How do I determine the quality of a child care facility?

Reaching for the Stars created four levels of child care programs: one star, one star plus, two star and three star. Each higher star level means that additional quality criteria were met.

How do I find a quality child care program in my city?

To locate child care in your area you can:

• Use the Child Care Locator;
• Call your regional Child Care Resource and Referral Agency (Link opens in new window) or your local county Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) office for names of licensed child care homes and centers in your area;
• Call programs that best meet your needs, find out if they have an opening for your child and schedule a visit to see the child care program and to meet the caregiver;
• Visit the child care program and take your checklist of things to look for when you visit a child care facility and talk with the caregiver that will be caring for your child; and
• Call the OKDHS Licensing Services office and schedule a time to read the records on the child care providers you choose, or ask for a summary of those records.

How do I view case files of licensed facilities?

The case files of child care centers and family child care homes are open to the public. Appointments can be made to view these files in the county OKDHS Licensing Services office. A Child Care Licensing specialist will be available to discuss the file with you and answer any questions you may have about the contents of a file.

How do I get a taxpayer ID for a provider who is no longer in business?

OKDHS can not give out this information. The Internal Revenue Service or IRS requires every Child Care provider to give their taxpayer identification information to any parent or guardian so that they may be able to claim Child and Dependent Care Credit on their return. The parent or guardian must try to get this information from the Child Care provider.  For more information, go to the IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq7-1.html (Link opens in new window)

My babysitter refused to provide me with her social security number. Can I still claim what I paid for child care on my taxes while I worked? If so, how?

Yes, assuming already meet the other requirements to claim the child care credit, but are missing the required ID number of the provider, you can still claim the credit by demonstrating "due diligence" in attempting to secure the needed information.

When the care provider refuses to give the identifying information, the taxpayer can still claim the credit and is instructed to provide whatever information is available about the provider (such as name and address) on the form used to claim the credit Form 2441 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses, or Form 1040A, Schedule 2 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses for Form 1040A Filers).

The taxpayer should write "see page 2" in the columns calling for the missing information. He/she would write at the bottom of page 2 that the provider refused to give the requested information. This statement will show that the taxpayer used due diligence in trying to secure and furnish the necessary information.

How do I file a complaint against a licensed child care facility?

It is your responsibility to discuss with your child’s caregiver any concerns that you have. If your specific concern involves non-compliance with licensing requirements, you may file a complaint with the Child Care Licensing Specialist for your county. Upon receiving your request, you will receive a follow-up contact after the investigation has been completed.