Safety & records · District of Columbia
Reading a daycare's record in District of Columbia
District of Columbia publishes inspection records through My Child Care DC (OSSE). This page walks you to the record, decodes its vocabulary from the state's own definitions, and states what the archive cannot tell you. We never name, rate, or score a center.
First, the money
Records are half the decision. The other half is whether you can get help paying — run the free check for District of Columbia before you fall in love with a center you cannot fund.
The portal
Facility profiles with inspection reports (initial, annual, monitoring, renewal), capacity, licensing, accreditation, Capital Quality rating information, and substantiated complaints — posted and kept up to 3 years, with deficiency codes (for example 141.4).
What this portal does not show
Only substantiated (proven) complaints are posted. An unsubstantiated complaint leaves no trace on the profile.
How District of Columbia grades what it finds
Deficiency codes under DCMR Title 5A by category (Administrative, General Health and Safety, and more); narrative, no severity classes.
Words like these are decoded, term by term, in the records decoder — always from the state's own published definitions, and always with the correction status given the same weight as the finding.
If you need to report something
OSSE child care complaint email or hotline; abuse and neglect to the Child Abuse Hotline.
Read any record in this order
- The license status first — active, conditional, or under action.
- The findings, newest to oldest, watching for the same rule cited twice.
- The correction status on each finding — corrected, corrected on site, plan accepted, or still open. It carries the same weight as the finding.
- The blind spots above: what this archive structurally cannot show you.
Portal facts checked October 2026. Only the state agency's record is the record — this page is a map to it, not a copy of it.