYF Licensing, verified September 4, 2026. Source ↗

How often the state inspects

How often does Washington inspect licensed child care programs?

To issue, revoke, or deny licenses to agencies pursuant to this chapter. ... To inspect agencies periodically to determine whether or not there is compliance with this chapter and the requirements adopted under this chapter;

Washington DCYF Licensing, verified September 4, 2026. Source ↗

What a license, certificate or payment-only approval means

What do Licensed, Certified and Payment Only mean on a Washington child care record?

Licensed = the department authorizing a licensee by law to operate a child care, and certifying that the licensee meets the requirements under licensure; Certified = department approval of a person, home, or facility that does not legally need to be licensed, but wants evidence that they meet the minimum licensing requirements; Payment Only = WAC gives DEL authority to certify a person, home or facility for payment without further investigation if the center is licensed by an Indian tribe, certified by the Federal Department of Defense, or approved by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Washington DCYF Licensing, verified September 4, 2026. Source ↗

What happens after a complaint