Type A vs. Type B citations
California sorts licensing violations into two categories. The difference is severity, not subject matter. The same issue can be cited either way depending on the risk an inspector observed.
| Category | What it means | Typical violations |
|---|
| Type A | An immediate risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of a child in care. | Inadequate supervision, physical discipline, unsafe sleeping conditions, failure to report suspected abuse. |
| Type B | Less severe. Administrative or procedural, with no immediate threat. | Incomplete staff files, missing posted notices, recordkeeping and paperwork gaps. |
How complaints are recorded
When someone files a complaint against a facility, CCLD investigates and decides whether each allegation is substantiated, inconclusive, or unsubstantiated. All three outcomes stay on the public record, and all three are counted here.
A single unsubstantiated complaint tells you very little on its own. A pattern of complaints, or a substantiated allegation paired with a Type A citation, is worth asking the facility about directly.
Where this data comes from
Every record here comes from the CCLD Care Facility Search portal maintained by the California Department of Social Services. The current snapshot is dated Sep 15, 2026. Because inspection reports are amended and appealed, the state’s own record is always authoritative. The “View on CCLD” link on each facility goes straight to it.
This lookup covers Southern California. Facilities that have closed remain listed, since their history is often what someone is looking for.
CCLD publishes a rolling window of inspection reports, and the dated records available here begin in 2021. A facility showing nothing on record has nothing in that window, which is not the same as never having been cited. Where the state publishes a citation without a date we say so rather than leaving it out.
If something happened at your child’s daycare
These cover the situations parents most often ask us about, and what California law says about each.
If your child was injured at a childcare facility, our UCLA-trained daycare injury attorneys handle these cases across Southern California. Pay absolutely nothing unless you win.
Questions
My child's daycare shows a Type A citation. Should I pull them out?
Not automatically. A citation is a snapshot of one visit, sometimes years old, and most are corrected within weeks. Open the full inspection report on the CCLD site, see what the violation actually was and whether it was cleared, then raise it with the director. If your child was injured at the facility, that is a separate question and worth talking to an attorney about.
I can't find a facility I know exists.
Try searching by zip code instead of name. Many facilities are licensed under an owner’s name rather than the name on the door. This lookup also covers Southern California only, and some programs are license-exempt, including certain nanny shares, parent co-ops, and programs run by public schools.
Can I get the underlying inspection reports?
Yes, they are public. The "View on CCLD" link on each facility opens the state record, where the full narrative reports are attached. We do not host copies, because the state’s versions get amended.
How current is this data?
This tool uses publicly available data from the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division. The snapshot date is shown at the top of the page. Because the state amends and reissues reports, the CCLD record is always authoritative.
