Reports › California
Daycare violations in California
3,969 of California's recorded violations are severity 4–5 — the categories covering direct risk to child health and safety.
Headline numbers
California has 39,184 licensed childcare facilities in our data. 4,716 of them (12%) have at least one recorded violation, out of 9,610 violation records total. 50.4% are family home providers;
Severity breakdown
| Severity | Meaning | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Immediate risk to health/safety | 3,969 |
| 4 | High risk | 0 |
| 3 | Moderate | 5,641 |
| 2 | Low risk | 0 |
| 1 | Administrative | 0 |
Violations per facility, by city
| City | Facilities | Violations | Per facility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloverdale | 11 | 17 | 1.5 |
| Big Bear City | 10 | 12 | 1.2 |
| Palm Springs | 27 | 31 | 1.1 |
| Emeryville | 16 | 13 | 0.8 |
| Angels Camp | 12 | 10 | 0.8 |
| Kensington | 13 | 11 | 0.8 |
| Moraga | 16 | 12 | 0.8 |
| Malibu | 13 | 11 | 0.8 |
| Yorba Linda | 66 | 55 | 0.8 |
| Chico | 154 | 102 | 0.7 |
Largest operators
| Operator | Facilities | Violations across portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| CATALYST FAMILY INC. | 253 | 41 |
| KINDERCARE LEARNING CENTERS LLC | 221 | 408 |
| LAUSD/EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION | 136 | 34 |
| BRIGHT HORIZONS CHILDREN'S CENTERS LLC | 133 | 27 |
| KCE CHAMPIONS, LLC | 125 | 30 |
| OPTIONS FOR LEARNING | 118 | 4 |
| LA PETITE ACADEMY, INC. | 99 | 111 |
| CHILDTIME CHILDCARE, INC. | 90 | 122 |
| KIDANGO INC. | 80 | 14 |
| YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY | 63 | 4 |
Lowest compliance scores
| Facility | City | Score | Violations |
|---|---|---|---|
| CREATIVE WORLD | San Leandro | 0 | 13 |
| LA PETITE ACADEMY, INC. | Richmond | 0 | 10 |
| KINDERCARE LEARNING CENTER, #1039 | Antioch | 0 | 12 |
| ANGELS MONTESSORI PRESCHOOL - CONCORD | Concord | 0 | 11 |
| BABY YALE ACADEMY | Brentwood | 0 | 8 |
| GATTI, CRYSTAL | Antioch | 0 | 12 |
| RAMSEY, DEBRA FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME | Willows | 0 | 8 |
| LOCKETT, MICHELLE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME | Eureka | 0 | 9 |
| KIDS TOWN CHILDCARE CENTER, LLC | Lancaster | 0 | 10 |
| KIDS TOWN CHILDCARE CENTER, LLC | Lancaster | 0 | 15 |
Reuse this analysis
All numbers on this page are computed from official state licensing records and are free to cite with attribution to DaycareLens. Journalists: the underlying dataset is openly licensed (CC0), and we can provide custom cuts — press@daycarelens.com.