Child Care Information and Rating System: Parent Focus Group Results

This 2007 Minnesota report presents key findings from a survey of parents on the factors that influence their choice of a child care provider and what they consider to be a good quality child care program. Data are intended to inform the development of a child care information/rating system. Parents indicate that the most important items to include in a child care information/rating system include: (1) caregiver training and experience, (2) safety, (3) licensing rules and violations, (4) curriculum and activities, (5) parent feedback, (6) interaction with children/caregiver characteristics, (7) ratios, and (8) cleanliness. Parents agreed that a Web site would be a good place to communicate information about an information/rating system.