Alabama day care center license: DHR rules, ratios and application

Licensed center, group home or church-exempt program

Alabama’s Child Care Act defines a day care center as “any child-care facility receiving more than twelve (12) children for daytime care during all or part of a day” (Code of Ala. 38-7-2(4)) ⁠¹. Under DHR’s center standards, day care can start no earlier than 5:00 a.m. Care after 7:00 p.m. is nighttime care. A facility set up for more than 12 children after 7:00 p.m. is a Nighttime Center, which meets the day care center rules plus a nighttime section ⁠¹.

Count your children before you pick a license:

• 1 to 6 children in your own home: family day care home. 7 to 12 children in your own home with at least two adults present: group day care home. Both fall under the separate home standards. See the Alabama family day care home guide.
• 13 or more children: day care center (this guide).
• A preschool that is an integral part of a local church ministry or a religious nonprofit elementary school: may run license-exempt under Code of Ala. 38-7-3 ⁠⁵.

DHR’s overview says Alabama centers “legally operate in one of two ways: Licensed or license exempt,” and that licensed centers must be renewed every two years ⁠⁴.

What the church exemption actually requires

Exemption is not the same as being unregulated. To run exempt, the program must be recognized in the church’s or school’s own documents, and it must meet these requirements ⁠⁵:

1. Notice and inspection

   Notify DHR at least 30 days before opening. DHR inspects, and the program cannot open until it complies.

2. Annual safety reports

   File a fire inspection report with no violations and a county health department report every year.

3. Background checks

   Give DHR employee names and criminal history information.

4. Insurance

   Carry property, casualty and liability insurance of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate.

5. Parent disclosures

   Before enrollment, tell parents about staff qualifications, pupil-staff ratios, discipline policies, curriculum, religious teaching and the lunch program.

6. Affidavits and posting

   Post a notice that DHR does not regulate or license the program. Collect a signed affidavit from every parent each year, file those with DHR, and have a responsible individual file an annual compliance affidavit.

DHR can inspect an exempt program at any time if it has reasonable cause to believe the program is out of compliance or a child is at risk ⁠⁵. If you are not a church or religious school, this path is closed to you.

The rulebook and how DHR runs intake

The rules for centers are DHR’s Child Care Licensing and Performance Standards for Day Care Centers and Nighttime Centers, Ala. Admin. Code 660-5-26, effective September 13, 2021 ⁠¹. The file DHR links has “PROPOSED” in its name, but it is the version DHR publishes as the center standards. It cites the Child Care Act of 1971, the federal CCDBG Act of 2014 and Alabama’s Child Care Safety Act (Act 2018-278) as authority ⁠¹.

DHR’s licensing flowchart sets out the order ⁠³:

1. Intake

   Call 1-866-528-1694 or email [email protected]. Intake sends you to the online system.

2. Online application

   Submit your application in ARISE. DHR assigns you a licensing consultant.

3. Consultant requests

   The consultant contacts you for anything missing, sends out three reference requests, and requests child abuse/neglect (CA/N) clearance forms on the applicant, board members, director and others.

4. Qualifications review

   The consultant enters the applicant’s qualifications into DHR’s system.

5. Pre-licensing visit

   Once every required item is in, the consultant schedules the visit.

6. Initial license

   If the visit shows all requirements are met, DHR writes a memo and issues the license. Follow-up visits happen if needed.

You need a separate application for each proposed center, and an application cannot be transferred to another person, corporation or location ⁠¹. DHR’s mailing address is Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Services Division, 50 N. Ripley Street, Montgomery, AL 36130-4000 ⁠².

No advertising until you hold a license or permit

The standards bar you from providing or advertising care before DHR issues a license or six-month permit ⁠¹. The ban covers free and paid ads in any medium: websites, social media, flyers, signs, even printed mugs and pens ⁠¹. Three things are allowed ⁠¹:

• Job ads for staff, once your application is filed, if they show the phrase “license application pending.”
• “Under Construction,” “Renovation” or “Remodeling” signs on the property, with the same phrase and only after you file.
• A market survey on local demand for child care, as long as it does not solicit children or promote the business.

Building requirements: space, bathrooms and play yard

A few more rules affect your floor plan. Activity areas must be used only by the children during operating hours. Children younger than 2½ need a separate outdoor play area, though alternating play periods can satisfy this ⁠¹. You also need space for a sick or injured child, labeled storage for each child, office space for records and private conferences, and a telephone used only for center business ⁠¹. No firearms or ammunition are allowed in the center except those carried by law enforcement officers ⁠¹. Cribs must have slats no more than 2⅜ inches apart ⁠¹.

If the center will run past midnight, each child needs a crib or cot with a waterproof mattress, and you need one bathing facility for every 15 children ⁠¹.

