Skip to content

Open data · CC BY 4.0

BackPR open data and AI tools

Free, sourced data about youth programs in the United States: state rules for camps and childcare, youth nonprofit counts, what registration software publishes about price, licensed program counts and our free form templates. It's free to use, share and adapt, including commercially, under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0): just credit BackPR.

Download the dataCONNECT AN AI ASSISTANT

Need a quotable number? See youth program statistics 2026: one-line facts, each dated and sourced.

Datasets

Free datasets, ready to cite

Each file has its version, the date we last checked it and a citation line. JSON files carry the same details at the top.

Youth program rules by state: childcare licensing, staff ratios, camps, background checks, medication and mandated reporting

Rules for childcare centers, camps and after-school programs in all 50 states and DC, summarized from official state sources and published copies of state law, with links to each source.

51 records · Version 2026.10 · Last checked October 2026 · CC BY 4.0

JSONCSVRead it on the site

Cite as: BackPR (2026). Youth program rules by state: childcare licensing, staff ratios, camps, background checks, medication and mandated reporting (version 2026.10, checked October 2026). https://backpr.com/data/state-rules.json. CC BY 4.0.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the state agency. A blank (null) value means the rules don't set a single value for it or we couldn't confirm it from the sources.

Registration software pricing index: what 56 platforms publish about price, fees and nonprofit terms

What registration, camp, childcare, class and sports software publishes about plan prices, nonprofit offers, fees passed on to families, card processing rates, contracts, onboarding fees and Spanish-language support. Each record has a short summary of what the platform publishes, a link to the source and the date we checked.

56 records · Version 1.0 · Last checked October 2026 · CC BY 4.0

JSONCSVRead it on the site

Cite as: BackPR (2026). Registration software pricing index: what 56 platforms publish about price, fees and nonprofit terms (version 1.0, checked October 2026). https://backpr.com/data/registration-software-pricing-index.json. CC BY 4.0.

BackPR competes with the companies in this index, so we left BackPR out. A value of "not published" means we found nothing, not that the company doesn't offer it. CC BY 4.0 covers BackPR's compilation; quoted company text remains the company's. Companies in the index can send corrections to support@backpr.com. BackPR's State of Youth Programs 2026 report uses only the 48 registration and management platforms in this index and leaves out the form, fundraising, event and membership tools (categories "forms" and "membership").

Youth and community nonprofits by state: active 501(c)(3) organizations from IRS data

Counts of active 501(c)(3) youth development, amateur sports, PTA and PTO, recreation, camp and club, children's and youth services, arts education and childcare nonprofits in each state and DC, by group, including how many report under $50,000 in annual revenue. There are 171,592 nationally. The state rows total 171,286; the other 306 have no state on file or are in US territories, at military addresses or abroad.

51 records · Version 1.0 · Last checked September 2026 · CC BY 4.0

JSONCSVRead it on the site

Cite as: BackPR (2026). Youth and community nonprofits by state: active 501(c)(3) organizations from IRS data (version 1.0, checked September 2026). https://backpr.com/data/youth-nonprofits-by-state.json. CC BY 4.0.

Filter: Active 501(c)(3) organizations in the NTEE codes listed for each group. Group codes (NTEE, the IRS's activity codes for nonprofits): Amateur sports: N40, N6x, N7x; Youth development: all O codes; PTAs and PTOs: B94; Recreation, camps and clubs: N20, N30, N31, N50; Children's and youth services: P30; Arts education: A25; Childcare: P33. Each organization is counted once, by its main NTEE code. Some groups, such as amateur sports and arts education, include organizations that also serve adults. The "under_50k" column counts organizations that report annual revenue under $50,000 on their latest IRS filing or have no revenue amount on file.

Free youth program form templates: registration, medical, pickup, waivers, policies and staff forms

BackPR's free printable PDF and editable Word templates for camps, after-school programs, childcare and other youth programs, with Spanish versions of the forms families fill out.

28 records · Version 1.0 · Last checked October 2026 · CC BY 4.0

JSONCSVRead it on the site

Cite as: BackPR (2026). Free youth program form templates: registration, medical, pickup, waivers, policies and staff forms (version 1.0, checked October 2026). https://backpr.com/data/templates.json. CC BY 4.0.

A list of BackPR's free templates, with links to each PDF and Word file. CC BY 4.0 covers this list; the templates themselves are free to use and change without credit. They're starting points to adapt, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review waivers and agreements.

Licensed youth program directory statistics: centers, after-school programs and camps by state

Live counts of the childcare centers, school-age (after-school) programs, camps and other youth programs listed in BackPR's program finder, by state and program type, from official state and local licensing data. One record per state with listings. Updated daily on backpr.com; each file shows its update date.

One record per state with listings · Live data, refreshed daily; each file shows its update date · CC BY 4.0

JSONCSVRead it on the site

Cite as: BackPR (2026). Licensed youth program directory statistics (live data, updated <the date shown in the file>). https://backpr.com/data/finder-directory-stats.json. CC BY 4.0.

Home-based family childcare isn't listed. Counts cover the states that publish program data.

Also published on

Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23577823)

A permanent, citable copy with a DOI, for research and reports.

Hugging Face

Load it with the datasets library or browse it in the dataset viewer.

Kaggle

Explore it in a notebook.

