Oklahoma Department of Human Services Child Care Fact Sheet

Recently, Oklahoma was ranked 1st in the nation for providing quality child care state standards and oversight in child care homes; 3rd in the nation for providing quality child care oversight in child care centers; and 6th overall for providing quality child care standards and oversight in child care centers, according to report cards issued by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
The 2007 report card gave Oklahoma's oversight system for child care centers a national ranking of 3rd. That same report placed the state 6th overall for its oversight and state standards of child care centers. In its region, Oklahoma was the only state to receive a top 10 ranking. The 2008 report card gave Oklahoma the top ranking nationally for oversight and state standards of child care homes, ranking the state above the U.S. Department of Defense, a system traditionally viewed as the gold standard of child care.

• According to the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act (10 O.S., Sec. 401 through 415), Oklahoma Department of Human Services licenses all child care facilities in Oklahoma. Licensing helps ensure the maintenance of minimum standards for the protection of children away from their homes.
• OKDHS staff, along with the Child Care Advisory Committee and child care providers, develop licensing requirements to comply with the law. View licensing requirements online.
• Under to the requirements, licensing staff conduct a minimum of three unannounced visits to each child care facility annually.
• 34 million child care days in Oklahoma annually.
• 5,100 child care facilities in the state. Of those facilities:
  • 3,200 are family child care homes
  • 1,800 are child care centers
• 559 child care centers impacting 29,260 children have a One Star rating; 1,775 family child care homes impacting 14,369 children have a One Star rating.
• 72 child care centers impacting 3,200 children have a 1 Star Plus rating; 580 family child care homes impacting 4,600 children have a 1 Star plus rating.
• 1,004 child care centers and 1,055 family child care homes have a 2 Star rating, impacting 60,600 and 10,600 children respectively.
• 149 child care centers and 47 family child care homes have a 3 Star rating, impacting 14,500 and 500 children respectively.
• Nearly 139,500 child care slots available statewide
• Average of 130,000 Oklahoma children are in child care daily
• 25,000 people working in the Oklahoma child care industry
• 114 child care licensing workers charged with doing three unannounced visits to Oklahoma’s 5,100 child care facilities annually
• 51.4 average caseload for child care licensing inspector including both the average number of centers and homes in the caseload
• 40 family child care homes and 11 child care centers make up the average distribution of the caseload. (The caseload and the distribution of family child care homes and child care centers may vary according to the supervisory group and/or county)
• 1 licensing coordinator oversees the licensing program statewide; 2 assistant licensing coordinators assist the coordinator and supervise the regional program managers
• 5 licensing regional program managers oversee the licensing program for each of the 5 regions
• 22 child care licensing specialists IV supervise lower level licensing specialists
• 23 child care licensing specialists III serve as lead workers or as backup supervisors
• 84 child care licensing specialists II manage caseloads and monitor and assess child care facilities to ensure compliance with licensing requirements
• 1 Reaching for the Stars program manager II, 1 assistant Stars program manager I, and 5 Stars outreach specialist/program field representatives I.

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