Cross-state guide
States regulate home child care through different instruments, and the words are not interchangeable. A license usually means an inspection before you open and ongoing monitoring. A registration usually means you notify the state, meet written standards and can be checked. A listing is a minimal record with the agency. A certificate of compliance or certification is a license by another name in some states and something weaker in others. The only reliable meaning is the one in your own state’s rule, so here is the instrument each verified state uses, quoted from its chapter.
One instrument: a DHR license from the first unrelated child, with a six-month permit available while an application ripens. Church-ministry preschools file an exemption notice instead of licensing. Ala. Admin. Code 660-5-27-.03; Ala. Code 38-7-3
Two agencies. DHS issues a certificate to a child care group home for five to ten children; DES certifies a family home provider for four paid children, which unlocks subsidy and nothing more. A.R.S. 36-897.01; A.A.C. R6-5-5220
License for a Child Care Family Home from six children out of more than one family, up to sixteen. Below six, a voluntary registry certificate for up to five, with provisional versions of each at entry. Ark. Code 20-78-208, 20-78-221; PUB-001 102.8
License only. TrustLine registration exists for license-exempt providers, and it is a background-check registry, not permission to run a daycare. 22 CCR 102358; HSC Ch. 3.35
License only, in permanent, provisional and probationary forms. An exempt home paid through the subsidy program still files a fingerprint background check. C.R.S. 26.5-5-309; 8 CCR 1402-1 2.107 to 2.109
License for family child care homes and a separate license for group homes; assistants and substitutes need Office of Early Childhood approval. The 2025 endorsement adds capacity to an existing license. Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-87b; 19a-80
License only, in three sizes: Level I and Level II family homes and the large family child care home, all issued by OCCL under one act. 14 Del. C. 3004A; 934 sec. 4
License for Child Development Homes and Expanded Child Development Homes, with a restricted license as a conditional variant. 5-A DCMR 101.4, 102.6
Registration with DCF every year is the floor; a license replaces it where the county passed a licensing ordinance, or when the provider elects one. Large homes are licensed everywhere. Fla. Stat. 402.313(1), 402.3131(1)
License only. A Family Child Care Learning Home license covers three to six unrelated children for pay; the Child Care Learning Center license starts above that. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 290-2-3-.04(1)
Registration for a family home of three to six unrelated children, a license for a group home of seven to twelve. Both are mandatory for their size. Haw. Admin. R. 17-891.2-1; 17-892.2-1
A basic daycare license from seven children. A family home of four to six needs only the provider background check, and may elect the license. Idaho Code 39-1103, 39-1114
License for a day care home or group day care home, preceded by a short permit. A separate registration for Recognized Alternative Providers phases in by July 2027. 225 ILCS 10/3, 10/3.01; 23 Ill. Adm. Code 2007.6
License for a class I or class II child care home. Subsidy voucher providers hold a CCDF certification, and unlicensed child care ministries register rather than license. Ind. Code 12-17.2-5-1; 470 IAC 3-18-1
Registration, called a child development home certificate, from the sixth child. Below that no instrument at all; taking subsidy children adds a provider agreement. Iowa Code 237A.3; 441 IAC 110
License or a temporary permit of up to 90 days for the single family child care home tier; no registration category exists. K.S.A. 65-501, 65-504
Certification for family child-care homes, mandatory at 4 to 6 unrelated children and optional below, then a center license for Type II homes of 7 to 12. KRS 199.8982; 922 KAR 2:090
No home license at all. Registration for family child care providers and in-home providers exists only for those paid with state or federal funds; centers hold Type I, II or III licenses. R.S. 17:407.63; Bulletin 137 sec. 307
One Family Child Care Provider license for 4 to 12 children; a license-exempt status with background checks covers the small allowance. 22 M.R.S. 8301-A, 8302-B
Registration on both home tiers. The certificate of registration is mandatory, and the word license never applies to Maryland homes. COMAR 13A.15.02.01; 13A.18.02.01
License in three sizes (6, 7 to 8, 9 to 10) plus a mandatory certificate for the assistant required above six children; family child care system membership is voluntary. M.G.L. c. 15D 1A; 606 CMR 7.09
License on both home sizes, family and group, issued under the same sentence of the statute. MCL 722.115m(2)
One license covers family day care and group family day care, issued under the 2025 chapter and the 9502 rules. Minn. Stat. 142B.05, subd. 1; Minn. R. 9502
License on both home sizes: a child care family home for five or fewer, and a home facility for twelve or fewer in the operator’s residence. 15 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 11, Subpt. 55, Ch. 2 Rule 2.2.1, Ch. 3 Rule 3.1.4
License from the seventh child. Voluntary licensure is open to exempt homes that want subsidy eligibility or insurance leverage. RSMo 210.211
Registration certificate for family and group facilities, plus two voluntary registrations for subsidy: Family, Friend and Neighbor, and Relative Care Exempt. Centers are licensed. MCA 52-2-721; ARM 37.96.102(3)
