Where the data comes from

Plain answers about every number you see here.

The source

Program information comes from NH Child Care Search, the public search run by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. We read it every week. The current data is from Nov 1, 2026 and covers all 717 licensed programs in the state. License-exempt programs and residential treatment programs are not included, and neither is a test record in the state’s list.

Programs supply and maintain some of this information themselves, and the state does not verify it. We show it as reported and label it that way. The state does not endorse Seedlist for Parents.

Each program and town page is built automatically from those records, the same way for every program, and rebuilt after each weekly refresh.

What each part means

Openings: The open spots a program reported to the state for each age group, with the date it last updated them. 487 of 717 programs have reported openings with a date. When a program never reported, we say “not reported”, not “full”. When a report is more than 60 days old, we show it with its date and say so. We count openings only for ages a program serves; a few programs report openings for ages their license doesn’t cover, and we note those on the program’s page. Openings change fast, so always call.
Prices: The rates a program shows on the state’s search (308 of 717 do; programs can choose to hide theirs). The state doesn’t say whether a price is full-time or part-time. Some programs list more than one schedule, such as before school, after school and full days, each with its own prices. Program pages show every schedule. Everywhere else, including typical prices, we use the price for each program’s longest schedule. Where we show a monthly price, it’s the monthly rate or the weekly rate converted to a month. “Typical” prices are the middle value of at least three listed prices. A price that is clearly a typo, like a yearly price in the monthly box or a few dollars for a full week, is left out and noted on the program’s page.
Ages served: The youngest and oldest ages come from the state’s licensing records and are shown exactly as listed. We list a program under an age group when its license covers that age and it takes children through most of that range: for infants, it takes babies under 12 months; for toddlers, children younger than 2½; for preschool, children by age 4. In New Hampshire, an infant/toddler program cares for children under 3, a group child care center for children 3 to 6, and a preschool program for children 3 and up for part of the day. If a program told the state’s search it serves only certain ages, we follow that unless its prices or reported openings show otherwise.
Availability status: What the program told the state, like “Accepting children” or “Accepting children on a wait list.”
Inspection visits: The visits New Hampshire’s Child Care Licensing Unit has posted for the last three years: yearly monitoring visits, license renewal visits, complaint investigations, and other visits, such as for a new license, a license change, or a follow-up. The numbers show how many reviewed areas were in compliance; “routine” means monitoring and renewal visits. Full reports, including corrective action plans, are on the state’s page for each program.
Granite Steps for Quality: New Hampshire’s voluntary quality recognition program, from Step 1 to Step 4. Taking part is optional, and a program must be licensed for at least a year and accept the NH Child Care Scholarship to join, so a program without a step isn’t necessarily lower quality.
National accreditation: The programs the state’s own search lists when you tick its “Accreditation” box.
Distances and maps: Program addresses are placed on the map using the free US Census Bureau geocoder. Home-based programs are always shown at an approximate spot (rounded to a grid about a kilometer across), and we never show their street address. Programs whose address couldn’t be matched are shown at the center of their town. Map tiles come from OpenFreeMap, with data from OpenStreetMap.

Reports from parents

Parents can share, anonymously and in a few taps, what a program told them: whether it has openings, the wait it quoted, any fee to join its list, and the price it quoted. From My list, they can also share how long they actually waited for an offer. We never ask for names, notes or contact details. Reports are labeled “What parents told us” and kept apart from the state’s information. They aren’t checked by the program or the state.

On a program’s page, we show a fee from one parent or more, and a full-time price once 2 or more parents report it, within a year, as one value or a range, with the number of parents and the months they shared. What parents were told about openings appears next to the program’s openings, by age, for 60 days after they shared it.
Waits are never shown for one program. Quoted waits and how long parents waited appear only for a whole town (and on our guides, for the state), once at least 5 parents across 3 programs have shared and no one program makes up more than 40% of the reports. We show how many parents were quoted each range (under 3 months, 3–5 months, 6–11 months, a year or more).
Figures are held back when reports disagree (fees or prices more than double apart, or different answers about openings), when a price rests on just two reports sent within a week of each other, or when one program gets a sudden burst of them. New figures are reviewed before they appear, in our weekly refresh.
A parent can update or remove what they shared from the same device at any time. Reports are deleted after about 13 months.
Beyond this site, we may publish or license totals built from these reports, combined so no one parent can be picked out. Never a single report.

