Selecting a Provider

Begin Your Search

211 Child Care is Connecticut’s free resource and referral agency. We are here to help you learn about the different types of child care available, licensing requirements, and how to find and view health and safety inspection reports. You can find information on selecting a child care provider that best meets the needs of your family. We are available by phone Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 1-800-505-1000 or search on your own at search.211childcare.org

Finding Quality Child Care to Meet Your Needs

Parents want what is best for their children and finding quality child care is an important part of that. Each family may have their own definition of what quality looks like. One of the most important factors is that child care be licensed in order to ensure minimum health and safety standards are consistently being met.  

The Office of Early Childhood has developed a quality improvement system for child care providers.  Learn more about Elevate, CT’s Quality Improvement System.

Contacting a Child Care Provider

You will want to be prepared to know what to ask. The Phone Pre-Screening Tool is a list of questions you may want to ask when searching for child care.

References

Ask the provider for names and telephone numbers of parent references.  If the provider can give you some parent references follow up by asking the following questions:

  • What do you like best/least about the child care provider?
  • Does the child care provider offer activities geared towards the child’s age?
  • Does the child care provider make you and your child feel comfortable in the program?
  • Does the child care provider keep you well informed about your child’s development?
  • Is the child care provider dependable and reliable?
  • Would you change anything about the program?

Take a Tour

A phone interview does not substitute for a visit to the program. When looking at child care programs we encourage parents to ask questions about what their child’s day would be like, how providers handle discipline and to look closely at the environment where the care is taking place. These checklists provide quality indicators and some ideas as to what to look for when looking for child care.

For more tips on finding child care and camps visit: Find Child Care and Camps

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