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NASHVILLE, Ga. (WALB) — Two child abuse arrests at two different daycares on the exact same street in Nashville, and a third facility voluntarily shut down in Valdosta in 2026. The recent string of childcare crises has transformed a universal parenting worry into a local reality.

As state investigators look into these facilities, Georgia parents are left asking a critical question: When you drop your child off tomorrow morning, how do you truly know they are safe?

The launch of DECAL FAST and the CALi chatbot

On July 9, the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) officially launched DECAL FAST (Family Access to Services & Tools), a portal designed to streamline how parents research and select early education providers.

The launch comes at a critical time as local childcare advocates push for more transparency and systemic changes across the state.

“We believe in full transparency,” said Laukik Patel, a local childcare provider. “Parents should know regardless of if it happened at our center or not. They have a right to know.”

The mobile-friendly portal streamlines how families research and select local early education providers by making inspection reports, licensing histories and formal complaint files searchable in seconds.

The portal’s centerpiece is CALi, an AI-powered chatbot designed to help parents self-navigate through state files on more than 4,000 licensed programs.

“We want to make sure it’s easy for families to access — to find what they need, whether it’s located near their office or near their home or on their route to work. And so, you can do that on our new family portal, but you can also find other resources,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy M. Jacobs.

Jacobs noted that families were directly involved in testing the portal to ensure it was intuitive and user-centered.

“We talked directly to families. They tested it for us and gave us feedback that we then incorporated... We will continue to get their feedback so we make sure the resources we have are accessible to them in the way they want to use our site,” she said.

Balancing tech solutions with classroom realities

While the state is boosting online transparency, childcare operators warn that digital tools are only half the battle. Many local facilities are struggling with severe staffing and retention issues, which they say directly impact classroom safety and supervision.

According to Patel, the expiration of federal COVID-19 stabilization grants left many local operators with an unsustainable budget gap.

“I truly believe stabilization grants inflated our industry,” Patel explained. “We’re seeing that it is really hard to survive, and so they are always going to try to survive on their balance sheet by cutting ratios or hiring not the best talent for childcare.”

Overcoming background check ‘hiccups’

Mixed with the hiring crisis were significant administrative delays in state-mandated background checks over the summer.

In June, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) informed DECAL about a new requirement for providers to receive background check determination letters for your employees. The new process requires that every program sign a form called the Georgia National Child Protection Act/Volunteers for Children Act (NCPA/VCA) Public Qualified Entity Certification Statement. This statement must be signed by both the owner and the director of the childcare entity, but the process could take up to 30 days. Because teachers cannot legally work in a classroom without a cleared background check, those delays kept fully qualified staff on the sidelines while centers remained short-staffed.

DECAL Commissioner Jacobs said the state has worked to eliminate those barriers, promising rapid turnarounds moving forward.

“We were able to work through those changes, and so there should be no issues with childcare provider programs running those background checks,” Jacobs said. “We usually turn those around within 24 or 48 hours, because we know—especially with school starting back—childcare programs are hiring right now trying to staff up for maybe more children coming back during the school year.”

On July 15, DECAL announced that childcare programs that received approved NCPA/VCA Certification Statements from the state are able to resume submitting background check applications. The GBI has extended the deadline requiring a GAP number and final GBI approval until November 15, 2026.

What comes next for parents and providers

Beyond the background checks, DECAL’s continuous monitoring and strict licensing oversight remain the state’s most active shield to protect your children.

“It’s less likely for you to have an incident at a licensed childcare center than an unlicensed. If you do see an unlicensed, ask them to be licensed,” Patel said.

Patel’s center was one of the first in the state to install live security cameras for parents to watch in every single classroom, a practice he believes should become law across Georgia.

He said, “It doesn’t matter if they are live-streamed to the parents or not, but I think every childcare center, at least for the state of Georgia, should have some sort of recording.”

Local providers and advocacy groups are currently taking these solutions to the Georgia General Assembly. They are pushing state lawmakers for:

1. Mandatory Classroom Camera Legislation: Creating a baseline recording standard for all licensed Georgia facilities.
2. State-Level Funding Alternatives: Establishing permanent state financial supports to replace expired federal grants, helping centers maintain safe student-to-staff ratios without compromising teacher pay.

Georgia’s newly updated database is active and free to use. You can search any local provider’s complete inspection and complaint history by visiting the new portal directly at families.decal.ga.gov.

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