What we don’t do

We don’t estimate or invent wait times for any program. Waits parents report appear only for whole towns.
We don’t rank programs or call any of them “best.”
We don’t take money from programs to change how they appear.

Download the data

The full list of 717 licensed programs is free to download as a spreadsheet (CSV), checked Nov 1, 2026. Use it for reporting, research or your own planning. It’s shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: credit “Seedlist for Parents, from NH Child Care Search”.

Download the spreadsheet (CSV)

Columns	What they hold
`name, kind, town, village, county, zip`	Who and where. Street addresses are included for centers only, never for home-based programs.
`phone, website`	How to reach the program. Email addresses are left out so the file can’t become a mailing list.
`capacity, age_groups, status`	Licensed capacity, the age groups served, and the status the program gives the state.
`takes_nh_scholarship, granite_steps, accredited`	Scholarship acceptance, Granite Steps for Quality level, and national accreditation.
`infant_monthly … school_age_monthly`	The price listed for the program’s longest schedule, as a monthly amount (weekly × 52 ÷ 12). The state doesn’t say whether a price is full-time.
`openings_infant … openings_reported_on`	Open spots the program reported, and the date it reported them.
`state_visits_listed, last_state_visit, license_expires`	State inspection visits posted for the last three years, and the license dates.
`seedlist_page, state_page, data_retrieved, page_last_changed`	Links to the program on Seedlist and on NH Child Care Search, and the dates.

Programs supply their own openings and prices, and the state doesn’t verify them. Many programs don’t list prices or update their openings, so a blank cell means “not reported”, not “none”.

Something wrong?

Programs can update their own details in the state’s NH Connections Information System. Changes show here after our next weekly refresh. Questions about licensing go to the NH Child Care Licensing Unit.

Connecticut

Connecticut’s pages come from two sources, read every week. The current data is from Nov 2, 2026.

The state’s licensing records, which the Office of Early Childhood publishes on data.ct.gov as public-domain open data, updated daily. They decide which programs are listed and give each one’s license, capacity, ages, hours, inspections and investigations.
211 Child Care, the state’s child care referral service, run by United Way of Connecticut. Programs list their prices there, by age, and the ages they take. 3,138 of 3,144 programs are on it, and 1,965 list prices.

Which programs: Every licensed child care center, group child care home and family child care home with a license in force. License-exempt programs and youth camps are left out, as in New Hampshire, and so is a suspended license.
Openings: Connecticut doesn’t publish openings. 211 Child Care marks nearly every listing as “accepting referrals,” which doesn’t say whether a program has room, so we don’t show it. Call to ask, and if you share what a program told you, it helps the next parent.
Prices: The full-time and part-time prices a program lists on 211 Child Care, by 211’s age bands: infant is under 18 months, toddler 18 to 35 months, and family homes list one price for 18 months to 5 years. 211 doesn’t say when a price was last changed. Typical prices use full-time prices only, and leave out a schedule that prices before and after school separately. A price that is clearly a typo is left out.
Ages served: For centers and group homes, the classes of care on the license (under 3, preschool, school age) and the state’s age range. For family homes, whose licenses cover all ages, the ages they list on 211 Child Care; when they list none, the page says to ask. As in New Hampshire, a program counts for infants only if it takes babies under 12 months.
Hours: From the program’s license record, with whether it’s open in summer, on weekends and at night. 211’s schedules appear only next to the prices they go with.
Inspections and investigations: Every inspection and investigation in the state’s records for the last three years, with the rules the state cited, in its own words, and the state’s outcome, quoted. We add no commentary. 211 Child Care shows the state’s full history.
Names and towns: The state lists names in capital letters. We use the program’s own spelling from 211 Child Care when it matches, and otherwise fix the capitals by careful rules. A program’s town is the town its address is in, from the Census, not its mailing town. Counties are Connecticut’s eight counties.
Home-based programs: Family and group child care homes are shown at an approximate spot, never their street address. 211 Child Care lists their addresses; we never use or publish them.

