Key findings
- 71.6% of citations with a class available are Class 3 vs. 1.0% Class 1
The vast majority of citations are from less serious findings: 25,245 Class 3 citations vs. 369 Class 1 citations out of 35,272.
- Class 1 and Class 2 account for 58.6% of citations from complaint inspections vs. 21.8% from routine inspections
Complaint inspections result in more Class 1 citations: 1,740/2,968 citations from complaint inspections vs. 3,501/16,077 from routine inspections.
- Class 1 or Class 2 are 46.7% of citations in family day care homes vs. 27.0% in daycare centers
Licensed family homes have a higher rate of more serious citations: 978/2,093 citations in family daycare homes vs 8,802/32,626 in centers.
- Class 3 is 71.4% of citations with a class in Miami-Dade County vs. 51.8% in Pinellas
Rate of citation severity classes varies per county and city. Data for all 67 counties and 20 cities with the most citations is in the article below.
7/10 citations with a class are Class 3 (least serious)
Of 35,272 citations with a class, 25,245 are Class 3, or 71.6%. Class 2 accounts for 9,658 (27.4%), and Class 1 for 369 (1.0%).
The most-cited Class 3 categories are training requirements (4,057 citations) and immunization records (1,621).
Class 3 top categories also include outdoor equipment citations (818), fire drills and emergency preparedness (736), and outdoor play area and fencing (728). Fire drills and emergency preparedness is also the most-cited Class 2 item.
These shares cover only citations with a class. Another 19,739 citations (29.1% of all 67,724) have no class recorded, and 12,713 (18.8%) carry a different label, such as "Class 3 - Technical Support." Both groups are left out of the percentages.
Find your county or city
Polk County has the most citations, 10,063, and 7,315 have a class assigned. Class 3 is 79.8% of those, vs. 67.7% in Duval County (2,021 of 2,744 citations have a class). Miami-Dade County, at 71.4%, is close to the statewide 71.6%.
A county figure covers every provider type and inspection type in the county.
Five counties license childcare locally: Broward, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota (marked † below). In Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota, 70.8%, 76.5% and 90.5% of citations carry a label other than Class 1, 2 or 3, leaving 501, 338 and 3 citations with a class. Local boards can use different citation practices and classification formats, so their shares may not compare directly with the other 62 counties.
Table 2. Citations by class in all 67 Florida counties, in alphabetical order, with the statewide row first. Class shares are percentages of citations with a class.
| County | Citations | With a class | Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 67,724 | 35,272 | 1.0% | 27.4% | 71.6% |
| Alachua | 289 | 229 | 0.9% | 32.8% | 66.4% |
| Baker | 44 | 31 | 0.0% | 32.3% | 67.7% |
| Bay | 496 | 364 | 0.3% | 25.5% | 74.2% |
| Bradford | 28 | 8 | 0.0% | 25.0% | 75.0% |
| Brevard | 830 | 481 | 4.0% | 28.9% | 67.2% |
| Broward † | 4,150 | 2,028 | 6.5% | 47.9% | 45.6% |
| Calhoun | 12 | 5 | 20.0% | 20.0% | 60.0% |
