Find a Daycare or Child Care Provider In San Diego County for Free

Free Enhanced Referrals - Search for Child Care Online

The YMCA's Childcare Resource Service has been helping parents find trusted day-cares and licensed child care providers throughout San Diego County for over 40 years — including non-YMCA child care centers, family child care homes, nanny agencies, and license-exempt school-based programs.

Thanks to being a state-funded child care referral agency (one of the first in California), we provide this service at no cost, and our database of licensed care providers must meet tough California state requirements.

As a non-profit, we truly care about the parents who use our service, and our only mission is to support our community. We’re here to get you started and help you find a secure, safe and nurturing environment for your child.


Free Enhanced Child Care Referrals

Our child care consultants are ready to help you find the best solution for you and your family in San Diego County. Our consultants will explain our child care referral policy and provide you with useful tips on choosing quality child care, and review your child care options. 

You can choose to either browse through our online referral database or use our enhanced referral system where our team does the heavy lifting in the search process.

Here is how enhanced referrals works:

  1. Connect with one of our referral advisors to fill out a simple questionnaire. This helps us identify what needs you have regarding child care, such as location preference, child care type, and if you need infant care.
  2. The referral advisor will pull a list of available programs based on your criteria and will connect with each provider to see if it will be a good fit for your family.
  3. The referral advisor will then give you a refined list of providers and walk you through resources to choose a quality program.

To get started, call us: 1-800-481-2151 
Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM 

To receive more information, please download and fill out the referral request form here.

Search for Child Care Online for Free

Looking for a specific child care program? Contact us at [email protected] or call us at 1-800-481-2151.

Note: We recommend Chrome or Firefox for best results. Otherwise the Online Referral Module may provide poor or zero results. 

 

The YMCA of San Diego County is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Tax ID: #95-2039198


Ensuring Your Child’s Safety

The majority of child care centers and all family child care homes are licensed by the California Department of Social Services (DSS) Community Care Licensing division (CCL) to ensure that minimum health and safety standards are met.

As a parent or guardian, you have the right and responsibility to review a potential child care provider’s public record to obtain information on substantiated or inconclusive complaints and violations before placing your child in their care.

Make an appointment to review the child care provider’s record at Community Care Licensing: 7575 Metropolitan Dr. #110, San Diego, 92108. Call us at 1-619-767-2200.

To review provider’s public record files over the telephone or to file a complaint, call 1-844-538-8766 or 1-844-LET-US-NO.

Call the referral line at 1-800-481-2151 to speak with a child care consultant about your child care options.

View our resource guide containing the tools to make the best choice in choosing quality early care and education:

English Resource Guide


Guía de recursos en español