North Carolina Child Care Star Rating

In September of 2000 the Division of Child Development revised the rating system for all eligible Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes. The new five-star rating system is more articulate for the discerning parent. Providers can now be recognized for their efforts to improve the quality of their care and illuminate their specific strengths or weaknesses.

Posted 6:00 p.m. Jun 6, 2007 — Updated 6:00 p.m. Jun 6, 2007

In September of 2000 the Division of Child Development revised the rating system for all eligible Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes. The new five-star rating system is more articulate for the discerning parent. Providers can now be recognized for their efforts to improve the quality of their care and illuminate their specific strengths or weaknesses.

Child Care Programs can earn points in three different categories.

Compliance History with Regulations

Program Standards

Staff Education

Trained evaluators score child care programs in these three categories by observing how well or how frequent certain criteria is followed within those categories. Each category can earn from 1-5 points. A program’s total points are tallied and represented by 1-5 stars. The number of stars becomes that program’s rating. For example:

A child care program earns

Program Standards- 3 points

Staff Education Standards- 2 points

Compliance Standards- 4 points

Total- 9 points

Points Earned Star Rating

3-4 points 1 star

5-7 points 2 stars

8-10 points 3 stars

11-13 points 4 stars

14-15 points 5 stars

With a total of 9 points this child care program has earned 3 stars.