DECAL’s top priority to protect injured children from further harm
As commissioner of the Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), I write in response to the AJC investigation on Oct. 13 about childcare in Georgia and DECAL’s role in regulating it.
Childcare is an essential service for Georgia’s families, and DECAL is the state agency responsible for its oversight. Our work includes licensing programs, awarding Quality Rated star ratings, administering CAPS childcare scholarships and overseeing the incredibly popular and nationally recognized Georgia’s pre-K Program. I am proud of this work, and I’m happy that DECAL enjoys broad support from across the political spectrum.
Media scrutiny is appropriate for a state agency, but the AJC’s focus on serious incidents, which are rare, makes almost no mention of the comprehensive childcare monitoring system that protects children from harm.
Families can be assured that licensed childcare in Georgia is safe and that programs with star ratings provide developmentally appropriate education for children that exceeds state licensing standards.
DECAL’s licensing division monitors and enforces health and safety rules in childcare throughout Georgia. These rules include fingerprints and comprehensive background checks for every employee.
Every licensed provider receives two unannounced visits each year and is assigned a compliance status after each visit. Providers may temporarily lose their “good standing” status and fall into “support” or “deficient” for rule violations. Last year, about 3.6% of licensed providers were deficient at some point. Providers return to good standing only when violations are corrected.
Children are less likely to be injured in licensed childcare than at home
Statistically, a child is less likely to suffer serious harm at a licensed childcare program than at home or in public. Nevertheless, serious incidents do occur on rare occasions. Out of over 4,500 licensed programs operating each year since 2019, we have seen one to six serious injury incidents per year as defined in federal reporting. All serious incidents are investigated immediately. Visit reports and investigations for every licensed program are posted on our website for public review.
When we investigate a serious incident, our top priority is to protect children from further harm. We must investigate in an impartial manner and hold the right parties accountable. By comparison, if a public school has a case of improper conduct by a teacher or coach, nobody expects to close or punish the entire school which the community depends on.
In childcare as well, wrongful conduct by individual employees will be handled through law enforcement, while the program will be implicated when there is a pattern of negligence in preventing incidents or where there is an attempt to cover up an incident rather than cooperate with authorities.
We do sometimes seek permanent revocation of a provider’s license. In these cases, providers have the right to appeal to the Office of State Administrative Hearings.
We are expected during the appeal process to seek a negotiated resolution whenever possible. Sometimes, after extensive negotiations, we accept a corrective action plan and impose a fine instead of permanently closing the facility.
Failure of care
An AJC investigative series about safety gaps in Georgia daycares
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Quality Rated program’s effectiveness has been validated by research
Where licensing ensures that children are physically safe, DECAL’s Quality Rated program recognizes childcare providers for going beyond safety to support the social, emotional and cognitive development of all children through welcoming spaces, nurturing practices, literacy supports, and many other factors. The rating process is rigorous and uses standard measurement tools. A network of nonprofits and technical colleges prepares childcare programs for their rating. A high rating is meaningful and hard earned.
Quality Rated relies on the licensing division for up-to-date compliance data on individual providers. A provider must be in good standing with licensing before they can earn a star rating. If a provider falls out of compliance, it forfeits Quality Rated bonus payments and drops off the list of star ratings that families can search at families.decal.ga.gov. Over the past two years, 176 Quality Rated programs have forfeited more than $800,000 in bonuses under this policy.
Our programs are grounded in research and data, as any future changes will be. Quality Rated launched in 2012 following an independent statewide study of childcare quality. Its effectiveness has since been validated by independent research, and preliminary results of a new independent study indicate that the overall quality of childcare in Georgia has improved over the past 18 years. I look forward to sharing those findings when they are published next year.
Since 2025, Quality Rated has been working to strengthen the connection between quality and a program’s ongoing compliance with health and safety requirements.
Proposed changes for 2027 would introduce more progressive accountability measures, including warning, probation and dismissal designations for programs experiencing serious licensing deficiencies or major incidents involving harm to a child. The proposed approach is designed not only to maintain the integrity of the star rating, but also to provide coaching and support that helps providers address problems, improve practices, and maintain the confidence of Georgia families.
In closing, I salute the entire DECAL team, the best early care and learning professionals in the field, who bring decades of experience, education, knowledge, and wisdom to serving Georgia’s young children every day.
For the past 12 years, Amy M. Jacobs has served as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the state agency supporting Georgia’s children and families by overseeing and promoting access to high-quality early care and education programs.
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The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.