Provisional license for the first year, then an operating license. A person not required to license may still choose one, or register under the voluntary system. Neb. Rev. Stat. 71-1911; 43-2609
License to operate a family home or group home from five children. A small establishment of four or fewer registers voluntarily. NRS 432A.220, 432A.1756
License, with a permit as the starting document. Providers paid with state funds register separately. RSA 170-E:4; 170-E:2, XI; 170-E:6-a
No home license exists. A certificate of registration is voluntary for a family home of three to five, and a center license is mandatory from six children. N.J.S.A. 30:5B-4, 30:5B-17; N.J.A.C. 3A:54-1.1
License for family and group homes from five nonresident children. Registration under a separate part is for homes below the line that take subsidy or food-program children. 8.9.4.9, 8.9.4.30 NMAC; 8.9.5.2 NMAC
Registration for a family day care home of three to six, a license for a group family day care home of seven to twelve. A provider below three may register voluntarily. Soc. Serv. Law 390(2); 18 NYCRR 413.2(d)
A six-month temporary license, then a one- through five-star rated license. Drop-in care registers, and an arrangement below the definition may license voluntarily. 10A NCAC 09 .1702; G.S. 110-99
License for family and group child care; voluntary self-declaration and in-home registration below the threshold; public approval for government programs. N.D. Cent. Code 50-11.1-03, 50-11.1-16
License for type A and type B family child care homes from the Department of Children and Youth. In-home aides are certified by the county. Ohio Rev. Code 5104.02(A), 5104.01(BB)
License on both home tiers, with a temporary permit available during the application. 10 O.S. 402, 403
Registration for a registered family home of up to ten, a certificate for a certified family home of up to sixteen. Preschool and school-age recorded programs file a record. ORS 329A.280, 329A.330, 329A.255
Certificate of compliance, the same instrument centers hold. The registration article for family homes was repealed at the end of 2015 and survives only in outdated blog posts. 62 P.S. 1002
License on both sizes, family and group, under the single 2026 regulation. 218-RICR-70-00-2 2.1.4(A)(7), (8)
A statement of registration is mandatory for a family childcare home; a license is optional for it and mandatory for a group home. Church group homes register instead. S.C. Code 63-13-810, 63-13-410, 63-13-1010
A registration certificate only when public funds pay for care. A child welfare agency license for a group family day care home of thirteen to twenty. SDCL 26-6-14.1, 26-6-14.2, 26-6-14(5)
License only: a provisional license for one hundred twenty days, then a continuous license, with a restricted license possible. Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-04-01-.02, -.04
Three instruments in a ladder: a listing for 1 to 3 unrelated children, registration for 4 to 6 plus school-age to 12, and a full license for 7 to 12. 26 TAC ch. 742, 747
Three layers: an exempt provider registers for a background check, a Residential Certificate is optional up to eight, and a license is required from nine. Utah Code 26B-2-405; R430-50-3; R430-90-3
Registered and licensed family child care homes are both mandatory alternatives, chosen by capacity and qualifications, not a voluntary tier. 33 V.S.A. 3502; CVR 13-171-005 Rule 2.2.26
License from the fifth child. A voluntary certificate of registration exists for the one-to-four range, through a contracting organization for up to 50 dollars per two years. Va. Code 22.1-289.02; 8VAC20-850-40
One license type, scaled by the provider’s experience rather than split into separate instruments. WAC 110-300-0355
Certificate of registration for a family child care home of four to six, a license for a facility of seven to twelve, and a voluntary registration for informal and relative care. W. Va. Code 49-2-113(c), (d), (g)
License, and the licensed home is called a family child care center. County certification under DCF 202 exists only to receive subsidy payments. Wis. Stat. 48.65, 48.651; DCF 250.01; DCF 202.04
The statute says certificate, the agency says license, and they are the same instrument, with a provisional certificate at the start. Wyo. Stat. 14-4-102, 14-4-105
Usually: registrations are typically issued on paperwork and background checks, while licenses add a pre-opening inspection and closer monitoring. But the standards behind a registration are still enforceable rules, as Maryland and Iowa both show.
It records you with the state and can unlock subsidy participation, but it does not change the threshold. In Virginia the one-to-four range stays lawful territory with or without the certificate; in Missouri the exemption works the same with or without voluntary licensure.
Texas regulates from the first unrelated child in regular paid care, so it grades the paperwork by size instead of leaving small operations out: listing, then registration, then license.
DaycareRules is an informational reference about home child care licensing rules in the United States. It reprints thresholds, capacity limits, ratios and citations from state statutes and regulations, together with the date each state was last verified. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and rules change. Confirm with your state licensing agency before acting on any number printed here.