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California Child Care: Providers & the Public Record

Childcare Alerts indexes every licensed child care provider in California — centers and family child care homes — from the state's open Community Care Licensing data, and flags any provider the state lists as on licensing probation. This report summarizes the landscape. It is a factual overview, not a safety rating of any provider.

California has 28,109 licensed child care providers on public record across all 58 counties — the largest child care market Childcare Alerts covers. California's Community Care Licensing data marks each provider's status; we flag the 51 currently on licensing probation on every provider page, alongside a link to the official record.

Provider types

Where the providers are

California counties with the most licensed providers:

1. Los Angeles County — 6,468 providers
2. San Diego County — 2,545 providers
3. Orange County — 1,669 providers
4. Santa Clara County — 1,594 providers
5. Alameda County — 1,424 providers
6. Riverside County — 1,383 providers
7. Sacramento County — 1,324 providers
8. San Bernardino County — 1,046 providers
9. Contra Costa County — 976 providers
10. San Mateo County — 714 providers

California child care in the news

Recent third-party coverage of California child care. Headlines link to the original source — these are news reports, not our licensing records.

• San Francisco daycare where 3-month-old died had previous complaint of children left unattended
  San Francisco Chronicle · Jul 29, 2026
• How Santa Barbara County Made Strides in Addressing the Unmet Need for Child Care
  California Budget & Policy Center · Jul 29, 2026
• How One California County Is Building a Childcare System From the Ground Up
  LA School Report · Jul 29, 2026
• Plattsburgh YMCA names new executive director of Early Childhood Development Center
  wptz.com · Jul 28, 2026
• Daycare worker allegedly locked, hit child in closet before making trip to liquor store
  NJ.com · Jul 28, 2026
• How One California County Is Building a Childcare System From the Ground Up
  The 74 · Jul 27, 2026

Coverage is gathered automatically from public news sources and isn't an endorsement; we link out and don't host the articles.

How to check a specific provider

Search any California provider by name or city to see its details, any probation flag, and a link to the official state record.

Search a provider →

Methodology & source

Providers and licensing status: the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Community Care Licensing open data (data.ca.gov), covering licensed child care centers and family child care homes. We keep active (licensed / on-probation) facilities. Childcare Alerts surfaces and summarizes these public records; the official government record always controls, and the absence of a record is not a guarantee of safety. Childcare Alerts is an independent service, not affiliated with any state agency.