Download the Connecticut spreadsheet (CSV)

Shared under the same Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: credit “Seedlist for Parents, from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood and 211 Child Care”.

Columns	What they hold
`name, also_listed_as, kind, license_type, license_number`	The name on the license, and the name the program uses on 211 Child Care when it’s different.
`town, village, county, zip, address`	Where. Street addresses are included for centers only, never for family or group child care homes.
`phone, website`	How to reach the program. There are no emails.
`capacity, capacity_under_3, school_age_capacity, age_groups`	Licensed capacity (for family homes, regular plus school-age spots) and the age groups served.
`accredited`	National accreditation the program lists on 211 Child Care (NAEYC, NAFCC or NEASC).
`infant_monthly … school_age_monthly`	The full-time price listed on 211 Child Care, as a monthly amount (weekly × 52 ÷ 12). Infant is under 18 months, toddler 18 to 35 months.
`state_visits_listed, last_state_visit, investigations_listed`	State inspections and investigations in the last three years.
`first_licensed, license_expires`	When the state first licensed the program, and when the current license ends.
`seedlist_page, listing_211, data_retrieved, page_last_changed`	Links to the program on Seedlist and on 211 Child Care, and the dates.

Connecticut programs can update their prices, ages and schedules in their 211 Child Care listing, and their license details with the Office of Early Childhood. Changes show here after our next weekly refresh.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts’ pages come from the Department of Early Education and Care, which publishes two tables on the state’s Education-to-Career data hub, each updated monthly. We read them every week. The current list is from Oct 27, 2026.

Current licensed and funded programs, from the state’s licensing database. It decides which programs are listed and gives each one’s license type, capacity by age, whether it can take financial assistance, and Head Start.
Program tuition, the state’s median prices by region, age and kind of program, from Aug 1, 2026. The cost guide, town pages and overview show these figures, always as the state’s.

Which programs: Every licensed center (the state calls them group and school-age programs) and family child care home with a license in force. Public and private schools the state funds but doesn’t license are left out, as are expired licenses and family child care homes the state lists as inactive.
Openings, prices and inspections: Massachusetts doesn’t publish openings, single programs’ prices or inspection visits, so the site doesn’t show them. Call to ask, and if you share what a program told you, it helps the next parent.
Capacity and ages: Each center’s licensed spots in the state’s own age bands: infant is birth to 15 months, toddler 15 months to 2 years 9 months, preschool 2 years 9 months to kindergarten. The bands overlap, and rooms can be shared, so they can add up to more than the total. A program counts for an age group when it has spots in a band that covers it. The state gives no ages for family child care homes or for centers licensed for 10 or fewer children, so their pages say to ask, and searches by age include them.
Financial assistance: Whether the state lists a voucher agreement or contract for the program to serve children with Child Care Financial Assistance.
Names and towns: Family child care homes are listed under the educator’s name, surname first; pages show it first name first. A program’s town is the town its address is in, from the Census, not its mailing town (so Dorchester is in Boston). When the Census tool places an address in a different town and nothing backs that up, the mailing town stands. Counties are Massachusetts’ 14 counties.
Home-based programs: Family child care homes are shown at an approximate spot, never their street address. The state’s list includes their addresses and map points; we never publish them.

Download the Massachusetts spreadsheet (CSV)

Shared under the same Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license: credit “Seedlist for Parents, from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care”.

