Minnesota child care center license: DCYF rules, phases and fees

What counts as a child care center in Minnesota

Many states license a center only above a set number of children. Minnesota does not. Under Minn. R. 9503.0005, a “center” is any facility running a child care program that is not excluded by statute and is not a family or group family day care home licensed under chapter 9502.⁠¹ The statute bars anyone from operating, or even advertising, a nonresidential program without a license. Doing so in willful disregard of the law is a misdemeanor.⁠²

Chapter 9503 recognizes five program types, and one license can cover several of them:⁠¹

• Day program. Runs roughly 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., operates more than 30 days in any 12-month period, and serves a child for more than 30 days in 12 months and 45 hours in a calendar month.
• Drop-in program. Has separate statutory ratios (see below).
• Night care. Runs roughly 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• Sick care. A registered nurse can count as teacher or assistant teacher for ratios.
• School-age program.

Child care licensing moved from the Department of Human Services to DCYF, and the old chapter 245A sections were renumbered into chapter 142B. DCYF says the requirements stayed the same and only the citations changed. The center rules themselves are still Minn. R. chapter 9503.⁠³

Running care from your own home? That is family or group family child care under chapter 9502, which DCYF licenses together with county agencies rather than through the center unit.⁠⁵ See the Minnesota family child care guide.

Programs the statute excludes

Minn. Stat. 142B.05, subd. 2 lists the programs that need no license. The exclusions founders most often ask about are:⁠²

• Programs run by a public school for children 33 months or older.
• Care for less than three hours a day while the parent is in the same building, or in a directly contiguous building (one sharing a wall, skyway, tunnel, atrium or common roof).
• School-age programs run by a school, YMCA, YWCA or JCC; park and recreation programs; scouting, clubs, sports and art programs; and any nonresidential program that runs a cumulative total of less than 30 days in 12 months.
• Head Start programs serving only children aged 3 to 5, or operating less than 45 days a year.
• A nonpublic school program serving only children 33 months or older, for no more than four hours a day, with no more than 20 children at a time, and accredited by an approved accrediting agency.
• Nonprofit K-12 youth development programs. These must have an on-site director, written parent consent, and a written notice to parents that the program is not licensed by the state and cannot receive child care assistance payments.
• Religious instruction, and care during regular worship services.

Being excluded has a cost. A license-exempt center that wants to accept families paid through the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) must first go through DCYF’s separate certified-center process.⁠⁵

The three-phase application in the Provider Hub

Applications go through DCYF’s online Provider Hub. If you already hold a center license, you add the new location to your existing account. A first-time applicant creates a new account.⁠⁴ Each license covers one specific location.⁠² DCYF holds an information session for prospective applicants quarterly. The next one is October 20, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to noon. Attending is not required.⁠³

1. Before you apply

   Secure a site with a valid mailing address, because DCYF will not take an application without one. Then register the business name and legal structure with the Minnesota Secretary of State.⁠³

2. Phase I: application and policies

   Upload proof of ownership. For an organization, that means its governing documents, its Secretary of State filing, and an organizational chart naming the authorized agent, every controlling individual and the center director. You also upload proof of workers’ compensation coverage (an insurer’s letter is accepted if you have no employees yet), a floor plan, and each policy as a separate document. The authorized agent signs an applicant agreement form, which must be notarized. You pay the $500 application fee and the $50 fire inspection fee.⁠⁴ A licensor is assigned and works with you until the policies are approved. If DCYF finds the application incomplete, you have 45 days to fix it or the application is denied.⁠⁴

3. Phase II: staffing, inspections and setup

   DCYF requests a zoning inspection from the local zoning authority once the application is submitted. Your licensor then requests the building, fire and health inspections. In some areas you send forms and fees straight to the inspector.⁠⁴ In this phase you also submit menus, buy age-appropriate equipment against DCYF’s checklists for each age group, sign up a health consultant, enter personnel records, and run background studies.⁠⁴

4. Phase III: pre-licensing inspection

   DCYF schedules this visit only when all documents are approved and the building, fire and health inspections are passed. Background studies must also be cleared for the license holder, every controlling individual, and enough staff to schedule a teacher-qualified person for each age category during all hours of operation.⁠⁴ The licensor measures the rooms to set your capacity, works through the Licensing Checklist, and questions you to confirm you have “competent knowledge” of the law.⁠⁴⁠²

5. Decision

   DCYF has 90 days after all phases are complete to grant or deny the license.⁠⁴ The statute separately requires the commissioner to act within 90 working days of receiving a complete application and all required outside reports.⁠² You may not serve any children until the license is issued.⁠⁴

At the pre-licensing inspection, friends, consultants and attorneys may attend but may not answer for you. If one steps in to show knowledge of the rules, the licensor may end the visit and decide the application on what it already has.⁠⁴