| Charlotte | 190 | 101 | 1.0% | 26.7% | 72.3% |
| Citrus | 233 | 144 | 0.7% | 29.2% | 70.1% |
| Clay | 288 | 192 | 1.6% | 33.9% | 64.6% |
| Collier | 425 | 290 | 0.7% | 38.6% | 60.7% |
| Columbia | 93 | 69 | 1.4% | 29.0% | 69.6% |
| DeSoto | 23 | 18 | 0.0% | 38.9% | 61.1% |
| Dixie | 2 | 2 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| Duval | 2,744 | 2,021 | 1.3% | 30.9% | 67.7% |
| Escambia | 428 | 298 | 1.0% | 27.9% | 71.1% |
| Flagler | 78 | 65 | 0.0% | 23.1% | 76.9% |
| Franklin | 10 | 9 | 0.0% | 33.3% | 66.7% |
| Gadsden | 443 | 260 | 0.0% | 27.7% | 72.3% |
| Gilchrist | 1 | 0 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Glades | 0 | 0 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Gulf | 38 | 22 | 0.0% | 36.4% | 63.6% |
| Hamilton | 13 | 10 | 10.0% | 50.0% | 40.0% |
| Hardee | 384 | 281 | 0.7% | 17.8% | 81.5% |
| Hendry | 4 | 3 | 0.0% | 33.3% | 66.7% |
| Hernando | 585 | 434 | 1.4% | 26.5% | 72.1% |
| Highlands | 736 | 475 | 0.4% | 20.0% | 79.6% |
| Hillsborough † | 5,400 | 2,703 | 0.6% | 32.5% | 66.9% |
| Holmes | 20 | 15 | 6.7% | 6.7% | 86.7% |
| Indian River | 86 | 73 | 0.0% | 20.5% | 79.5% |
| Jackson | 152 | 108 | 0.0% | 36.1% | 63.9% |
| Jefferson | 39 | 29 | 0.0% | 20.7% | 79.3% |
| Lafayette | 22 | 18 | 0.0% | 11.1% | 88.9% |
| Lake | 778 | 509 | 0.2% | 24.4% | 75.4% |
| Lee | 1,284 | 849 | 1.4% | 28.4% | 70.2% |
| Leon | 1,463 | 1,004 | 0.3% | 31.0% | 68.7% |
| Levy | 14 | 12 | 0.0% | 8.3% | 91.7% |
| Liberty | 12 | 2 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% |
| Madison | 79 | 53 | 0.0% | 26.4% | 73.6% |
| Manatee | 2,087 | 1,394 | 0.7% | 26.2% | 73.1% |
| Marion | 968 | 567 | 0.2% | 27.2% | 72.7% |
| Martin | 141 | 95 | 2.1% | 14.7% | 83.2% |
| Miami-Dade | 6,642 | 4,759 | 0.4% | 28.2% | 71.4% |
| Monroe | 225 | 168 | 0.0% | 20.2% | 79.8% |
| Nassau | 87 | 73 | 2.7% | 30.1% | 67.1% |
| Okaloosa | 344 | 223 | 0.9% | 28.7% | 70.4% |
| Okeechobee | 16 | 6 | 0.0% | 16.7% | 83.3% |
| Orange | 3,303 | 2,184 | 0.8% | 22.6% | 76.6% |
| Osceola | 702 | 423 | 0.2% | 22.0% | 77.8% |
| Palm Beach † | 8,169 | 501 | 0.4% | 45.3% | 54.3% |
| Pasco | 2,601 | 1,579 | 0.4% | 22.6% | 76.9% |
| Pinellas † | 6,183 | 338 | 8.6% | 39.6% | 51.8% |
| Polk | 10,063 | 7,315 | 0.3% | 20.0% | 79.8% |
| Putnam | 193 | 159 | 0.6% | 24.5% | 74.8% |
| St. Johns | 338 | 253 | 0.4% | 25.7% | 73.9% |
| St. Lucie | 405 | 264 | 3.4% | 26.9% | 69.7% |
| Santa Rosa | 190 | 114 | 1.8% | 33.3% | 64.9% |
| Sarasota † | 854 | 3 | 0.0% | 100.0% | 0.0% |
| Seminole | 835 | 602 | 0.3% | 21.1% | 78.6% |
| Sumter | 113 | 99 | 0.0% | 17.2% | 82.8% |
| Suwannee | 96 | 69 | 2.9% | 37.7% | 59.4% |
| Taylor | 23 | 22 | 0.0% | 31.8% | 68.2% |
| Union | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Volusia | 937 | 612 | 0.3% | 27.3% | 72.4% |
| Wakulla | 67 | 49 | 0.0% | 18.4% | 81.6% |
| Walton | 213 | 174 | 1.1% | 28.7% | 70.1% |
| Washington | 11 | 10 | 0.0% | 40.0% | 60.0% |
† Local licensing county. Glades County has no recorded citations, and Gilchrist County's one citation has no class. Percentages for counties with few citations with a class move on a single citation: Union County has 2, both Class 1.
