Kids don’t come with instructions.  How do parents find quality, affordable child care for their children?  Hays has a variety of private and center-based child care options for parents.

Parents can get a complete list of licensed child care centers by contacting the Child Care Referral Hotline at:  877-678-2548877-678-2548.  The hotline will supply not only a list of available providers, but the ages they serve and current openings they may have.  You can also access the list online.

More information on child care (for families and providers) can be found at the Kansas Child Care Aware website or by calling 785-625-3257785-625-3257.

In 2010 the Kansas Legislature passed significant changes to the Child Care Act.  Known collectively as Lexie’s Law, the changes increased health and safety protections for children in child care settings and provided an additional resource to help Kansas families make more informed decisions when selecting child care.  Lexie’s Law directed the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to develop an online information dissemination system.   This public access system contains the names of licensees and applicants as well as recent compliance history.  To access the portal visit this link. and click on “Search for Child Care Facility Compliance Information“