Fire, health and zoning approvals

Each of these approvals must be in DHR’s hands before an initial license or six-month permit is issued ⁠¹:

• Fire. A written fire inspection report with no violations cited. It must come from the State Fire Marshal’s office or a local fire inspector who enforces the fire code the State Fire Marshal adopted ⁠². DHR does not accept approvals or inspections from volunteer fire departments. The report must be updated at least every five years and posted in the center ⁠¹.
• Health. A written inspection report from the county health department. If you cook on site, add a current food permit. If food is catered, add the health department’s written approval of your food service plan (the standards say “if available”) ⁠¹⁠².
• Zoning. A written statement that you comply with local zoning. If no zoning applies, a statement that you checked with the local governing authority and found none ⁠¹.

Ratios, group rules and the two-adult minimum

Ratios apply at all times. Only staff who meet child care worker qualifications and are directly supervising children count toward them ⁠¹.

The napping table has only three bands (birth to 18 months, 18 months to 2½ years, 2½ and older), so it has no separate 24-to-36-month row. Ask your consultant which napping ratio applies to a same-age group in that range.

The standards add these group and staffing rules ⁠¹:

• Grouping. Children under 2½ must be grouped apart from older children. The exception is a group aged 24 to 36 months, which uses the 1:8 ratio.
• Mixed ages. In a mixed-age group, the youngest child’s ratio applies if more than 20% of the group is in that age band. Otherwise the next age band’s ratio applies.
• Two certified adults. At least two staff aged 18 or older must be present during all hours. Both must meet child care worker qualifications and hold current pediatric CPR and first aid.
• Infants and toddlers. Each infant and toddler caregiver is assigned the same children every day.
• Second adult. A second staff person aged 18 or older must be in the building or on the premises whenever seven or more children are present.
• Naps. Each napping room needs a qualified staff member who can see every child.

Nighttime centers use the awake ratios until bedtime. For sleeping children the ratios are 1:5 (under 18 months), 1:14 (18 months to 2½), 1:18 (2½ to 4) and 1:25 (4 and older). Every staff member must stay awake ⁠¹.

Who can direct and staff the center

The center director must be at least 19 and have at least 20 clock hours of training in administration and management plus 4 clock hours in quality child care ⁠¹. The director must also meet one of these routes ⁠¹:

The six required training topics are child development; health, safety and universal precautions; quality child care and licensing; the child care professional and the family; language development; and positive discipline and guidance ⁠¹.

Other staff roles have their own minimums ⁠¹:

• Teachers and substitutes in charge of a group. At least 18, with a high school diploma or GED, and 12 clock hours of child care training within 30 days of hire.
• Aides. At least 16 with an 8th-grade education. They work under a qualified teacher and never count toward ratios.
• Service staff. Cooks, janitors and bus drivers count toward ratios only if they meet teacher qualifications and are actively caring for children.
• Drivers. Anyone driving a center vehicle must be at least 19 with a valid driver’s license. Vehicles built for 16 or more people require a CDL.

Training: preservice and annual

Before anyone counts toward ratios, every director, teacher, aide, service worker and substitute needs 1 hour of preservice training from an outside source in each of 11 topics. The topics include infectious disease, safe sleep and SIDS (if applicable), medication administration, food allergy emergencies, building safety, shaken baby prevention (if applicable), emergency planning, hazardous materials, child abuse reporting, first aid and CPR, and transportation (if applicable). The same 11 hours must then be repeated every year ⁠¹.

Annual in-service training is a separate requirement: 24 clock hours for directors, 12 for teachers and 4 for service staff. CPR and first aid hours do not count toward it ⁠¹. Since August 1, 2022, all staff must be enrolled in the Alabama Pathways Professional Development Registry, and directors must complete orientation on DHR’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) assessment tools ⁠¹.

Background checks and staff files

The application packet requires the following for each applicant, owner, center director and board member ⁠²:

• A Licensing Application Attachment (DHR-DFC-1945).
• A State Central Registry child abuse/neglect clearance request (DHR-DFC-1598).
• Criminal history results, in the form of DHR suitability letters.

Alabama’s checks include FBI fingerprints and state registry searches. DHR charges no fee to process the CA/N form. The Fieldprint fingerprinting fee was $47.20 per application as published on 2026-10-12. Anyone who has lived in another state in the past five years also needs an interstate CA/N check ⁠⁶. A name-based Alabama criminal history record check requested by mail from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), which DHR describes for other lead agencies, carries a $25.00 administrative fee ⁠⁶; that is separate from the fingerprint route used for licensing.

Every staff file, including those for substitutes and volunteers, must hold the following ⁠¹:

• Written statements from three unrelated references, at least one from a previous employer if the person has worked before.
• A CA/N clearance and a DHR suitability letter, each from within the last five years.
• Government photo ID.
• Proof of education and training.
• A medical exam report with TB test or chest X-ray date and results.

Files are kept for two years after the person leaves ⁠¹.

