Safety & records · Indiana
Reading a daycare's record in Indiana
Indiana publishes inspection records through Child Care Finder (FSSA). 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 Indiana before you fall in love with a center you cannot fund.
The portal
Inspection reports, validated complaints, enforcement actions per program, Paths to QUALITY level (0–4), and license / registered ministry / exempt status.
What this portal does not show
Only validated complaints are shown in the Finder — complaints that were not validated leave no trace.
How Indiana grades what it finds
Citations by 470 IAC rule; 'Critical Health and Safety Violations' are flagged in the FSSA FAQ, otherwise narrative.
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
OECOSL Child Care Support Line at 1-800-299-1627; abuse and neglect to the DCS Hotline at 1-800-800-5556.
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.