The statute also blocks a license if the applicant or an affiliated controlling individual has an unresolved disqualification, was denied a license in the past two years, or had a license revoked in the past five.⁠²

Building, fire and zoning sign-offs

DCYF cannot grant an initial license until two documents are in hand. The first is written verification from the local building official that the building meets the State Building Code (or local ordinance where the code has not been adopted). The second is written fire code approval from a fire marshal, based on an inspection done within 12 months before licensure.⁠¹ A local fire code inspector approved by the State Fire Marshal may do that inspection. Where none is available, the State Fire Marshal does it. Either may charge up to $50 per inspection.⁠² Under 142B.10, subd. 3, you must document compliance with building, fire, health and zoning rules, or show that a waiver was granted.⁠²

For zoning, a nonresidential program licensed for 12 or fewer children counts as a permitted single-family residential use. One licensed for 13 to 16 children counts as a permitted multifamily use, though the local authority can require a conditional or special use permit.⁠² Before issuing a license, DCYF must give the municipality 30 days’ written notice unless the program is one of those permitted residential uses.⁠²

Space, toilets and the outdoor area

Your licensed capacity is capped by indoor space. You need 35 square feet of indoor space for each child in attendance. Hallways, stairs, closets, utility rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and space taken up by cribs do not count. Only 25 percent of the floor space under furniture and equipment counts.⁠¹ Child care space must be shown on the floor plan and used only for child care during operating hours.⁠¹ DCYF also wants exits and tornado shelters marked on the plan.⁠⁴

Other physical requirements in 9503.0155:⁠¹

• Toilets and sinks. You need one toilet and one hand sink for every 15 children of licensed capacity or part of 15. A 50-child license, for example, needs four of each. Add one training seat or chair per 15 toddlers. Newly built centers, and those remodeling the plumbing, need foot- or wrist-operated sinks in the diaper area. Hot water at children’s sinks may not exceed 120°F.
• Outdoor area. It must be at least 1,500 square feet, with 75 square feet per child using it at any time. An area used daily by children under school age must be within 2,000 feet of the center (or you provide transportation), and no area may be more than half a mile away. It must be fenced next to traffic, water, rail or machinery unless it is a public park. Sick-care-only programs, drop-in programs, and programs open less than three hours a day are exempt.
• Other items. A separate space with a cot for a child who becomes sick, a 68°F minimum indoor temperature, tamper-proof outlets (except in school-age-only centers), and fire extinguishers serviced every year.

Ratios, group sizes and staff distribution

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Source: Minn. R. 9503.0005 and 9503.0040.⁠¹

Ratios are only half the rule. Minnesota also sets a staff distribution pattern for each age group. The first staff member counted toward the ratio must be a teacher, the second at least an aide, the third at least an assistant teacher, and the fourth at least an aide. The pattern then repeats.⁠¹ Infants may not be grouped with other ages. Any mixed group may span no more than 36 months of age (school-age-only groups excepted) and follows the ratio for its youngest child. Group size limits are relaxed during meals, outdoor time, field trips, naps and special events.⁠¹

At morning arrival and afternoon departure, which together may not exceed 25 percent of daily hours, an assistant teacher may stand in for the teacher under the rule, and under the statute so may an aide. The aide must be at least 18, have worked at the center for 30 days, and have finished orientation and 90-day training. The 2025 Legislature made this rule permanent in 142B.41, subd. 14.⁠²⁠⁷ An “experienced aide” (at least 20 years old, with 4,160 hours of center or family child care experience, 120 days of it with the current employer) may work without direct supervision for up to 25 percent of daily hours while a teacher is in the facility. A center may use one per four full-time classroom staff, and parents must be told by a classroom posting.⁠²

Drop-in programs follow statutory ratios: 1:4 for infants up to 16 months, 1:7 for 17 to 30 months, and 1:10 from age 2½. They must have at least two staff on duty, and once more than 20 children are present, children under 2½ must be cared for separately. School-age programs are also exempt from 9503.0040 and keep the statutory 1:15 ratio.⁠²

Director, teacher and assistant teacher qualifications

Director. Must be at least 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent, at least 1,040 hours of staff supervision experience, and nine quarter credits or 90 hours of accredited coursework in staff supervision, human relations and child development. A director who also teaches, or who writes or revises the program plan, must meet teacher qualifications too.⁠¹

Teachers. Minn. R. 9503.0032 pairs each credential with the experience and coursework it requires. Some examples:⁠¹

• A high school diploma alone requires 4,160 hours as an assistant teacher and 24 quarter credits.
• A CDA requires 1,560 hours of experience.
• A bachelor’s degree in any field requires 1,040 hours plus 18 quarter credits.
• A Minnesota prekindergarten teaching license, or an elementary license with a kindergarten endorsement, requires nothing more.
• Registered and practical nurses qualify as teachers for infants only.

