Opening a family day care home in Alabama: the DHR home license

When Alabama requires a home license

Alabama’s home standards say a license is required when you provide care for one or more children who are not related to you, away from the child’s home, for more than four hours in a 24-hour period.⁠¹ The version codified in the Administrative Code says a license is required “if one of the following items apply”; DHR’s published PDF drops the words “one of”.⁠²⁠¹ If your arrangement meets some of the three conditions but not all, ask DHR’s intake line before you take a child, not after.

“Related” has a fixed list: parent, grandparent, brother, sister, stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, uncle or aunt, and their spouses, by blood, marriage or adoption.⁠¹ Cousins, family friends and neighbors’ children are unrelated.

Chapter 660-5-27 sets no registration tier or headcount exemption for homes. A single unrelated child for a full workday is enough. Operating without a license, or refusing to stop, is listed in the standards as evidence of unsuitable character, and DHR reports unlicensed operation to the Attorney General and the local District Attorney for prosecution.⁠¹ Violating the standards is a misdemeanor carrying a fine of $100 to $1,000, up to a year in county jail, or both (Code of Ala. 38-7-16).⁠¹

Family home, group home or nighttime home

DHR licenses four kinds of home under one rule chapter, 660-5-27, and one application form, DHR-CDC-712, on which you tick family or group.⁠²⁠¹

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Source: definitions and Sections G to I of the home standards.⁠¹

A group day care home is not an upgrade you switch on. The standards say a separate license must be applied for and obtained before you offer group care for 7 to 12 children.⁠¹ Above 12 children you are a day care center, which needs a building-based license under different standards; see the Alabama day care center guide.⁠⁹

Counting children, including your own

The number on your license caps everyone in your care at any moment, on the premises or on a field trip.⁠¹ DHR counts:

• your own children who live in the home and are younger than lawful school age, whenever they are home;
• visiting children under 12 who are not accompanied and supervised by an adult, related to you or not.⁠¹

Your own children of lawful school age and older are not counted.⁠¹ “Lawful school age” means the child turned 5 on or before September 1 (or the date school starts in the district), which is the kindergarten entry age.⁠¹ So a licensee with a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old at home has room for 5 more children, not 6.

Infants are capped separately. No home may be licensed for more than 3 children younger than 12 months, though DHR may make an exception for multiple-birth siblings such as triplets.⁠¹ A group home may be licensed for up to 6 infants, but must have one caregiver present for each 3 of them.⁠¹ The license also fixes the age range you may serve.⁠¹

The house: residence, zoning and the fire inspection

The licensed home must be your primary residence, which DHR judges by your address, mortgage or rent, voting district and property taxes.⁠¹ Care must happen inside the family home, not in a garage apartment, shed or other separate building.⁠¹ A license is void if you move; a new license must be issued before you receive children at the new address, and the move must be reported in advance.⁠¹

Three local documents go in with the application:⁠¹⁠³

• Landlord permission. If you rent, a written statement from the owner giving you permission to run a child care home.
• Zoning. A written statement of compliance with local zoning. If your area has no zoning that applies, you submit your own written statement that you checked with the local governing authority and found none.
• Fire inspection. A written report with no violations cited, from the fire department with jurisdiction or the State Fire Marshal. The home must meet the fire, building and safety codes the State Fire Marshal’s Office has adopted. Volunteer fire department approvals and inspections are not accepted.

DHR may also ask for a health department inspection at any time. Fire and health reports must be updated at least every five years after the first one.⁠¹

What DHR checks inside and outside

The pre-licensing visit measures the home against the 660-5-27 standards. The figures that most often drive whether a house works:⁠¹

• Indoor space: at least 32 square feet of usable floor space for each child on the license. Six children need 192 square feet of usable play and care space.
• Outdoor play area: at least 300 square feet on the grounds, enclosed by a fence or wall at least 4 feet high, with written documentation sent to DHR. A group home needs at least 600 square feet, also fenced to 4 feet. No concrete or asphalt under play equipment.
• Equipment: at least 2 items from each category on the standards’ equipment list for every age group you are licensed for (4 items for a group home), plus 2 different pieces of outdoor equipment per age group.
• Sleep: each child under 12 months sleeps alone in a crib or play pen, on the back. Cribs must meet federal Consumer Product Safety Commission standards, and a crib made before June 28, 2011 needs a certificate of compliance on file. Children 18 months and older sleep on a cot or bed, never on the floor or a top bunk.
• Safety: a working telephone; poisons, medicine and alcohol under lock and key; firearms unloaded and locked during care hours, with ammunition locked separately; outlet covers; handrails at child height on stairs; hot tubs covered or drained; no tobacco or e-cigarettes on the premises or in vehicles during care hours.
• Animals: no animal that has shown aggression; rabies certificates on file for animals the law requires to be vaccinated.
• Pools: any pool 2 feet deep or more that is accessible to the care area needs a 4-foot fence or solid wall with a locking gate. When children use it, a person with a current American Red Cross Lifeguard Training certificate must be in the pool area, with touch supervision at 1 adult per child under 2½, 1 per 3 children from 2½ to 6, and 1 per 5 children 6 and older.

