Safety & records · Missouri
Reading a daycare's record in Missouri
Missouri publishes inspection records through Show Me Child Care Provider Search (DESE Office of Childhood). This page walks you to the record, decodes its vocabulary from the state's own definitions, and states what the archive cannot tell you. We never name, rate, or score a center.
First, the money
Records are half the decision. The other half is whether you can get help paying — run the free check for Missouri before you fall in love with a center you cannot fund.
The portal
Show Me Child Care Provider Search (DESE Office of Childhood)
Inspection results, special supervision, and substantiated complaints (after supervisor approval). Each report shows the violation, the Licensing Rule Reference, Correction Required, Correction Verification, Compliance Date, and disciplinary actions.
What this portal does not show
Unsubstantiated or unproven complaints do not appear on a Child Care Licensing Report, and DESE notes the records may not reflect a provider's complete compliance history.
How Missouri grades what it finds
Citations by 5 CSR 25 licensing rules; narrative, no severity classes — and no grade or rating is printed on the report itself.
Words like these are decoded, term by term, in the records decoder — always from the state's own published definitions, and always with the correction status given the same weight as the finding.
If you need to report something
DESE complaint form or 573-751-4212; abuse and neglect to 1-800-392-3738.
Read any record in this order
- The license status first — active, conditional, or under action.
- The findings, newest to oldest, watching for the same rule cited twice.
- The correction status on each finding — corrected, corrected on site, plan accepted, or still open. It carries the same weight as the finding.
- The blind spots above: what this archive structurally cannot show you.
Portal facts checked October 2026. Only the state agency's record is the record — this page is a map to it, not a copy of it.