Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) invites eligible child care programs to participate in Quality Rated, Georgia’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system. Quality Rated is an exciting, innovative effort to enhance the quality of services child care programs provide to children and families in their communities and to provide information to help families make informed decisions about their child care needs.
Quality Rated is a systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education programs. Similar to rating systems for other service-related industries, quality ratings will be awarded to programs that meet defined program standards that go beyond Georgia’s minimum licensing requirements.
During 2012, DECAL will study the Quality Rated process, analyze the rating system, and listen to participants’ feedback. A participating program’s quality rating will NOT be publicized during the first 12-18 months of Quality Rated. If a child care program participates in Quality Rated in 2012, the program will receive support services, will learn about the various components of its quality rating, and will provide valuable feedback to DECAL. DECAL plans to further support programs participating in Quality Rated by implementing tiered reimbursement in 2013 when quality ratings are published.
Statistics for programs currently participating in Quality Rated as of
5/19/2013:
- Total # of Programs:
1257
- Total Child Care Centers:
901
- Total Family Day Care Home Programs:
317
- Total Group Day Care Home Programs:
39
- Total # of children enrolled in participating programs:
90,053
- Total # of individuals signed up for Quality Rated Orientation:
1514
For answers to questions about Quality Rated, email the Quality Rated Help Desk at QualityRated@decal.ga.gov or call 1-855-800-7747.
To register for Quality Rated orientation sessions sponsored by your local child care resource and referral agency log on to Quality Rated Orientation.