Instructions for Daycare License Check

Updated Dec 2023

Thanks for helping! 

Purpose: Check preschools and daycares on BPN's website to make sure they are still licensed and still have the same capacity. 

Overview: You'll be working from a google sheet that contains a list of 600+ daycares & preschools. Each one has a link to its profile page on BPN with a license number that links to their official record in the ca.gov database. If they are no longer licensed, or there are any anomalies, you'll be making a note on the google sheet and highlighting it for me to fix later. 

  •  To highlight a line: Select the entire line by clicking the row number in column 1. Choose a color to use for your highlights (aka "fill color" -- the spilling bucket icon).

  • Please send me an email whenever you do a bunch of highlighted ones so I can fix them asap.  Otherwise just work at your own pace!

  • Work on it when you have time. You can do one or you can do 100 all at once - your choice!

  • If you want to know more about what's on the childcare license, see Reading the Online License Record at DSS.

For each facility:

1. Choose a daycare/preschool to check. Start at the top or skip around.  It's possible someone else might be working on the sheet at the same time so carve out a niche for yourself further down on the sheet.

2. Initial and date the line you're checking. Put your initials in the column "checked by" and today's date in "date checked." 

3. View their profile page. Click the link in "URL" to view their profile page on the BPN website. 

4. View their license. On their profile page, click the license number next to "DSS Facility License #". This takes you to their ca.gov record.  Look at "Status" in the upper right-hand corner.

  • Status: "Licensed"  Go on to #5 below.
  • Status: "License Pending"  This one is probably OK too, but I need to check why they are still pending.  Write "pending" in the notes column and highlight the line and then go on to #5.
  • Status: "Closed"  Make a note with the reason and closure date. For example in the Notes column: "Closed 9/12/2023 - change of location" and highlight the line.  Then go on to the next daycare.
  • Status: "License Suspended"  Make a note and highlight the line and then go on to the next daycare.
  • Status: "Probation" or "Revocation ..." or some other not-OK status: Make a note and highlight the line and go on to the next daycare.
  • "No facilities match the search criteria ..." [example here]  usually means they never got licensed. Type "no license found" under Notes and highlight the line and go on to the next daycare.
5. Check their capacity.  Does the ca.gov capacity agree with the capacity we have on the BPN website? 
  • Yes, same capacity:  Go on to the next daycare.
  • No: Check their profile page to see if they have more than one license -- look under "Editor's Notes". It's not unusual for a preschool to have a license for babies as well as one for preschool kids, and even a third license for school-aged kids.
    • If they have only one license as far as you can tell, write in the Notes "Capacity has increased (or decreased) to ___" . Highlight the line and go on to the next daycare.
    • If they have more than one license, look those up too (should be a link) and confirm the total. If the total agrees with what we have, go on to the next daycare. Otherwise, note the capacity difference, Highlight the line* and go on to the next daycare..