OKLAHOMA CITY (April 5, 2023) – Oklahoma families now have a brand new tool to search for quality, licensed child care programs in their area thanks to Oklahoma Human Services’ updated Child Care Locator.

For the past several years, Oklahoma Human Services has been working to modernize the agency, its processes and services with new technologies to better serve our customers, providers and workforce. The new Child Care Locator provides a more user-friendly experience with a host of features to better serve Oklahoma’s families and meet federal requirements:

• Advanced search and mapping tools allow users to find child care programs within a certain radius of desired locations. This functionality will even map programs that exist along a route if families are searching for a child care program between their home and work locations, for example.
• New monitoring visit summaries show the entirety of licensing compliance checks so families can understand the entirety of a program’s compliance with health and safety standards.
• A refreshed look and feel makes the Child Care Locator look as modern as its new functionality.

Like the previous Child Care Locator, this one still offers search filters for family child care homes or child care centers, Star quality rating level and acceptance of Child Care Subsidy, to name a few. The new Locator also provides details about the licensed capacity within programs, their business hours and ages accepted along with how to contact the provider and/or their Oklahoma Human Services licensing specialist.

All Oklahoma families are encouraged to use the updated Child Care Locator to look for child care programs in their area or to monitor their current child care program’s compliance with health and safety standards.

Quality child care is an important part of Oklahoma’s economy, allowing parents to attain their educational and career goals while their children are engaged in quality early childhood learning environments. Oklahoma Human Services is committed to ensuring that all children and families who need it have access to licensed, quality child care.

###

About Oklahoma Human Services Child Care Services:

Child Care Services (CCS) is responsible for the regulation and inspection of licensed child care centers and homes across the state. CCS helps child care providers (owners/operators) maintain their licenses and improve coaching and leadership for their teams. Funding for CCS is provided through the federal Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and supplemented by state taxpayer dollars.

In any given month in State Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022), more than 115,500 children attended child care at more than 2,800 programs across the state. Learn more about Child Care Services in our FY 2022 Annual Report.