Best Free Child Care Management Software & App For Arizona Providers | Playground

Arizona's CCES Mandate starts October 1st. Playground is already approved.

Playground is one of six Department of Economic Security (DES)-approved providers. Your attendance flows straight into DES – no state portal required.

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What's changing on October 1st?

Arizona's current Provider Partnership Agreement (PRA) ends September 30th. That means that every DES-contracted provider in the state of Arizona will be required to use the Child Care Electronic System (CCES) to submit attendance and receive payment.

DES is giving providers four months to transition after the new PRA kicks in. CCES cohorts are already filling up, with the June 2026 cohort recently closed due to demand – every provider will have to complete training on the new system.

Your CCES options

Arizona DES-contracted child care providers have two options: either you use Arizona's KinderSystems portal directly, where parents register, sign in and out of their phones, and attendance is manually submitted each month; or you use a DES-approved CCMS that handles it automatically.

Playground is one of six DES-approved CCMS providers – attendance flows from Playground to KinderSystems to DES, all in one go.

Here's what each path looks like:

1

Without a CCMS

• Parents register with KinderSystems
• Phone/tablet sign-in and sign-out
• Manual attendance review each month
• Submit through DES portal for payment
• Separate system from daily operations

2

With Playground

• No parent portal setup
• Check-in through Playground
• Attendance sent automatically
• Payment flows straight to DES
• One platform for everything

The only platform Arizona child care providers need

Playground is childcare management software that manages billing, attendance, registration, communication, paperwork, reporting and more for Arizona family child care programs.

Your dream, all-in-one child care management system

Playground has every feature you need to effortlessly run an early childhood program — from child management to HR. Processing subsidy payments has never been so easy.

Here's what you can get done with Playground in just 30 days

Today
Day 5
Day 30

Get started

Upload your roster in five minutes
Connect your bank account in three minutes
Connect your program's contact information in one minute

Get comfortable

Support questions get responses in seconds
Set up automatic billing
Upload and organize all licensing paperwork

Ask why you didn't switch years ago

Only one app admins, teachers, and families use
100% digital paperwork
Run your whole center from one hand

The best way for Arizona providers to run a child care business

You don't have to wait until October 1st – make more money, simplify your life, and delight your families by switching to Playground's child care management software.