Georgia Quality Rated FAQ — Your Questions Answered

No — Quality Rated participation is entirely voluntary. Every legal daycare in Georgia must hold a state childcare license from DECAL, but choosing to apply for a Quality Rated star is the provider's decision.

A provider without a star rating is not necessarily low quality — they may be excellent but have chosen not to go through the application process. However, every provider that does have a star has been formally assessed by trained DECAL evaluators and has made a public, documented commitment to meeting standards above the licensing minimum.

When comparing two providers — one rated, one not — the rated provider has at minimum invited outside scrutiny of their program, which is itself a meaningful signal of confidence in their quality.

Providers apply to DECAL and go through a multi-step assessment process:

1. Application & enrollment: The provider applies to participate in Quality Rated and completes orientation training.

2. Self-assessment: The program conducts a structured self-study, reviewing their own practices against the Quality Rated standards for each level.

3. Documentation submission: Staff credentials, training records, curriculum materials, family engagement policies, and child assessment documentation are submitted to DECAL.

4. On-site assessment: A trained DECAL assessor visits the facility and uses validated observation tools — including the Environment Rating Scales (ERS) — to score classroom quality across dozens of criteria.

5. Star assignment: DECAL reviews all evidence and assigns a star level based on how well the provider meets each level's cumulative requirements.

Quality Rated ratings are not permanent — they must be renewed on a cycle that varies by star level. Higher stars generally require more frequent renewal monitoring. During renewal, the provider undergoes reassessment using the same tools used for the initial rating.

If a provider declines in quality — through staff turnover, reduced training hours, or lower environment assessment scores — they can lose stars. Substantiated parent complaints can also trigger an unscheduled DECAL review.

This renewal requirement is one of the most important features of the Quality Rated system. It creates ongoing accountability that a standard one-time license does not. A license, once granted, can persist through years of declining quality unless a specific complaint triggers an inspection. A Quality Rated renewal doesn't wait for a complaint.

Generally yes — but with important nuance. A higher star means the provider has met more rigorous verified standards in teacher credentials, environment quality, curriculum alignment, and family engagement. The research evidence strongly supports the idea that structural quality (which stars measure) predicts better outcomes for children.

However, a star rating captures the program's status at the time of assessment. Quality can shift between cycles due to staff turnover, leadership changes, financial pressures, or organizational instability. A 4-star program going through a difficult transition year may actually be delivering lower day-to-day quality than a stable 3-star program with low teacher turnover and a great director.

Absolutely. Quality Rated measures structural and process quality at an organizational level. It evaluates things that can be systematically assessed — teacher credentials, the physical environment, curriculum documentation, and family engagement policies. It cannot measure fit.

Fit involves things like: whether your child's temperament meshes with the program's philosophy (some children thrive in busy, stimulating environments; others need quieter, more predictable settings), whether the specific teacher your child will have is a strong relational match, whether the program's hours genuinely work for your family, or whether the center's communication style feels right to you.

A 5-star program with a philosophy that doesn't align with your family's values or a management style that feels dismissive of parent input may serve your child less well than a warm, stable 3-star program where everyone knows your child by name.

The star is a floor, not a ceiling. It tells you the program has met certain minimum quality benchmarks. Your job as a parent is to use the tour and enrollment process to assess everything the rating system cannot.

Yes — all Quality Rated daycares are eligible to accept CAPS (Childcare and Parent Services) financial assistance. In fact, Quality Rated providers receive higher reimbursement rates from the state under CAPS than unrated providers, which gives rated providers a financial incentive to accept CAPS-funded families.

Georgia's CAPS program also prioritizes matching CAPS-eligible children with Quality Rated providers when possible, meaning children from lower-income families are more likely to be placed in higher-quality care under the subsidy system.

To find Quality Rated daycares that accept CAPS, use CloverMap's combined Quality Rated + CAPS filter — this will show only providers that are both rated and currently enrolled as CAPS providers.

There are two easy ways to look up a specific provider's current Quality Rated star:

CloverMap (clovermap.com/daycares): Search by provider name, city, or zip code. Every listing displays the current Quality Rated star level alongside other details like licensing status, ages served, CAPS acceptance, and hours. CloverMap data is updated from DECAL's official records regularly.

DECAL Bright from the Start (decal.ga.gov): Georgia's official provider search. Enter a provider name, city, or county. The result will show the provider's current license status, Quality Rated star (if any), inspection history, and any documented violations or corrective actions. This is the authoritative primary source.

Yes. Georgia-licensed family childcare homes — home-based providers who are licensed to care for a small group of children in a residential setting — can participate in Quality Rated alongside center-based programs. The same 1–5 star scale applies, though some specific criteria are adapted for the home-based setting (for example, environment rating tools designed for family childcare homes are used rather than the center-focused ERS tools).

Many families strongly prefer home-based care for infants and toddlers because of smaller group sizes, a more consistent primary caregiver, and a home-like environment. A Quality Rated family childcare home combines those advantages with independently verified quality standards.

Search for Quality Rated home-based providers on CloverMap by using the "Home-based" provider type filter alongside the Quality Rated star filter.

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accreditation is a voluntary national mark of excellence for early childhood programs. It is entirely separate from Georgia's Quality Rated system but is closely related at the highest quality levels.

Earning NAEYC accreditation requires a rigorous multi-year process: a comprehensive self-study, submission of evidence across 10 program standards and approximately 400 individual criteria, and an independent on-site verification visit by trained NAEYC assessors. Accreditation is valid for 5 years and must be actively renewed.

In Georgia's Quality Rated system, NAEYC accreditation is associated with and contributes to the 5-star level. Many 5-star programs hold NAEYC accreditation, and some Quality Rated criteria at the 5-star level align with NAEYC standards. However, it is possible to hold a 5-star Quality Rated rating without NAEYC accreditation, and NAEYC accreditation does not automatically grant a 5-star Quality Rated status — they are evaluated through separate processes by separate organizations.

No — these are two entirely different things, and confusing them is one of the most common mistakes parents make when evaluating daycares.

A childcare license is a legal requirement. Every daycare in Georgia that provides care for unrelated children for compensation must hold a state license from DECAL. The license establishes minimum standards for health, safety, supervision ratios, facility requirements, and background checks. Without a valid license, a childcare provider is operating illegally.

Quality Rated is a voluntary achievement system that recognizes providers who exceed the license minimum. You can think of the license as the floor — the bare minimum legal requirement — and Quality Rated stars as levels of achievement above that floor.

A licensed daycare without a Quality Rated star meets the legal minimum. A licensed daycare with a Quality Rated star has gone further and been formally verified to do so. Always confirm a provider holds a current, valid license regardless of their Quality Rated status — a star does not substitute for a license.

If a provider's childcare license is revoked, surrendered, or lapses, their Quality Rated status is automatically invalidated. You cannot hold a Quality Rated star without an active, valid Georgia childcare license.

If DECAL takes formal enforcement action against a provider — such as a conditional license, a written warning, or a corrective action plan — this information is public record and can be found on DECAL's Bright from the Start provider search. Depending on the nature of the enforcement action, DECAL may also reassess the provider's Quality Rated status.

If a provider closes unexpectedly, Georgia DECAL maintains a resource line for parents needing emergency childcare placement assistance: 1-888-4GA-CHILD (1-888-442-4453).