HI B.,
You can call social services and they will e-mail you a list of current providers in the area including home or preschool care. When I looked at home care, I interviewed a few people. I am learning about gut feelings and how to follow them. Now my son is 3 and I am looking at preschools. Social services can also tell you how to access rules and regulations on-line so that you know what to expect and what not to expect. That may or may not help. With the pre-schools, I look at their schedule, their philosophy on cirriclum (see if it matches what you want), how they treat their teachers, how long the teachers have been at the facility, what their potty training policies are, what they do if someone calls in sick, how the teachers respond to the other kids and kids to them. Once you have narrowed your search, you can ask social services about those providers and they will let you know if there have been any reports filed on them. good luck.
A.