​Pennsylvania Child Care Serious Injury & Child Fatality Report

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 requires states to make results of monitoring and inspection reports, as well as the number of deaths and serious injuries that occur in child care settings each year. Information is posted for every certified child care facility related to licensing visits and information regarding the program's participation in Pennsylvania's quality rating and improvement system, Keystone STARS.

NOTE: OCDEL makes aggregate serious injury and child fatality information available to parents and other stakeholders on a monthly and annual basis.

Number of Child Deaths

Number of Serious Injuries Reported

Notes: 

1. Effective July 1, 2018, OCDEL began to utilize the definition of "serious bodily injury" as prescribed in the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL): "Bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of function of any bodily member or organ (definition of an indicated report)."
   
2. For Child Death or Serious Injury to be included in the report, OCDEL Certification staff verified that the event was caused by a health and safety violation.
   
3. Annual Child Protective Services Report — The CPSL requires the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) to annually report to the governor and General Assembly on child abuse in the Commonwealth. The report provides information on the efforts to protect and help children who were reported as victims of suspected abuse and neglect. The report is published annually in the spring of the following year. Licensed child care providers are included in the report as part of the aggregated child care services total. Beginning in 2021, child care statistics were included by license type.