Introduction
No one would argue that child care licensing is essential to ensuring children’s health and safety. But as providers face rising costs and staffing shortages—and as state agencies manage growing caseloads with limited resources—many are asking how the administrative side of licensing can evolve to meet today’s challenges.
This Information Brief explores how states are modernizing the administration of child care licensing through smarter, more efficient approaches—particularly in how they monitor compliance and use technology to support providers. We will discuss innovations that help states use their resources more strategically while reducing unnecessary burdens on providers. The goal isn’t to lower standards—it is to build licensing processes that are more responsive, more transparent, and better aligned with the realities of today’s child care landscape.
Innovations in Monitoring Approaches
Across the country, state licensing agencies are rethinking how they monitor child care providers—looking for ways to reduce unnecessary burden while still protecting the health and safety of children. Three approaches have emerged to help make oversight more efficient and focused: Differential Monitoring, Risk-Based Assessment, and Key Indicator Systems. While each approach has its own purpose, they work best when used together.
Differential Monitoring: A More Tailored Approach
At its core, Differential Monitoring is about adjusting how often and how deeply a facility is monitored based on its past performance. Instead of applying the same checklist to every provider, every year, this approach asks: What do we really need to look at, and how often?
To do that, states use two main tools:
- A Weighted Risk Assessment helps determine how frequently a program should be inspected based on its compliance history and the potential severity of past violations.
- A Key Indicator Checklist identifies which items should be reviewed during the visit, focusing on those most predictive of broader compliance.
For providers with strong track records, this might mean less frequent visits that focus only on a handful of high-impact items. For those with more risk indicators, inspections may be more comprehensive and happen more often. By focusing resources where they are most needed, differential monitoring strikes a balance between smart oversight and reduced burden—especially when both risk-based assessments and key indicators are used together.
Risk-Based Assessment: Prioritizing What Matters Most
Risk-Based Assessment (sometimes referred to as Weighted Risk Assessment) is all about identifying and prioritizing the rules that matter most—those tied to the greatest potential harm if violated. Not all licensing standards carry the same weight, so this approach evaluates each rule based on how critical it is to the safety and well-being of children. By focusing monitoring efforts on high-risk areas—such as supervision, background checks, or safe sleep practices—states can make sure agency staff time is spent preventing the most serious outcomes. It’s a straightforward way to ensure the most urgent risks don’t slip through the cracks.
Key Indicator Systems: Predictive, Data-Driven Monitoring
While Risk-Based Assessment zeroes in on severity, Key Indicator Systems (KIS) look at predictability. This approach uses statistical analysis to identify a small set of licensing rules that are highly predictive of overall compliance. In other words, if a provider is meeting these few key indicators, there is a strong chance they are doing well across the board. And if they are not, there is a good chance other issues are present too. Each of these approaches—differential monitoring, risk-based assessment, and key indicators—offers something different. But together, they create a more strategic, efficient, and responsive licensing system. By using data and evidence to guide decisions, states can focus their energy where it matters most—supporting safe, high-quality care for children while reducing unnecessary burdens for providers and licensing staff alike.
Organizations like the RIKI Institute (https://rikinstitute.com/) and the National Association for Regulatory Administration (https://www.naralicensing.org/ ) can assist states with planning and implementation of these approaches.
Innovations in Child Care Licensing Technology
As state agencies look for ways to reduce administrative burden while maintaining high standards for child care safety and compliance, technology is playing an increasingly important role. New digital tools are transforming how licensing staff conduct inspections, how providers interact with the system, and how agencies manage the entire licensing lifecycle. Below are three key areas where technology is driving meaningful improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of child care licensing.
Mobile Monitoring
The use of mobile forms technology can significantly streamline the child care licensing monitoring process by enabling licensing staff to complete inspections, document findings, and upload reports in real time – ensuring parents who are searching for care get the latest information. Instead of relying on paper checklists and manual data entry back at the office, inspectors can capture notes, photos, video, signatures, and compliance data directly at the site. Mobile solutions with offline data collection capability ensure that all data is captured and saved, even when no internet connection is available.
The use of mobile forms not only speeds up staff workflow but also reduces errors, improves data consistency, and shortens the time between inspection and follow-up on non-compliances. With built-in logic, mobile forms can also guide staff through risk-based or key indicator protocols, ensuring consistent application of monitoring frameworks while allowing more time for meaningful engagement with providers.
Provider Portals
Many states are modernizing their systems by creating user-friendly online licensing portals. These platforms allow providers to complete applications, upload documents, and check the status of their license. The most effective provider portals are integrated with the child care licensing management system that the state agency uses.
Child Care Licensing Management Solutions
Child care licensing management systems are comprehensive digital platforms that state agencies use to manage every stage of the provider licensing process—from initial application and background checks to inspections, renewals, and enforcement actions. These systems centralize provider data, automate workflows, and facilitate communication between agency staff and providers. Automated reminders for renewal deadlines and training requirements help providers stay in compliance without confusion or delay. By streamlining tasks such as document submission, scheduling, compliance tracking, and reporting, licensing management systems reduce administrative burden, improve data accuracy, and support timely decision-making.
Conclusion
In an environment of financial constraints, workforce shortages, and high demand for quality child care, states cannot afford to let outdated administrative processes stand in the way of progress. Licensing remains a cornerstone of child safety and program accountability—but how licensing is administered makes a critical difference.
By adopting innovations in monitoring strategies and digital data systems, states can make licensing more effective, less burdensome, and better aligned with the goals of quality and access. These changes help state staff focus where they are needed most, give providers clearer tools to stay in compliance, and ultimately support the sustainability of the child care sector. Smarter administration isn’t about doing less oversight—it is about doing oversight better.
Resources
How Can TCC Solutions Help Child Care Licensing Agencies?
Meet Ascend™ by TCC Solutions—the next-generation data system that is purpose-built for early childhood education and care (ECEC) agencies. Backed by decades of experience, Ascend is a modular, fully integrated platform that breaks down silos, streamlines operations, and powers data-driven decisions. It brings together everything agencies need in one secure, mobile-optimized system—from provider administration and licensing to professional development registries, quality improvement management, child care eligibility, enrollment and case management, and pre-K program administration.
Ascend is more than just a front-end portal for users. It includes robust, subject matter expert–informed back-end management functionality that equips state agencies to navigate the complex business processes required to manage the ECEC ecosystem. Front-end access for families, providers, caregivers and state partners is seamlessly connected to powerful back-end tools for agency staff—all within a single, unified system.
Our mobile inspection platform, eXpedite™, integrates seamlessly with Ascend, to give child care licensing agencies an efficient, accountable solution for licensing oversight and administration.