What is the difference between Child Care licensing requirements and the QRIS rating and improvement systems?

Childcare licensing requirements set a minimum baseline of health, safety, and quality standards, which theoretically prevent programs that are developmentally or physically harmful to children from operating. Licensing rules regulate many facets of program operations, from building materials and staff qualifications to daily activities and parent involvement. Quality Rating and Improvement Systems take the same standards-based approach used in childcare licensing and expand it to define multiple performance levels rather than one minimum bar in order to recognize and incentivize higher levels of quality above licensure. Each state develops its own QRIS system which rates programs on their ability to meet increasingly rigorous sets of standards.