Serious Injuries, Deaths, and Maltreatment in Child Care
The federal government requires states to make information available concerning the aggregate number of deaths, serious injuries and instances of child maltreatment that occur in child care settings each year. In Minnesota, there are four child care provider types for which this data will be reported: licensed child care centers, licensed family child care programs, certified child care centers, and legal nonlicensed providers that participate in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
The following information includes the aggregate number of deaths, serious injuries, and instances of maltreatment that occurred in different child care settings by calendar year.
Deaths
The death of a child in care must be reported by the provider to the Department of Human Services, the county, or the local CCAP agency.
| Licensed child care centers | Licensed family child care programs | Certified child care centers |
Legal nonlicensed providers | |
| 2020 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Maltreatment
Minnesota law statute 260E recognizes the following types of maltreatment: neglect, abuse, sexual abuse, mental injury, emotional harm, medical neglect, and threatened injury. When a finding of maltreatment is made, it means that allegations of maltreatment were reported, the allegations were investigated, and it was determined through the investigation that an act did occur that meets the definition of maltreatment.
| Licensed child care centers | Licensed family child care programs | Certified child care centers |
Legal nonlicensed providers | |
| 2020 | 31 | 50 | 5 | 0 |
| 2021 | 66 | 45 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 51 | 50 | 4 | 1 |
| 2023 | 75 | 43 | 3 | 0 |
Serious Injuries
| Licensed child care centers | Licensed family child care programs | Certified child care centers |
Legal nonlicensed providers | |
| 2020 | 538 | 215 | 187 | 0 |
| 2021 | 664 | 225 | 229 | 0 |
| 2022 | 658 | 182 | 253 | 0 |
| 2023 | 717 | 110 | 296 | 1 |
About Licensed Child Care Centers
In 2023, there were 1,785 licensed child care centers located throughout the state of Minnesota. These licensed centers had the capacity to serve 149,612 children. For more information, visit Health and Safety in Licensed & Certified Child Care Programs or the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ webpage.
About Licensed Family Child Care
In 2023, there were 6,026 licensed family child care programs located in Minnesota. These licensed family child care programs had the capacity to serve 71,184 children. For more information, visit Health and Safety in Licensed and Certified Child Care Programs or the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ webpage.
About Certified Child Care Centers
In 2023, there were 556 license-exempt child care centers that participated in CCAP located in Minnesota. For more information, visit Health and Safety in Licensed and Certified Child Care Programs or the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ webpage.
License-exempt child care centers must become certified to serve families receiving child care assistance. DHS certifies and monitors certified license-exempt programs (often called certified centers).
About Legal Nonlicensed Care
In 2023, there were 152 legal nonlicensed providers who participated in CCAP in Minnesota. For more information, visit Types of Care and Education.