Parental decisionmaking around child care is complex and can have widespread impacts on different aspects of daily life. The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for the early care and education field, adding another layer of complexity to this decision and causing child care disruptions for many families. In this brief, we report findings from focus groups conducted in 2022 with parents and guardians in the District of Columbia to learn about their recent child care experiences amid the pandemic. We focus on parents’ child care search experiences, their priorities when selecting care, their recommendations to help other parents find child care, and their perceptions of the overall quality of the supply of child care in DC. (author abstract)