Families - Child Care Search

Your Child Care Search

The statewide toll free number to receive child care referral information is:
1-877-678-2548

Before you begin your search for someone to care for your child, let us recommend that you read through the information below. Knowing and understanding the different types of care available for your child, child care regulations and how to determine whether a specific child care facility is right for your child will help to make your search and your child’s experience in child care a positive one.

When you are ready to begin your search, please call our toll free number at 877-678-2548 where a referral specialist will be able to assist you. If you prefer to do your own search or must have information outside of our normal business hours, you may use our on-line child care search by clicking on the link to your county's region listed below, or by clicking on your telephone area code at the left. .

Click on the link to your county's region below to start your search!

NORTH KANSAS SEARCH
Brown, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Decatur, Dickinson, Doniphan, Douglas, Ellis, Ellsworth, Franklin, Geary, Grove, Graham, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Lincoln, Logan, Marshall, Mitchell, Morris, Nemaha, Ness, Norton, Osage, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, and Washington counties.

NORTHEAST KANSAS SEARCH
Atchison, Johnson, Leavenworth, Linn, Miami, and Wyandotte counties.

SOUTH KANSAS SEARCH
Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Clark, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Edwards, Elk, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Meade, Montgomery, Morton, Neosho, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Scott, Sedgwick, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Wichita, Wilson, and Woodson counties.

Choosing Quality Care

Quality Child Care: Recognizing and Supporting the Best for Your Children
All parents with children in child care want them to receive the highest quality of care. One definition of quality child care reads: “These programs or providers offer engaging, appropriate activities in settings that facilitate healthy growth and development, and prepare children for or promote their success in school.” How do you define quality child care? Most parents would agree with the above definition, but of course, as parents the care of your children is much more personal than that. Parents want their children in a safe environment, with a “warm” caregiver, in a program that provides lots of activities and learning opportunities for their children.

What Determines High Quality Care?
When considering a child care setting, parents naturally are looking for a warm and nurturing caregiver. But, equally important are two other types of measures that also indicate a quality environment.

The first is the process – what goes on in the program, their procedures, and activities and so on and, the second is the structure – the physical environment and the safety features. Both are equally important.

When you are considering a child care program, whether it is center-based or a family child care home, here are some questions that you could ask the programs (and yourself) that would help determine if the program provides high quality care.

What kind of program is provided?
Do they follow a curriculum?
How many children are in care? What is the ratio of staff to children?
If it is a center, how are the children grouped?
What kind of training and certification does the child care staff have?

Search for High Quality Child Care COMING SOON IN 2010!

KQRS Star Rating System for Kansas Child Care Programs
Choosing child care for your child should be a positive experience for your family and we can help. Through the Kansas Quality Rating System (KQRS), KACCRRA and your local Child Care Resource & Referral Agency is able to provide you with information about the quality of many of the child care programs you are considering.

When searching for child care online, by email, or by phone, be sure to look for and ask for programs that have a KQRS Rating in your area. KQRS Ratings offer a Star Rating (1 – 5 stars) based on the level of quality a child care program provides in five important areas of quality.

Families can also access the Early Learning Report about a program they are considering choosing for child care services. This report is a short summary of the strengths and areas for quality improvement in a child care program. The report outlines the points that programs scored in each of the quality components of the KQRS Rating and provides the overall star level that a program received.

The Early Learning Report is like a “Consumer Reports” of child care and provides you with much needed information when making a child care choice that is right for you and your child(ren)!