Policies and plans you submit

Your application must include written operating policies, and they cannot contradict the standards. They must cover these 11 items ⁠¹:

1. Statement of purpose
2. Admission procedures
3. Fees and how fees are paid
4. Arrival and departure
5. Transportation, if you provide it
6. Days and hours of operation
7. Feeding program
8. Health and medical information
9. Clothing and personal belongings
10. The emergency plan
11. Discipline, including the reasons for any limited use of expulsion or suspension

Parents receive a copy at enrollment ⁠¹.

The Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan is submitted to DHR, posted in the center and given to every family ⁠¹. It must cover:

• Severe weather (including tornadoes and flash floods), lockdowns and evacuations for violent threats, hazardous material spills, disease outbreaks, and loss of power, water or heat.
• Reunification with parents, including how you will communicate when phones and internet are down.
• Children with special needs.
• Emergencies that happen during transport or field trips.
• Yearly updates and contact with local emergency management.

Drills must be practiced at least once each quarter ⁠¹.

Note that DHR does not inspect away-from-center activities, including transportation and swimming. The licensee carries full responsibility for those ⁠¹.

Assembling the application packet

DHR’s center submission list (marked revised 09/21) asks you to upload the following through ARISE ⁠²:

1. Application Form DHR-DFC-1946

   , with these attachments: operating policies, the policy on charges and services, and the name and contact details of the board chair or corporate president. If applicable, add executive board names, certified incorporation papers, and bylaws and constitution. Then add the fire report, health report, food permit or catering approval, zoning statement, floor plan and emergency plan.

2. DHR-DFC-1945

   for each applicant, owner, director and board member.

3. DHR-DFC-1598

   CA/N clearance for the same people, with results received.

4. Criminal history checks

   with suitability letters received for the same people.

5. Director’s medical exam

   report, including TB test date and result.

6. Director’s education and training

   verification.

On the application you also choose whether to take part in QRIS . Participation is voluntary and does not affect your license. The standards enroll participating providers at Star 1 to begin with. You can change that choice only on your next renewal application ⁠¹.

Neither the center standards, DHR’s submission list nor DHR’s day care center license requirements page names a license or application fee, as reviewed on 2026-10-12. Ask the Office of Child Care Licensing at intake whether any fee applies before you budget. The only charge the sources state is the fingerprinting fee under background checks.

The six-month permit, the license and renewal

When DHR finds that you meet the standards, it issues a license. A denial comes in writing with reasons. You can withdraw an application verbally or in writing ⁠¹.

If you meet every standard except that you have only half of the required indoor and outdoor equipment for each age group, DHR may, at its discretion, issue one six-month permit ⁠¹. The license application stays pending during the permit period. DHR issues a two-year license once you meet the standards. If DHR denies the application during the permit period, you must stop operating ⁠¹.

Once licensed, you work within these terms ⁠¹:

• Term and scope. The license is valid for two years. It caps the number of children in your care at any moment, including children in transit or on field trips, and fixes the age range you may serve.
• No transfers. The license cannot move to a new owner or a new building.
• Inspections. DHR makes annual visits without notice and can inspect the whole facility at any reasonable time.
• Emergency action. If conditions are hazardous, DHR can immediately restrict activities such as transportation or swimming, close off parts of the building, or cut your capacity when you lack qualified staff.

Renewal applications are due at least 30 calendar days before the license expires. A timely, complete renewal keeps your license in effect until DHR decides (Code of Ala. 41-22-19). A late or incomplete renewal lets the license lapse on its printed expiration date. DHR reports any center that keeps operating after that to the District Attorney and the Attorney General ⁠¹.

Getting paid through the subsidy program

DHR’s Office of Child Care Subsidy runs Alabama’s subsidized child care program, which is funded through the federal Child Care and Development Fund ⁠⁷. DHR’s provider rate chart sets maximum weekly full-time rates by region, care type and QRIS star level, effective April 11, 2022 ⁠⁸. Two examples for center care:

• Birmingham region, infant/toddler: $195 base, $215 at Star 5.
• Mobile region, infant/toddler: $145 base ⁠⁸.

DHR’s subsidy overview page linked this April 11, 2022 chart as its Provider Rates document on 2026-10-12, and I found no newer chart there ⁠⁷⁠⁸. Ask the Office of Child Care Subsidy whether a revised schedule is pending.

Because of that rate structure, the QRIS choice you make on your application affects how much the subsidy program pays you, even though it has no effect on the license itself ⁠¹⁠⁸.

Sources

1. 1
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Licensing and Performance Standards for Day Care Centers and Nighttime Centers (effective September 13, 2021), Ala. Admin. Code 660-5-26 Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Information to Be Submitted to the Department of Human Resources Before a Day Care Center Is Licensed Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Services Division Licensing Process Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Licensing Overview Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, License Exempt Day Care Facilities (August 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Instructions for Child Care Licensing Background Checks Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Subsidy Overview Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Subsidy Program Provider Rate Chart (effective April 11, 2022) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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