Your own qualifications

To hold an initial license you must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or GED.⁠¹ Before licensing you also need:⁠¹⁠³

1. 24 clock hours of child care training

   , with at least 4 hours in each of six areas: 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. Workshops, meetings, recorded or printed materials and one-to-one consultation all count.

2. One hour of preservice training from an outside source in each of 11 health and safety topics

   , the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) list: infectious disease and immunization, safe sleep, medication administration, food and allergy emergencies, premises safety, shaken baby syndrome, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials and bio contaminants, recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect, first aid and CPR, and safe transportation (sleep, shaken baby and transport topics apply where relevant).

3. Current infant-child (pediatric) CPR and first aid certificates

   Send updated cards to DHR each time they expire.

The standards also require every licensee, substitute and assistant caregiver to be enrolled in the Alabama Pathways Professional Development Registry, and the licensee to complete an orientation on the assessment tools DHR’s Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) uses. Both carried an August 1, 2022 deadline.⁠¹

Once licensed, you need at least 20 clock hours of child care training every year across the same six areas, plus one hour annually in each of the 11 health and safety topics. CPR and first aid training does not count toward the 20 hours.⁠¹

While you work as a licensee you may not work outside the home or attend school during care hours, and you may not home-school or sell products or services while children are in care.⁠¹

Background checks for every adult in the house

Alabama screens you and every adult who lives in your home, not only people who touch the children. DHR’s background check instructions say all adults 18 and older living in a family child care home must have a comprehensive check, repeated at least every five years.⁠⁶ The standards require:⁠¹⁠⁶

• Child abuse and neglect registry clearance (form 1598) for you and each adult household member at application, updated every five years. Anyone who has lived in another state in the past five years also needs the supplemental interstate request (form 1598-B). DHR charges no fee for these forms, and the Central Registry must receive the original requests, not copies.
• Fingerprint-based criminal history checks under Code of Ala. 38-13-1 through 38-13-12: national FBI and in-state checks with fingerprints, the national and state sex offender registries, and interstate checks for anyone who lived elsewhere in the past five years. Fingerprints are taken at a Fieldprint Livescan site; the fee was $47.20 per application as published on October 12, 2026. Results go to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and then to DHR, which issues a suitability letter.
• Three references for you and each adult household member: people unrelated to you, whom you have known at least two years. DHR contacts them about character, reputation and work history.

If you, a household member or anyone else in the home receives an unsuitable determination, DHR must deny the application or suspend or revoke the license.⁠¹ The standards list felony or misdemeanor convictions in any state, DUI, controlled-substance offenses, reckless driving at excessive speed, financial crimes tied to a business, and indicated (substantiated) child or adult abuse reports as evidence DHR weighs. It considers how serious the offense was, the circumstances, and evidence of rehabilitation.⁠¹ Until all checks are back, you cannot count toward the staff-to-child ratio.⁠¹

Medical reports and immunizations

Each person in the household needs a medical report on DHR form DHR-CDC-737, signed by a physician, physician assistant or certified nurse practitioner. This includes the children who live in the home.⁠³⁠¹ For the initial application the report must be dated within six months, and it must show a tuberculin skin test or chest x-ray, also within six months.⁠¹ After that, you file a new report every two years and other household members every four years.⁠¹ Every child in the home from 2 months to 5 years old needs an Alabama Certificate of Immunization or an Alabama medical or religious exemption certificate.⁠¹⁠³

The substitute Alabama requires

Every licensed home must name at least one substitute, and a group home at least two.⁠¹ The substitute must be at least 18 with a high school diploma or GED, must care for the children in your home, and cannot be another licensed child care provider.⁠¹ You give DHR the substitute’s name, age, address and phone number, and keep a file in the home with the substitute’s medical report and TB result, references, education, CPR and first aid cards, registry clearance and suitability letter, photo ID, and signed statements that they have read the standards and the emergency plan.⁠¹

