Results of the audit come as child-care centers in Rhode Island and across the country have faced severe strain. With significant demand for limited seats, parents face high tuition costs, but the cost of operating an infant or toddler room can also be unsustainable for providers.
In Rhode Island, the Department of Human Services licenses different kinds of care of children, including child care centers, or center-based day programs caring for larger groups of children (in 2024: 416 centers with 31,744 seats); family child care homes, or care provided by an individual in their home for eight or fewer children (in 2024: 385 centers, 2,830 seats); and group family child care homes, or care provided by an individual provider with assistants, within their home, serving eight to 12 children (in 2024: 11 homes, 118 seats).
Completed between July 2022 and February 2025, the audit sampled 50 random providers of child care centers and family child care homes.
The audit found 64 percent of providers reviewed – or 32 of those sampled – had “significant noncompliance” with facility health and safety requirements.
Those include fire, lead, and radon inspections; having accessible toilet and diaper facilities; having safe and protected outdoor play areas; having durable and well-maintained furniture; and having facilities “free of toxic substances and dangerous equipment accessible by children, rodent or insect infestations, and uncovered garbage receptacles,” according to the report.
The audit ultimately found 232 instances of noncompliance with provider facility health and safety requirements. The review also discovered 920 instances of noncompliance with documentation requirements for providers and staff, with “deficiencies” noted for 320 out of the 464 staff members in the audit.
Twenty six of the 50 providers reviewed were noncompliant with background check requirements, and necessary documentation was “lacking” for 72 of the 464 staffers reviewed, the report states.
Additionally, officials found 43 of the 50 providers reviewed were noncompliant with child record documentation requirements for 174 out of the 622 children cared for at the facilities.
Although the state Department of Human Services conducted required desk audits and site visits to all of the providers reviewed, “these procedures did not adequately ensure provider compliance.”
“These instances of potentially hazardous conditions and noncompliance indicate that additional measures need to be taken to ensure that providers comply with mandated health and safety requirements,” the report concluded.
Additionally, the report noted the review found Rhode Island is not among the 20 states that have regulations or a law restricting sex offenders from living near a child care provider.
While there is a state law that prohibits sex offenders from residing within 300 feet of a school and “where children congregate,” child care facilities are not covered under the statute, the report states.
Auditors used the state’s Sex Offender Register to identify 59 instances in which “the addresses of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders were found living 300 feet or less from Rhode Island child care providers.”
“Included in this number were offenders convicted of rape and abuse of a child, first and second degree child molestation, and possession of child pornography,” the report states, noting that addresses in the register are self reported, and therefore, may be inaccurate or out of date,” the report states.
The report recommends officials should consider broadening the sex offender residency restrictions.
The report makes several other recommendations to the Department of Human Services’ Office of Child Care, including improvements for monitoring for compliance with health and safety requirements, staff documentation requirements, employee background checks, and child record documentation requirements.
The Department of Human Services responded to each of the recommendations in the report, noting that “correcting high-risk, non-compliances on-site is of the utmost importance.”
Instances of non-compliance with health and safety requirements at family child care centers – or facilities that care for up to 12 children in a residential building – were immediately addressed, as an agency official was present when auditors conducted their visits, the report states.
“Child care licensing takes non-compliances very seriously, but depending on risk-level are not always able to immediately address,” the department responded. “As an example, if children’s files don’t have immunization records, it’s considered a non-compliance, but the provider has time to rectify the situation and/or put in place a stronger policy to ensure that parents provide what [is] required.”
The agency said it also launched a workforce registry for all early childhood staff in February 2024 and a new licensing system was launched the following year. All child care staff will be required to participate in the registry by the end of this year, officials said.
“This will allow DHS staff to review all staff files at any point remotely,” the report states.
The department said it also appreciates the report’s findings about sex offender residences “and will work to include language in statute similar to other states.”
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
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