GitHub

A copy updated every Monday, with dated releases you can cite.

All datasets in one list: datapackage.json (Frictionless Data format). Want a quick read instead? See youth program statistics 2026.

For AI assistants

Ask your AI assistant about this data

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard way AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT connect to outside data. The BackPR data MCP server is public and read-only, with no sign-in. Add it to your assistant and it can answer from this data. Every result includes a link to its source on backpr.com.

Server URL

https://backpr.com/ai/mcp

Try asking

  • “What are the staff ratios for childcare centers in Texas?”
  • “Does a day camp in Texas need a license?”
  • “Which states require everyone to report child abuse?”
  • “Which registration software is free for nonprofits?”
  • “Find childcare centers in Austin, TX.”
  • “Find me a medical form template.”

Tools

  • get_state_rules A state's rules for childcare licensing, staff ratios, camps, background checks, medication or abuse reporting, with links to the sources.
  • list_states_by_rule Every state that matches a rule, such as states where everyone must report abuse or states that license camps.
  • calculate_staff_needed Estimates how many staff a group needs under a state's childcare center ratio, with caveats. Confirm with your licensing agency.
  • find_registration_software What registration platforms publish about price, nonprofit terms, family fees and contracts.
  • find_programs Licensed childcare centers, after-school programs and camps in a city, ZIP code or state.
  • get_directory_stats How many licensed programs the directory lists, by state and type.
  • find_template Free form templates, such as a medical form or authorized pickup form, in PDF and Word.
  • search_backpr Guides, calculators and comparisons on backpr.com.
  • list_datasets These datasets, with download links and citation lines.
  • about_backpr What BackPR is and what it costs.

Claude

  1. In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors. Select + and choose Add custom connector.
  2. Name it BackPR data and paste https://backpr.com/ai/mcp. No sign-in is needed.

ChatGPT

  1. In ChatGPT, open Plugins, select + and choose Add custom MCP server.
  2. Name it BackPR data, paste https://backpr.com/ai/mcp and choose No authentication.

Claude Code

  1. Run this command.
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user backpr-data https://backpr.com/ai/mcp

Cursor

  1. Add the server to your mcp.json file (~/.cursor/mcp.json).
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "backpr-data": { "url": "https://backpr.com/ai/mcp" }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

  1. Run MCP: Add Server from the Command Palette and choose HTTP, or add the server to .vscode/mcp.json.
{
  "servers": {
    "backpr-data": { "type": "http", "url": "https://backpr.com/ai/mcp" }
  }
}

Running a program on BackPR? The BackPR MCP for admins and families connects to your account. This data server is separate and public.

For crawlers and developers

Files that help machines read BackPR

llms.txt

A guide to the site for AI assistants: every page, with a one-line description.

llms-full.txt

The full text of the site in one Markdown file.

Markdown copies of pages

Most pages have one: add /index.md to the page's address, for example /resources/states/texas/index.md.

Data package

One machine-readable index of all the files, with each one's version, date, license and citation (Frictionless Data Package format).

API catalog

A machine-readable list of the data files and the MCP server (RFC 9727).

AI catalog

Points AI agents to the MCP server card.

MCP server card

Connection details for the BackPR data MCP server.

Sitemaps

Every page with its last change date, plus the program finder sitemap at /find/sitemap.xml.

What changed

Dated updates to the data and pages, with an RSS feed at /changes/feed.xml.

Citing BackPR

How to cite this data

  • Credit BackPR and link to the page or file you used, for example: Source: BackPR (backpr.com/resources/states/texas#ratios).
  • Link to the exact fact when you can. Every section of each state page, every row of our national rules tables and every statistic has its own link.
  • Include the date we checked the fact. Rules and prices change.
  • State rules are general information, not legal advice. Point readers to the state agency for decisions.
  • Found an error? Email support@backpr.com. We'll check it, and if we got it wrong, we'll fix it and note the change on our What changed page.

Cite the whole collection: BackPR (2026). BackPR open data for US youth programs [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23577823. Current version: https://backpr.com/ai. CC BY 4.0.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Is the data free to use?

Yes. The datasets are free under CC BY 4.0, including for commercial use, as long as you credit BackPR and link to the source.

How often is it updated?

We re-check the state rules every month and note changes on our What changed page. The pricing index and nonprofit counts are updated less often, and the program directory statistics update daily. Each file shows its version and the date it was last checked.

Do I need an account to use the MCP server?

No. The BackPR data MCP server at https://backpr.com/ai/mcp is public and read-only. It answers from the same data as these files, and every result includes a link to its source on backpr.com.

How is this different from the BackPR MCP for admins and families?

This data server is public and only reads published data. The BackPR MCP for admins and families connects to a BackPR account to run registrations, payments and messages, and needs a sign-in. Its setup page is https://backpr.com/mcp; that page isn't a server address.

Is the state rules data legal advice?

No. It summarizes the rules from official state sources and published copies of state law, with links to each source, but rules change and details depend on the program. Confirm with the state agency.

Who publishes this?

BackPR, which makes registration and payments software for youth programs. BackPR competes with the companies in the pricing index, so it left itself out.

Open registration
with BackPR

Free for nonprofits. No long-term contract. We set you up and import your data at no cost.

Get startedBook a demo