Substitutes need 6 clock hours of child care training (at least 1 hour in each of the six areas) and the 11 one-hour health and safety topics before they count in the ratio, then 6 hours of training and the 11 topics every year.⁠¹

In a group home, the assistant caregiver must meet your education, medical, age and suitability requirements except living in the home. They need 12 clock hours of child care training within their first 30 days, and 12 hours every year after that.⁠¹

Written policies and the emergency plan

Two documents written by you go in with the application.⁠³

Rules and policies. Parents and DHR each get a copy. It must state your services, days and hours of care, and fees. It must also explain how your substitutes will be used, any animals or pool on the premises, the parent’s right to visit at any time during care hours, your illness and injury policy, and your discipline practices. It must include a daily schedule with at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous active play indoors and outdoors.⁠¹ Corporal punishment of any kind is prohibited.⁠¹

Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan. The plan must cover severe weather and natural disasters, including tornadoes and flash flooding. It must also cover lockdown or evacuation for threats of violence such as an active shooter, hazardous material spills and gas leaks, disease outbreaks, and loss of power, water or heat.⁠¹ It must explain how you will shelter in place or evacuate, help infants and children with special needs, reunite children with parents (including when phones and internet are down), and contact local emergency management. You update it every year, post it in the home, and practice emergency drills at least once each quarter.⁠¹

Applying through Arise, in order

DHR stopped accepting paper initial and renewal applications on November 22, 2024. Everything now goes through the Arise CARE provider portal.⁠⁵ The Child Care Services Division describes the process like this:⁠⁴⁠³

1. Contact intake

   Call 1-866-528-1694 or email [email protected]. Intake directs you to the online system. The Office of Child Care Licensing is at 50 N. Ripley Street, Montgomery, AL 36130-4000, phone (334) 242-1425.⁠⁷

2. Submit the application in Arise

   Upload form DHR-CDC-712 with its attachments: landlord permission if you rent, a statement of ownership, the zoning statement, the clean fire report, your rules and policies, and your emergency plan. On the form you list every place you have lived in the past five years, every household member, your three references and your substitute. You also choose whether to join QRIS.⁠³⁠¹

3. Work with your assigned consultant

   DHR assigns a licensing consultant, who asks for anything missing. The consultant also sends out the reference requests and the registry clearance forms for you and your household members.⁠⁴

4. Finish the screening and training file

   Send in the medical reports with TB results, immunization certificates for children in the home, proof of your diploma or GED, proof of the 24 training hours and the CCDF topics, and current CPR and first aid cards. Registry and criminal history results must be received for you and each adult household member.⁠³

5. Pre-licensing visit

   Once everything is in, the consultant schedules a visit by appointment. They inspect the home and grounds and investigate you and your household against the standards.⁠⁴⁠¹ DHR does not write deficiency reports on a pre-licensing visit.⁠¹

6. License or permit

   When all requirements are met, DHR issues the initial license, with follow-up visits if needed.⁠⁴ If not, it notifies you in writing with the reasons for denial.⁠¹ You may withdraw the application at any point, by phone or in writing.⁠¹

Neither the standards nor DHR’s process chart gives a processing time. Applications cannot be transferred to another person or address.⁠¹

The six-month permit

DHR may, at its discretion, issue a single six-month permit when you meet every standard except having half of the required play equipment for each age group.⁠¹ The original application stays pending. You get the two-year license once you meet the standards, but if you still fall short when the permit expires, the application is denied and the home must close.⁠¹

No advertising before you are licensed

You may not advertise for children until you hold a license or six-month permit. That covers free and paid ads, internet and other media advertising, flyers, signs and even printed mugs or pens.⁠¹ Two things are allowed once your application is filed: recruiting staff and putting up construction signs, as long as they carry the visible phrase “license application pending”. A market survey that does not solicit children is also allowed.⁠¹

Costs the state publishes

Neither the home standards nor DHR’s May 2026 submission checklist lists a license or application fee.⁠¹⁠³ The state charges that are published are the Fieldprint fingerprinting fee of $47.20 per person, for you and each adult in the household, and no fee for the registry clearance forms (both as published on October 12, 2026).⁠⁶ Your fire inspection, medical exams, training and CPR courses are bought locally, and DHR publishes no figures for them.

