Public should demand that Georgia daycare ratings reflect risks to children
An urgent call from a parent and friend who formerly worked as a nanny first alerted me to the problems at some Georgia daycare centers.
Her children attended a highly rated center in Rockdale County, where she described questionable practices — including workers roughly handling children and leaving toddlers unattended for long periods of time — but she was hesitant to report her concerns.
Two weeks ago, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation uncovered similar infractions at 350 daycare centers across the state, giving voice to parents like the one I spoke with years ago.
Many of those daycare centers were allowed to keep operating with high quality ratings, leaving parents with misleading information about lapses in care.
Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning advertises hundreds of daycares as quality options, even after children have been seriously harmed or put at risk. Some of the most egregious incidents in the AJC’s investigation include chemical burns on a child’s arms, a baby’s fractured skull and one infant’s death.
Some of the daycares were fined. At least one had its license suspended and was closed for a few days. Yet all of the centers retained their quality ratings or even received higher ones under Georgia’s three-star rating system. A dangerous incident did not automatically trigger a review of the daycare’s quality rating, according to AJC investigative reporters.
Earlier this month, weeks after the AJC shared data and findings of its investigation with DECAL officials, the state announced a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week anonymous hotline where Georgians can share their experiences and concerns about childcare.
“DECAL Listens” represents an effort to gather public input on the state’s childcare system that will help determine how the state prioritizes and invests more than $400 million in federal discretionary childcare funding in the coming years.
So, it’s a good moment for the public to demand that daycare centers with reports of major or frequent violations be stripped of their quality ratings and held publicly accountable when children are harmed.
Ratings from Georgia’s three-star Quality Rated program first published in July 2013. About two-thirds of 4,200 daycare centers across the state participate in the voluntary system. Ratings range from 1 to 3 stars, with 3 representing the highest quality. Centers can retain their ratings for up to three years until their next review.
The program was a year too late to help me evaluate daycare centers for my daughter. It took a few tries to find the right place, and if the Quality Rated program had been available, I would have given those ratings a lot of weight in making a choice.
That’s why it’s so concerning that the state doesn’t remove or reevaluate star ratings from daycares even after they have been flagged for serious safety incidents.
AJC reporters spent months combing through data from 2016 to 2026 and found 350 daycares that were allowed to keep the quality star ratings despite seriously harming kids or putting them at risk.
In a statement to the AJC, DECAL Commissioner Amy Jacobs said isolated incidents are quickly addressed and are different from ongoing infractions that occur during a 12-month period.
The latter requires state intervention, she said, acknowledging that no system is perfect. “There is always an opportunity to evaluate our policies, learn from experience and strengthen protections when appropriate,” Jacobs said.
To receive a high rating, daycares must meet standards such as hiring credentialed staff, reducing the number of kids per classroom and allowing state officials to observe staff interactions with children.
But the staff members who set the quality ratings do not review a daycare’s safety records. And the staff members who look for patterns of safety problems examine only violations that have occurred over the past year.
Jacobs said that when they allow a daycare to continue operating after a serious safety issue, it is because they have determined the daycare can prevent another bad event.
“It is deeply regrettable when incidents happen despite our best efforts. Good managers can make poor hiring decisions with serious consequences for child safety. I am grateful that serious incidents are uncommon,” she said.
According to data from the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences, caregivers with more specialized education and training are instrumental in providing quality childcare.
But Georgia’s 53,100 early childhood teachers do not make a living wage, according to the most recent report by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. In 2022, the median wage for early childhood workers in Georgia was $11.44 — 31% below living wage.
It’s hard to attract quality candidates to jobs that pay so little.
At Excell Preparatory Center in Lithonia, three employees were arrested in recent years on charges of child cruelty or battery after incidents at the daycare. The center was also cited nine times for severe safety violations but retained its 1-star rating for most of that time.
Jacobs said firing an employee removes the problem. But when you have three problem employees at one institution in just a few years, that’s a sign to look deeper than bad hiring practices.
The daycare’s license was suspended, and it closed twice this year alone. Staff members were required to attend mandatory training on discipline and reporting child abuse. Excell’s rating was increased to 2 stars in 2025 and it has maintained that rating, even after its pair of temporary closures this year.
Some states already make the effort to connect daycare quality ratings to child safety by removing stars if facilities fail to complete certain safety checks or if a child is harmed. Some states also bar offending daycares from reapplying for a rating review within six months.
Jacobs said Georgia is considering similar policy changes in 2027 that would include stripping ratings from daycares that violate rules or have major incidents. Daycares dismissed from the Quality Rated program will not be able to rejoin for at least a year.
It is admirable that DECAL tries to rehabilitate daycare programs that are experiencing safety problems, but those issues should be reflected in their ratings. Not doing so undermines the meaning and relevance of the Quality Rated program.
Parents depend on childcare and need access to quality options, but supporting centers that are struggling should not come at the expense of providing families with information that might impact their child’s safety.
Read more on the Real Life blog (ajc.com/opinion/real-life-blog) and find Nedra on Facebook (facebook.com/AJCRealLifeColumn) and X (@nrhoneajc) or email her at nedra.rhone@ajc.com.