Cities with the most citations
Lakeland has the most citations, 3,762, and 80.9% of its citations with a class are Class 3. In Tampa it's 64.5%,and in Jacksonville - 67.7%.
Seven of the 20 cities (‡) have only 17 to 119 citations with a class, because 67.6% to 81.5% of their citations carry another label.
Table 3. Citations by class in the 20 cities with the most citations, ranked by total citations. Class shares are percentages of citations with a class.
| City | Citations | With a class | Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeland | 3,762 | 2,933 | 0.3% | 18.8% | 80.9% |
| Miami | 3,506 | 2,554 | 0.2% | 28.0% | 71.8% |
| Tampa | 3,495 | 1,678 | 0.7% | 34.8% | 64.5% |
| Jacksonville | 2,716 | 2,003 | 1.3% | 31.0% | 67.7% |
| Orlando | 2,702 | 1,780 | 0.8% | 22.1% | 77.1% |
| Winter Haven | 2,190 | 1,499 | 0.3% | 23.1% | 76.6% |
| Clearwater ‡ | 1,563 | 89 | 6.7% | 48.3% | 44.9% |
| West Palm Beach ‡ | 1,558 | 113 | 0.0% | 40.7% | 59.3% |
| St. Petersburg ‡ | 1,552 | 61 | 21.3% | 60.7% | 18.0% |
| Tallahassee | 1,463 | 1,004 | 0.3% | 31.0% | 68.7% |
| Bradenton | 1,203 | 790 | 0.9% | 25.8% | 73.3% |
| Hialeah | 989 | 731 | 0.4% | 25.7% | 73.9% |
| Belle Glade ‡ | 929 | 70 | 0.0% | 27.1% | 72.9% |
| Royal Palm Beach ‡ | 903 | 17 | 5.9% | 52.9% | 41.2% |
| Bartow | 881 | 501 | 0.0% | 24.0% | 76.0% |
| Largo ‡ | 868 | 43 | 7.0% | 20.9% | 72.1% |
| Lake Wales | 856 | 545 | 0.2% | 18.0% | 81.8% |
| Ocala | 805 | 473 | 0.2% | 26.8% | 72.9% |
| Fort Myers | 679 | 459 | 1.3% | 26.4% | 72.3% |
| Sarasota ‡ | 676 | 119 | 0.0% | 17.6% | 82.4% |
What this means for your childcare search
This article mainly deals with the severity of citations at a state, county and city level. It does not examine or provide information on individual daycare centers or homes.
When you read a specific provider's report, look at the standard which was cited and its class, and whether the inspection followed a complaint.
Ask about supervision, ratio and emergency drill citations: what they were for, what was done to fix them, and whether the same issue was cited again.
These records show noncompliance found at an inspection. They do not show daily conditions, appeals or later fixes. A short record does not prove a provider has no problems, just like a long one does not prove it is unsafe.
How we did this
We used Florida CARES inspection records saved in the DaycareFacts research snapshot: 67,724 citations and 95,532 inspection reports, with report dates from Jan. 2, 2023 to July 8, 2026. We grouped each citation by its recorded violation class and calculated class shares among citations labeled Class 1, 2 or 3. Citations with no class or a different label are counted separately. The snapshot is not live and has no capture date.
Detailed methods and limitations
Source and period
The saved file holds 11,810 provider records, 95,532 report records and 67,724 finding records, which this article calls citations. Report dates run from Jan. 2, 2023 to July 8, 2026. Finding dates run from Jan. 3, 2023 to July 8, 2026. We did not filter by date, activity or inspection type, and we did not remove duplicates. We did not refresh the data.
