About OpenPHR
Choosing childcare is one of the most important decisions a parent makes — and one of the hardest to make well. California publishes inspection and violation data for every licensed daycare, but it's buried in a state database most parents never see. Working parents — disproportionately immigrant families and families without flexible schedules — end up choosing care based on marketing and word-of-mouth, with safety and stability signals invisible.
OpenPHR exists to close that gap. We publish free, plain-language profiles of licensed daycares and preschools in Fremont, Newark, and Union City: inspection histories, violation records, teacher pay where available, and stability indicators — the information every parent deserves before enrolling a child.
Why I Built OpenPHR
A personal letter from our founder to Bay Area parents
I started OpenPHR because of a bite mark.
My baby was five months old. I got the call from daycare — another child had bitten them. The regular teachers weren't there that day; substitutes were covering the room. Nobody could tell me exactly what happened.
I did what every parent does. I went looking for answers. Were there prior incidents? What did the state's inspection records say? The data existed — California publishes all of it — but it was buried in government databases no parent has time to decode at 10pm.
So I built the thing I needed: every licensed daycare in the Bay Area, with real inspection records translated into plain English, real photos, and honest answers about safety, hours, and cost. No stock photos. No invented data. If we don't know something, we say so.
Every parent deserves to know what's happening in the room where they leave their child. I couldn't get that answer when I needed it. I'm making sure you can.
Who we are
OpenPHR is a project of Patient Journey Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It was started by a Bay Area parent who hit the same wall every parent hits: the data exists, but nobody puts it in parents' hands.
We are independent. No daycare pays to be listed, and no listing can be bought or boosted. Our only accountability is to parents.
Free forever
Everything on this site is free, and it stays free. We don't sell parent data — ever. (Privacy policy)
Community accountability
Parents — not providers, not advertisers — decide what we build. We are forming a parent advisory circle of Tri-City families, majority working parents, to set our priorities every quarter: which data gets published, which features get built next. Join the circle →
Contact
We welcome questions from families, research inquiries, and corrections from licensed providers. Email us directly at contact@openphr.org or visit our Contact & Verification Desk.