Once a year, a state inspector visits to appraise its operation. It is one of 179 facilities the inspector visits, and most likely a private home.

The inspector is trained, but probably not formally educated, in their field. Neither is the facility’s owner, in most cases, nor its staff. The inspector’s eventual report will be filed in an office, unavailable unless requested specifically, despite technological advances that could ease its dissemination.

This is the scenario for overseeing child care centers in Maine, a chilling bureaucratic narrative that’s resulted in miserable reviews of Maine by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, which were released last week.

The NACCRRA judges states by basic benchmarks. It recommends a ratio of 50 child care centers per licensing inspector; in Maine, it’s 1 for every 179. It recommends inspectors have a bachelor’s degree in a “related field;” in Maine, less than an associate degree is status quo.

Publishing inspection and complaints about child care centers in an online database, for easy perusal, is another key recommendation on which Maine fails. (We are the same state, however, that has built a handy digital tool to check the availability of vanity license plates.)

Child care providers, and curricula, are also held to lower educational standards than recommended. The result, according to the NACCRRA, is mediocrity in child care standards, and poor child care oversight, for an overall ranking of 44 of 52. (All states, plus the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense, which was No 1.)

While these numbers alone should concern parents, the newest Maine Kids Count report, unveiled Tuesday by the Maine’s Children Alliance, adds to the alarm. It reveals two-thirds of child care providers that receive subsidies in Maine are home-based, some 1,724 out of 2,608.

It’s here parents’ concern could morph into fear. These figures paint a dangerous portrait for anyone seeking child care, as the potential to deliver a child into the home of a poorly trained, lightly inspected provider is paralyzing.

And critical information for parents to assess providers should be more convenient to access. Other states have developed online databases of licensing information and complaints regarding child care providers, tools with undoubted value given the gravity inherent in deciding upon a provider.

Maine’s woes are not uncommon. New Hampshire’s inspector caseload is similar, but the Granite State, No. 40 of 52, has higher educational standards. Vermont inspectors have 269 providers each, far worse than Maine, but the Green Mountain State, 34 out of 52, publishes child care complaints online.

Compared to these peers, though, the Pine Tree State needs the most sharpening of its child care oversight.

Which it should do, and soon.