S.T.A.R.S. is a career development system designed to improve child care through basic and on-going training for child care providers.

The Department of Early Learning is the regulatory authority for the Licensing Requirements and the administrator of the STARS Registry, a web-based database that tracks Provider Records.

Washington Association for the Education of Young Children (WAEYC) is contracted to administer other components of the program: Information and Publicity, Training and Trainer Approval, the Scholarship Program, and also supports the work of the Stakeholders, an advisory group.