How to Look Up Daycare Violations in North Carolina

To look up daycare violations in North Carolina, use the free Child Care Facility Search run by the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) at ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/childcaresearch.¹ Every licensed childcare facility in the state has a public profile there, and the profile links directly to the monitoring reports and administrative actions that document any violations.

Searching for a Facility

You can search by facility name, license number, city, or county. The results page lists every match, and clicking one opens the full profile. The profile shows the license type, ages served, star rating, capacity, and the compliance history you came for.² Everything on the page is public record and free.

One thing to know before you start: a star rating is not a violation record. Stars reflect program standards, staff education, and optional quality points, and a high-star program can still be cited during a monitoring visit. Check the monitoring reports on their own.

Reading the Monitoring Reports

DCDEE child care consultants make unannounced compliance visits at least once a year, and they can show up at any other time without notice.³⁴ During each visit the consultant checks:

Supervision of children
Staff-to-child ratios and group sizes
Health and safety practices, including medication storage and emergency preparedness
Sanitation of surfaces, food preparation areas, and restrooms
Condition of indoor and outdoor equipment
Discipline practices, which must use only approved methods
Staff education, credentials, and required training

Any violation the consultant observes gets written into the report and reviewed with the operator on the spot. The operator has a chance to correct the problem, and DCDEE may conduct follow-up visits to confirm it has been fixed.³ Those reports, with the citations and the follow-up notes, are what you see when you open a facility’s compliance history online.²

Administrative Actions and License Downgrades

When violations are serious enough, or when an investigation confirms child maltreatment, DCDEE takes administrative action. Those actions appear on the same public profile and are the most important thing to look for. From least to most severe, they include:⁵

A written warning or written reprimand, typically for lower-level rule violations
A fine
A provisional license, issued for up to 12 months, meaning the facility is operating under heightened oversight while correcting problems
A special provisional license, issued for up to six months, often after a finding of child maltreatment that did not cause physical harm
A probationary license, issued for up to 12 months for more serious situations, including substantiated maltreatment with a willful violation or a failure to follow prior corrective requirements
A summary suspension, which immediately shuts down the facility when children face an urgent safety risk
Revocation, the permanent loss of the license, reserved for the most serious cases, including substantiated maltreatment with harm, repeated serious violations, or deception

When maltreatment is confirmed, the administrative action must include a written explanation and specify the corrective steps the operator has to take.⁶ DCDEE then makes unannounced visits to verify compliance. If corrective action has not occurred, the state can go further, including limiting new enrollment or requiring the removal of the individual responsible.

A facility with a provisional or probationary license is still legally open, but the downgrade is a signal that something went seriously wrong. Read the monitoring reports tied to that action to understand what happened and whether it has been resolved.

Making Sense of What You Find

Look for patterns rather than isolated findings. A single minor citation that was quickly corrected is not the same story as the same type of violation showing up visit after visit. Recurring problems with supervision or staff ratios deserve more scrutiny than a one-time paperwork lapse.

Pay attention to dates. A corrective action from several years ago with a clean record since means the facility addressed the problem. The same citation followed six months later by another violation in the same area is worth asking the director about directly.

Compare facilities. Pull up every daycare on your shortlist, not just the one that concerns you. Two or three histories side by side give you a baseline for what normal looks like, because most programs pick up minor violations from time to time.

If recent monitoring reports are missing from a profile, that is worth investigating on its own. Annual compliance visits are required, so a gap could mean the facility recently changed ownership, just opened, or is involved in an ongoing review. Call DCDEE at (919) 814-6300 if something looks off or if you need help reading a report.

Reporting a Concern

If your research turns up something worrying, or if you witness something yourself, DCDEE accepts complaints from anyone. You do not have to be a current parent at the facility, and you can file anonymously. The quickest route is calling the Intake Unit at (800) 859-0829 in-state or (919) 814-6300; the division also accepts complaints by fax, email, and mail.⁷

Be ready to give the facility’s name and address, a description of the concern, the approximate date and time, and any details about the people involved. A DCDEE consultant then makes an unannounced visit and may interview the administrator, teachers, parents, and children. Allegations of child maltreatment go to a separate investigations consultant who may make multiple visits.⁷

If the investigation confirms the incident and a rule was violated, the citation is posted to the facility’s public profile. If the consultant cannot confirm it, the report is marked unsubstantiated. Either result feeds back into the same records the next family will check.

1
NC DHHS: Division of Child Development and Early Education. Child Care Facility Search
2
NC DHHS: Division of Child Development and Early Education. Child Care License Requirements Overview
3
NC DHHS: Division of Child Development and Early Education. Child Care Center Handbook Chapter 8 – Compliance Monitoring
4
NC DHHS: Division of Child Development and Early Education. Licensing
5
NC DHHS: Division of Child Development and Early Education. Administrative Action
6
North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 110-105.6 – Penalties for Child Maltreatment
7
NC DHHS: Division of Child Development and Early Education. File a Child Care Program Complaint