Child Care Safety Portal Overview

CHILD CARE SAFETY PORTAL OVERVIEW

The Child Care Safety Portal is a resource for parents and families to check on the safety and quality of licensed child care programs in Oregon. The Portal lets you search for a child care provider and view their licensing history over a period of time.

The Portal is meant to add to, but not replace, other sources of information. For more information on finding and choosing child care, please go to our Find Child Care page.

To receive a customized referral to child care programs contact 211info by:

• Calling 211. Listen to the prompt for Child Care and press the specified number.
• Texting the keyword “children” or “niños” to 898211 (TXT211).
• Emailing children@211info.org.

From the referral list, you can choose the Child Care program that best suits your needs.

What you will see on the Child Care Safety Portal

• Child care license status, license type, and license capacity
• Summary of inspection visits including:
  • Valid findings within the last ten years
  • Unable to substantiate findings within the last two years
• Complaints – Disclaimer: A complaint does not imply the allegation(s) is/are valid.
• Enforcement activity
• Number of serious injuries or deaths (For details Click Here to open the Injury Log)
• Quality program participant status (known as “Spark”)

Definitions

• Finding: The Office of Child Care’s written conclusion based on assessments of a potential or observed violation.
• Valid Finding: There is evidence that the violation occurred.
• Unable to Substantiate Finding: There is conflicting evidence, or evidence is not available, on whether the violation occurred.  The Office will issue a finding that it is Unable to Substantiate a complaint when there is conflicting evidence of equal weight or sufficient evidence is not available to determine whether the violation occurred. A complaint does not imply the allegation(s) is/are valid.
• Serious Injuries: When an injury occurred that needed attention from a licensed health professional, such as a physician, EMT or nurse. Licensed child care providers are required to report these injuries to the Office of Child Care within five days of the occurrence.
• Spark Rating: Spark is a statewide resource used to help improve the quality of child care in Oregon. Spark ratings are shown for programs with a rating of 3, 4, or 5. For more information visit SparkOregon.org.

Additional Information

• Not all child care providers must be licensed by the Office of Child Care.
• Every licensed facility receives at least one announced inspection and one unannounced inspection every year.
• Child care providers have the right to request a review of findings as noted in the Office of Child Care Findings Review Procedures.
• If you have any feedback regarding the use of the Child Care Safety Portal, please submit your feedback here.

If you can’t find a child care provider in the Portal or would like to receive a full history of a child care provider, please contact the Office of Child Care:

• Phone: 503-947-1400 or 1-800-556-6616
• Request Compliance History