Columns	What they hold
`name, run_by, kind, license_type, program_number`	The program’s name, the organization that runs it (when it differs), and the state’s program number.
`town, village, county, zip, address`	Where. Street addresses are included for centers only, never for family child care homes.
`phone, website`	How to reach the program. There are no emails.
`capacity, capacity_by_age, age_groups`	Licensed capacity, the spots in each of the state’s age bands (which overlap), and the age groups they cover. Family child care homes have no ages in the state’s list.
`takes_ccfa, head_start, early_head_start`	Whether the program has an agreement with the state to take Child Care Financial Assistance, and whether it takes part in Head Start or Early Head Start.
`first_licensed`	When the state first licensed the program.
`seedlist_page, data_retrieved, page_last_changed`	The program on Seedlist, and the dates.

Massachusetts programs keep their details current with the Department of Early Education and Care, which publishes its list at the start of each month. Changes show here after our next refresh.

Vermont

Vermont’s pages come from the Vermont Child Care Provider Data list that the Department for Children and Families’ Child Development Division publishes on the state’s open data portal, from its Bright Futures Information System. It lists every program in business at the end of the month and is updated monthly. We read it every week. The current copy is from Oct 29, 2026.

Which programs: Every program on the state’s list: centers and preschools, afterschool programs, short-term (non-recurring) programs, and licensed and registered family child care homes.
Openings: The open spots by age each program last reported to the state, with the date it reported them (1,008 of 1,059 programs have a date). Some reports are recent and some are months or years old, so every page shows the date, and town pages count only openings reported in the last 60 days. The state’s notes say the numbers come from programs with a referral agreement, as of the agreement’s last update.
Capacity and ages: Each program’s licensed spots in the state’s age bands, from its licensing rules: infant is 6 weeks through 12 months, toddler 13 through 35 months, preschool 3 years until school age, and school age 5 and older in kindergarten or above. The state lists every registered family child care home with the same split (2, 2, 2 and 4), so those pages say to ask which ages the home takes.
Prices and inspections: Vermont doesn’t publish single programs’ prices. Its inspection and regulatory history is on Bright Futures, the state’s own search, which isn’t open data and which we don’t read; program pages point to it. Some centers’ own websites list prices, and we show those with the date we read them.
STARS, pre-K and hours: The STARS level (1 to 5), national accreditation, prequalification for publicly funded pre-K under Act 166, approval for specialized child care, and the usual hours, all as the state lists them.
Names and towns: Family child care homes listed under the provider’s name, surname first, show first name first. A program’s town is the town its address is in, from the Census, checked against the state’s own map point; Barre, Newport, Rutland and St. Albans each have a city and a town, shown as “Barre City” and “Barre Town”.
Home-based programs and emails: Family child care homes are shown at an approximate spot, never their street address. The state’s list includes their addresses, map points and every program’s email; we never publish them.

Download the Vermont spreadsheet (CSV)

Vermont’s list is shared under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0, so our Vermont spreadsheet is too: you may share and adapt it if you credit “Seedlist for Parents, from Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division” and share what you make from it under the same license. Every row carries its source and license.

Columns	What they hold
`name, kind, program_type, license_number`	The program’s name (family child care homes first name first), center or home, the state’s program type, and its license number.
`town, village, county, zip, address`	Where. Street addresses are included for centers only, never for family child care homes.
`phone, website`	How to reach the program. Emails are left out.
`capacity, capacity_by_age, age_groups`	Licensed capacity, the spots in each of the state’s age bands, and the age groups they cover.
`stars, accredited`	The program’s STARS level (1 to 5) and national accreditation, as the state lists them.
`openings_infant … openings_reported_on`	The open spots by age the program last reported to the state, and the date it reported them.
`usual_open, usual_close, special_schedule`	The usual hours the program reported, and its schedule when it isn’t year-round (school year only, summer only, in-service days).
`prequalified_prek, specialized_care, license_start, license_end`	Pre-K prequalification under Act 166 (public school or privately operated), approval for specialized child care, and the current license’s dates.
`seedlist_page, data_retrieved, page_last_changed, source, license`	The program on Seedlist, the dates, and on every row the state’s dataset and the license it’s shared under.

Vermont programs keep their details current with the Child Development Division, which publishes its list monthly. Changes show here after our next refresh.