Accreditation is a national, voluntary system to measure the quality of child care programs. Accreditation standards are often higher than state licensing regulations. Asking programs about whether they are accredited or if they have ever worked toward being accredited is one more way to learn about the program's quality.

• Family child care providers can attain the National Association of Family Child Care accreditation. This is a three year accreditation with renewal for five years. For more information, go to www.nafcc.org.
• Centers, private and public preschool and kindergarten can attain the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation. This is a five year accreditation. For more information, go to www.naeyc.org/accreditation.
• Afterschool programs can attain the National Afterschool Association's accreditation through the Council on Accreditation. This is a three year accreditation. For more information, go to www.naaweb.org.