Kansas's Childcare Quality Rating System: What It Means for Directors and Staff

Kansas's quality rating system is Links to Quality (L2Q).

Child Care Aware of Kansas runs it as a free Quality Recognition and Improvement System, open to all licensed providers, offering coaching, recognition and incentives.

It is not the licensing function itself: Kansas child care licensing has been run by the Kansas Office of Early Childhood (KOEC) since July 1, 2026, while L2Q is run through Child Care Aware of Kansas.

Nothing in the pages we read describes participation as a licensing requirement — the system is presented as one providers join, free, with support from a dedicated consultant.

Our research did not establish the rating levels.

The Child Care Aware of Kansas pages we read describe the system, its consultants and its recognition, but they did not list level names, counts or the criteria for reaching them.

Child Care Aware of Kansas is the source for the current level structure, so directors should ask there — or ask their Regional Community Consultant once their program participates — before planning around any level.

The staff-qualification criteria behind a Links to Quality rating were not found on the pages we read, so this page names no credential, credit total or training hours that raise a rating.

What Kansas does have is Cape, its statewide early childhood professional development and workforce registry, launched January 13, 2025 and implemented and managed by Kansas Child Care Training Opportunities (KCCTO).

How Cape records figure in an L2Q rating is a question for Child Care Aware of Kansas.

Our research did not identify an observation or assessment tool for Links to Quality: the pages we read did not name any instrument a rating requires.

A director who needs to know what a rating review involves — and whether an observation is part of one — should ask Child Care Aware of Kansas or their Regional Community Consultant.

Child Care Aware of Kansas describes Links to Quality as offering coaching, recognition and incentives, and participants work toward continuous improvement with a dedicated consultant and earn recognition.

Participation is free.

The pages we read did not state incentive amounts, the levels they attach to, or whether any of the money reaches individual staff rather than the program.

Separately from the rating system, KCCTO runs a Higher Education Scholarship for staff development: it pays 100% of eligible tuition and required fees for up to 6 credit hours of ECE coursework per semester at accredited Kansas institutions, toward a CDA, certificate, associate or bachelor's, for staff of licensed Kansas programs.

Head Start staff are not eligible, and a complete Cape profile is required to apply.

The path our research supports runs through Child Care Aware of Kansas.

Participation is free and open to all licensed providers, and each participating provider works toward continuous improvement with support from a dedicated Regional Community Consultant — so the consultant relationship is where a director starts.

Because the pages we read did not publish level criteria, staff-credential requirements or an observation tool, the concrete first step is asking that consultant what the current criteria ask of a program.

On the staffing side, early childhood professionals keep profiles and Individual Professional Development Plans in Cape, Kansas's statewide professional development and workforce registry.