Utah's Care About Childcare, explained.

Care About Childcare is Utah's voluntary quality improvement and provider-referral system, offering ratings, training, and supports to participating programs while helping families search for care. Because it is voluntary, not every licensed Utah program takes part — so a program that does not participate is not automatically weaker.

If you are comparing daycares in Utah and you run into Care About Childcare, this guide explains what it is, who licenses programs, how to confirm a program's standing, and how it connects to cost and subsidy. The aim is to help you treat any rating as one input, not the whole decision. Care About Childcare is run by the Utah Office of Child Care within the Department of Workforce Services (DWS), inside the broader structure the federal Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Child Care sets for every state's quality system.

What is Care About Childcare?

Care About Childcare is Utah's voluntary quality improvement and provider-referral system, run by the Utah Office of Child Care within the Department of Workforce Services (DWS), per the State of Utah and the federal ACF Office of Child Care. It offers quality ratings, professional development, and supports to participating programs, and it helps families search for care. Participation is optional, so a program can hold a current license without taking part.

A quality system does two jobs at once. It signals quality so families have a common reference, and it improves programs by pairing participation with training, coaching, and resources. Utah delivers Care About Childcare through regional agencies, with support from the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administered by the ACF Office of Child Care.

Who runs and licenses daycare in Utah?

Two different agencies share the work in Utah. Licensing is the mandatory floor: the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), through Child Care Licensing, licenses and regulates programs. The voluntary quality layer sits separately: the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) runs Care About Childcare. The table below separates the labels you will run into while you compare programs.

Because Care About Childcare is voluntary, you will see participation and ratings on some Utah programs and not others — so confirm the current Child Care Licensing status and any compliance history first, then read the rating as a bonus signal where it exists.

How do I check a Utah daycare's quality rating or license?

Start with the license: confirm the program's status with Utah Department of Health and Human Services Child Care Licensing and review any compliance history. Then look at its Care About Childcare participation and rating. Treat any rating as one verified data point alongside your own visit, because a rating can lag what a classroom is actually like by a year or more.

1. Confirm the license. Check the program's license status and recent compliance history with Utah Department of Health and Human Services Child Care Licensing.
2. Ask about Care About Childcare. Ask whether the program participates, what rating it holds, and what it is doing to maintain or raise it.
3. Tour anyway. A rating cannot tell you whether this teacher, on a Friday morning, is warm and attentive. Visit, watch a drop-off, and ask about staff turnover.

How does Care About Childcare affect cost and subsidy?

Care About Childcare does not set tuition, which each program decides on its own. In Utah, the Office of Child Care within the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) administers the Child Care Assistance subsidy that helps eligible families pay, and supports program quality through Care About Childcare, a structure the ACF Office of Child Care encourages under the federal Child Care and Development Fund. For national context, ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report put center-based care at roughly $8,000 to $24,000 per year depending on age and state.

For Utah-specific figures, see our daycare cost guide and estimate your own with the cost calculator. If you may qualify for help paying, the Child Care Assistance program through the Utah Office of Child Care (DWS) is the place to start.

Common questions

Where to go next

For the full picture in your state, see the Utah daycare guide, which covers licensing, subsidy, and pre-K. Our daycare quality and safety pillar explains accreditation, ratios, and what to look for on a tour.

Comparing how other states rate quality? Read our explainers on Colorado Shines, Nevada's Silver State Stars, and IdahoSTARS Steps to Quality.