Which citations have a class
Only labels reading exactly Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3 enter the percentages, after whitespace is normalized. This article calls them citations with a class; the research file calls them classified. A citation with no level recorded is "no class." Every other recorded label is "other label" and is excluded from the percentages. Of 67,724 citations, 35,272 have a class, 19,739 have no class and 12,713 carry another label.
The 12,713 other labels are Class 3 - Technical Support (7,477), Class 2 - Technical Support (5,078), Class 1 - Technical Support (125), Class 1 (Escalated) (32) and Class 4 (1). The records do not say what these labels mean. Florida's rule defines technical assistance as "a Department offer of assistance to a licensee or registrant to correct the statutory or regulatory violations." We do not know whether the label refers to it.
As a test, counting every explicit class label as its class, including those with modifiers (47,984 citations), gives Class 1 at 1.1%, Class 2 at 30.7% and Class 3 at 68.2%. Excluding only Technical Support labels (35,304 citations) gives 1.1%, 27.4% and 71.5%. Class 3 is the largest share in all three. These mappings are our test, not an official reading of the labels.
What the classes mean
We used Florida Administrative Code Rules 65C-22.010 (child care facilities) and 65C-20.012 (family day care homes and large family child care homes). We retrieved the current versions on Oct. 5, 2026. The last record in this snapshot is dated July 8, 2026. We did not compare them with the versions in force during the period, so their wording may differ from what applied to these citations.
In those versions, a Class 1 violation is noncompliance with a standard marked Class 1 on the department's classification form, and the rules call Class 1 violations "the most serious in nature." A Class 2 violation is noncompliance with a standard marked Class 2 and is less serious than Class 1. A Class 2 violation that results in death or serious harm to a child escalates to Class 1.
They define a Class 3 violation as noncompliance that "occurs at least three times within a 2-year period" with an individual Class 3 standard, less serious than Class 1 or Class 2. The saved records do not show which breach in a series each Class 3 citation was. We use each citation's recorded class and did not test it against this definition.
The classes do not independently sort citations into direct safety threats and administrative lapses. Some operational items are Class 3, and some documentation items, such as background screening documents, appear in Class 2.
Local licensing counties
Broward, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota operate local licensing boards under special acts of the legislature. They hold 12,707 of the 12,713 other-label citations. Only 5,573 of their 24,756 citations have a class, and Sarasota has 3 out of 854. Citation practices and classification formats may differ from state-inspected counties. We did not freshly verify local rules.
Counties and cities
County names match Florida's roster. City names are whitespace-normalized, uppercased and pooled statewide. Cities are the 20 with the most citations, counting citations with no class and other labels, with ties broken by name. City labels are not verified municipal boundaries, and citation volume does not rank cities by population. A share is "not available" when its denominator is zero. It is never shown as 0%.
Reading the numbers
Percentages are rounded to one decimal. Class shares use citations with a class as the base. Statewide no-class and other-label shares use all 67,724 citations; county and city shares of those labels use that county's or city's total citations. Class 1 and 2 combined is 369 + 9,658 = 10,027, and 10,027 ÷ 35,272 = 28.4%. Provider-type and inspection-type shares divide the Class 1 and Class 2 counts by citations with a class in that row. Complaint inspections are 5,306 of 67,724 citations, or 7.8%. Checklist items are shown as recorded, and their counts are citations in that item.
Limits
The snapshot is a frozen historical copy of CARES records, not a live count of inspections, and it has no capture date. Citations record noncompliance found during inspections. They do not capture conditions on days no one inspected. They do not include informal dispute resolution, formal appeals or later corrective action.
Documentation rules and inspector practice may shift the class mix without showing differences in how safe a facility is. We did not test these explanations.
Citations from the same provider are not independent. We used no sampling inference, confidence intervals or significance tests, and the differences shown do not rank providers or counties by risk. Zero citations do not establish zero hazards.
Cite this study
Paukstys, M. (2026, October 12). Florida Childcare Violations by Severity Class. DaycareFacts. https://daycarefacts.com/research/florida-childcare-violation-severity