After you open: visits, reports and renewal

DHR makes annual visits without notice and may inspect the entire home and grounds at any reasonable time.⁠¹ Refusing an inspection is a Class C misdemeanor under Code of Ala. 13A-10-3, punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to three months in jail.⁠¹ You post your license, your latest evaluation and deficiency report, the public notice form, emergency numbers, your emergency plan, any corrective or adverse action notices, and your daily schedule where parents can see them.⁠¹

Some events must be reported to DHR by phone within 24 hours, with a written report within 5 days.⁠¹ These include any injury or illness needing professional or emergency medical treatment, any death, new caregivers or substitutes, and household changes such as someone moving in or out or a birth. Arrests of anyone in the home or with access to the children, and serious damage to the home, are also reportable. Remodeling, renovations or installing a pool must be reported in advance.⁠¹

Daily care rules DHR checks include breakfast or a morning snack, a midday meal and an afternoon snack that comply with USDA guidelines. There must be no screen time for children under 2, and less than one hour a day for older children in full-day care.⁠¹

A license runs two years.⁠¹ File the renewal in Arise at least 30 calendar days before it expires. If you do, the license stays in effect until DHR decides. If you file late or incomplete, it expires on its printed date, and if you keep operating DHR reports you to the District Attorney and Attorney General.⁠¹⁠⁵

When DHR finds violations it works up a ladder: deficiency report, corrective action plan, probation, restrictions on activities or capacity, suspension and revocation.⁠¹ Notices must be posted at each public entrance. DHR will not approve an increase in capacity or age range during a corrective action period. Any adverse action removes you from QRIS until your next renewal.⁠¹ An emergency suspension can last up to 120 days.⁠¹

Subsidy and the QRIS star ratings

DHR’s Child Care Services Division also runs the state’s CCDF child care subsidy program. It pays for care for low- and moderate-income working or studying families through four Child Care Management Agencies covering nine regions.⁠¹²⁠¹⁰ DHR’s rate chart sets separate maximum weekly full-time rates for family day care homes (FDC) and group family day care homes (GFDC) by region, with a higher rate at each QRIS star level. The chart is effective April 11, 2022, and was still the one DHR linked on October 12, 2026.⁠¹¹ For example, the FDC infant/toddler base rate was $150 a week in the Huntsville and Birmingham regions, $134 in Mobile, $135 in Montgomery and $90 in Fort Payne. A Star 5 home in the Birmingham region could receive $166.⁠¹¹

QRIS participation is voluntary and has no effect on your license. New licensees start at Star 1 unless they opt out on the application, and the choice can be changed only on a renewal application.⁠¹ DHR’s site listed 490 licensed child care homes statewide on October 12, 2026.⁠¹²

Recent changes and what to watch

• Rule text. Chapter 660-5-27 took effect January 22, 2001. It was amended effective April 22, 2019, and again effective September 13, 2021.⁠² DHR’s standards PDF, uploaded in April 2026, carries “PROPOSED” in its file name, but its text matches the 2021 codified chapter. No newer amendment appeared on DHR’s licensing pages as of October 12, 2026.⁠⁸⁠²
• Online filing. All initial and renewal applications moved to Arise on November 22, 2024. Homes that were already licensed had to backfill their records in the system.⁠⁵
• Submission checklist. DHR revised its list of documents to submit before a home is licensed in May 2026. It now directs everything to the online system.⁠³

Sources

1. 1
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Licensing and Performance Standards for Family Day Care Homes, Family Nighttime Homes, Group Day Care Homes and Group Nighttime Homes (effective September 13, 2021) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Alabama Legislative Services Agency, Alabama Administrative Code, Ala. Admin. Code Chapter 660-5-27, Day Care Licensure: Family and Group Day Care Homes and Nighttime Homes Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Information to be Submitted to the Department of Human Resources Before a Day/Group Care Home is Licensed (revised 5/26) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Services Division Licensing Process (flowchart) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Services Division, Onboarding Providers, Transition to Arise for Initial and Renewal Provider Applications (memo, November 1, 2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Instructions for Child Care Licensing Comprehensive Background Checks Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Licensing (contact) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Licensing Overview Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Licensing and Performance Standards for Day Care Centers and Nighttime Centers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Alabama Department of Human Resources, Subsidy Overview Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Subsidy Program Provider Rate Chart, Maximum Weekly Full-time Rates (effective April 11, 2022) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Services Division Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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