On August 4th, Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) Secretary Eloise Anderson announced DCF’s statewide campaign to raise awareness among working parents about YoungStar, the state’s childcare quality rating and improvement system.
YoungStar is a program DCF created to improve the quality of childcare for Wisconsin children. YoungStar:
- Evaluates and rates the quality of care given by child care providers;
- Helps parents choose the best child care for their kids;
- Supports providers with tools and training to deliver high-quality early care; and
- Sets a consistent standard for child care quality.
The new YoungStar website will allow Wisconsin parents to easily access information about childcare providers and make informed choices about childcare for their children. Parents can now search for childcare providers by location, name, type (family, group, or camp), or YoungStar quality rating level. They can also can also view providers’ ratings, health and safety issues, and accreditations.
YoungStar rates childcare providers based on quality indicators in the following categories: provider’s level of education/qualifications, learning environment and curriculum, professional practices (business practices, staff benefits, parent/family involvement), and health and wellness. Providers participating in YoungStar will be evaluated annually and given a star rating from 1 to 5 stars (with 5 stars being the highest rating). All childcare providers who receive Wisconsin Shares childcare subsidy must participate in the YoungStar program.
