Instructions for Daycare License Check

Updated Oct 2022

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. On the profile page, there is a license number`` that links to their record in the ca.gov database. This tells you whether they are still licensed and what their capacity is. If there are any anomalies, you'll be making a note on the google sheet and highlighting it for me to check later. 

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. You can work on a particular city, or pick a row to start on, 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. Check if they are still licensed. On their profile page, click the license number next to "DSS Facility License #". This takes you to their ca.gov record.
  • If you see a message that says "No facilities match the search criteria ..." [example here]  that means their license number is no longer valid. Type "no license found" under Notes. Highlight the line* (see below) and go on to the next daycare.
  • They do have a license . Now check the Status on their license. If Status is anything other than "Licensed" (such as "Revoked" or "License pending") add a note about this. Highlight the line* and go on to the next daycare.

  • The license and status are OK, go on to 5.

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, and sometimes a 3rd one 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..

* Highlight the line so I can spot the ones I need to update. 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 after you do a bunch of them to remind me to check for problems you've spotted. 

Thanks for helping!