Youth Services

The Guide on Finding Child Care for California Service Members

As parents, you want to make good decisions for your child and family.  Choosing a program for your child is one of the most important and difficult decisions you will ever make.  

Evaluating Your Options

When doing your research, it is highly recommended that you visit at least three programs for 30 minutes or more.   

  • Listen:
    • Make sure the environment is cheerful and not too quiet, as this may indicate that the children are not involved in developmental activities.
  • Count:
    • The number of children and number of staff providing care for them. To ensure you have the best physical supervision for your child. California childcare staffing ratios vary by age group, with infants having a 1:3 adult-to-child ratio, toddlers a 1:4 ratio, and preschoolers a 1:8 ratio. For children in kindergarten or older, the ratio is 1:14.
  • Ask:
    • Adults who care should be knowledgeable and experienced about all the staff who will have contact with your child, whether at home or at a childcare facility.

Resources

  • CA Department of Social Services Resources for Parents: Provides information for parents/caregivers about different child-care settings (licensed family homes, child-care centers, or family/friend care) so you can compare and choose what works best for your family.
  • CA Subsidized Alt Payment Programs: These AP providers help families access subsidized child-care voucher programs and work with local resource & referral networks to support child-care funding..
  • CA Department of Social Services Care Facility Search: Search for licensed childcare centers, adult care homes, senior care communities, and other state-regulated facilities by name, location, or license number.
  • CA Head Start: Resources ensures families can locate nearby federally-funded early childhood education programs serving children from birth to age 5, often free or low cost for eligible families.
  • National Association for the Education of Young Children: Provide a searchable directory of programs that are accredited by NAEYC so families can check whether a program meets nationally recognized “gold‐standard” quality benchmarks.
  • California Alliance of Boys & Girls Club: Help strengthen relationships between Clubs and public/private agencies, and distribute funding among their member Clubs to improve youth programming.
  • Red Cross Northern CA Locations: Gives families a way to identify which local office to contact for emergency response, shelters, training (e.g., CPR), and preparedness resources.
  • Red Cross Southern CA Locations: Gives families a way to identify which local office to contact for emergency response, shelters, training (e.g., CPR), and preparedness resources.
  • Childcare Aware of America CA Resources: Helps families find and choose quality child care through guidance on types of care, quality indicators, safety/regulations, cost, and subsidy info, and a CCR&R locator plus a helpline (1-800-424-2246). It also administers military child care fee assistance (e.g., Army/Air Force/Navy/USMC programs under MCCYN) when on-base care isn’t available, helping eligible families lower out-of-pocket costs.
  • Childcare Aware DoW Employees: It is a fee-assistance program funded by the U.S. Department of War (DoW) and the U.S. Coast Guard for eligible military families who cannot use on-installation child care because of wait-lists or no available facilities nearby.
  • Military Child Care: The page outlines fee assistance programs for families in the United States Department of War (DoW) when child care is unavailable or inaccessible on installation.