New data dashboard helps public see quality and progress of NC’s Early Care and Learning Network

RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today launched its first online data dashboard visualizing information and trends about the statewide early care and learning network. The new NC Early Care and Learning Dashboard is interactive and accessible to the public in English. Users can view and download data from 2018 to 2021, and all information can be sorted by a facility’s star rating, by the type of child care provider or by county. 

“As part of our deep commitment to continuous improvement, we are proud to take this major step forward in providing communities more information and greater transparency around the progress and quality of our early care and learning network,” said Ariel Ford, Director of the Division of Child Development and Early Education. “While we regularly collect and monitor network data, it is our hope that making this powerful tool more accessible to the public will further enable equitable decision-making in every community and at the state level.” 

The early care and learning data dashboard is organized in three sections:

• NC Early Care and Learning: Users can access general information about number of sites (both child care centers and child care homes), child enrollment and number of staff employed.
• NC Pre-K: Users can access information about the total number of children enrolled in the NC Pre-K program.
• Subsidized Child Care Assistance: Users can access information about child care sites that are part of the Subsidized Child Care Assistance program, including total amounts, number of children served and number of participating providers.

The Division of Child Development and Early Education at NCDHHS collects data from several sources and partners to monitor child care and early learning in North Carolina. A complete list of the data sources that drive the dashboards can be found at https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Home/Data/Dashboards/Data-Behind-the-Dashboard.

For more information and to use the NCDHHS early care and learning data dashboard, visit https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Home/Data/Dashboards/NC-Early-Care-and-Learning