New child care ratings go public Monday | Local & State | Macon.com

Consumers use star ratings to help judge the quality of restaurants and hotels. In Georgia, child care programs are about to get the same treatment.

Beginning Monday, ratings for about 200 such programs across the state will be posted online, helping parents decide which one would be best for their child.

Georgia’s system to assess, improve and communicate the quality level in child care programs is called Quality Rated.

Of the state’s 6,000 child care programs, nearly 1,300 are participating in Quality Rated so far, said Reg Griffin, spokesman for the state Department of Early Care and Learning, which supervises day care centers, family home day cares and larger group home day cares.

Participation in Quality Rated is voluntary.

“We hope it raises the level of conversation … that child care is more than baby-sitting,” he said.

Quality Rated uses one, two and three stars to show which early care and education programs meet a set of standards that exceeds the state’s minimum licensing requirements. A program earns a higher number of stars by having more highly trained staff, more adults supervising fewer children and emphasizing learning practices, among other measures.

However, “just being in the program is important,” Griffin said.

So far, 16 child care programs in Bibb County have volunteered for the Quality Rated initiative, and 15 in Houston County have done so.

via New child care ratings go public Monday | Local & State | Macon.com.