Assistant teachers. Examples range from a high school diploma with 2,080 hours and 12 credits to a CDA or a two-year early childhood certificate with nothing more required.⁠¹ Aides under 18 must be directly supervised.

Since August 1, 2025, the coursework that counts as “education” is defined in 142B.01, subd. 12a. It now includes courses in subjects such as science, mathematics, communication studies, computer science and ethics.⁠⁷ If a staff member falls short, DCYF considers variances to 9503.0032 and 9503.0033 when the request includes a plan for the person to gain the missing experience or education.⁠² Substitutes who are not fully qualified are capped. Their hours may not exceed 40 per full-time teacher and assistant teacher position per year, and they may not be used for more than 10 consecutive working days with the same group.⁠¹

Training: orientation, the 90-day window and in-service hours

Minn. Stat. 142B.65 sets center training requirements:⁠²

• Before starting work: orientation covering the center’s health, safety and emergency procedures, behavior guidance, mandated reporting, the drug and alcohol policy, and the risk reduction plan. Staff caring for infants add a half hour on sudden unexpected infant death, and staff caring for children under school age add a half hour on abusive head trauma.
• Within 90 days, and before any unsupervised contact with children: pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR. The CPR course must include an in-person skills check observed by an instructor. Both are repeated every second calendar year.
• Within 90 days: at least two hours of child development training, repeated every second year. Some degrees and teaching licenses exempt staff from this.
• Every calendar year: 24 hours of in-service training for the director and staff working more than 20 hours a week, 12 hours for those working 20 or fewer, and at least 2 hours for substitutes and unsupervised volunteers. That last requirement was added in 2025 to meet federal Child Care and Development Fund rules.⁠⁷ Topics are drawn from the Minnesota Knowledge and Competency Framework content areas.
• Every five years: child passenger restraint training for anyone who buckles a child under age 9 into a vehicle.

Policies, health consultant and records

Phase I is mostly a policy review. On top of the policies chapter 9503 requires, the statute requires a drug and alcohol policy and a grievance procedure open to families.⁠² DCYF’s guide DHS-4719 lists every policy it expects.⁠⁴ You also need an emergency plan, written on DCYF’s form, that you review every year, train staff on, and give to parents at enrollment.⁠²

You must have a health consultant: a licensed physician, a registered or public health nurse, or the community health board.⁠⁴ The consultant reviews and certifies your first aid and safety policies, diapering procedures and food sanitation practices before initial licensure and every year after. If you serve infants, the review is monthly.⁠¹ Children’s records, administrative records and personnel records must be set up before DCYF grants the license.⁠⁴ For any child whose care is paid by a government program, attendance must be recorded on the day the child attends.⁠²

Fees, as published

Source: Minn. Stat. 142B.12, subd. 4.⁠²

A new applicant pays a $500 application fee. It is nonrefundable, is not prorated, and replaces the annual fee for the license that expires on December 31. DCYF will not start processing the application until the fee is paid.⁠² DCYF’s application page also lists a $50 fire inspection fee.⁠⁴ After the first year, you are billed the annual fee for your capacity. DCYF will not reissue the license while that fee, or any overdue fine, is unpaid.⁠²

After licensure: first-year visits, annual inspections and enforcement

Every center license expires on December 31 and must be renewed before then.⁠⁴ DCYF’s “Early and Often” licensors stay with a new center through its first year. They make a scheduled technical-assistance visit about three months after licensure, and the rest of the first-year visits are unannounced.⁠⁴ After that, the law requires at least one unannounced licensing inspection every calendar year, and inspection results are posted publicly.⁠²

Minor violations that can be fixed within 48 hours may get a “fix-it ticket” instead of a correction order. Fix-it tickets are not published.⁠² Low-risk violations may get documented technical assistance under DCYF’s weighted risk system. Under a 2025 change, those items will also appear on the public Licensing Information Lookup to meet federal rules.⁠²⁠⁷

Changes in 2025 and 2026

• Interpretive guidance (July 1, 2026). For a correction order issued on or after July 1, 2026, you may ask DCYF within 20 calendar days how it reads an ambiguous rule. You must do this before asking for reconsideration. If you file for reconsideration first, interpretive guidance is no longer available for that order.⁠⁷⁠⁶
• Standardized licensing visits (July 1, 2026). DCYF now publishes standards for how visits run, including license holder rights and a way to ask for review by someone other than the assigned licensor.⁠⁷
• Video cameras (July 1, 2026). A center that must post a maltreatment investigation memorandum must install cameras in every infant and toddler room within six months. The cameras must stay for four years, and recordings must be kept for 28 days.⁠²⁠⁷ The posting period for such orders rose from two to four years in 2025.⁠⁷
• Correction orders on the public lookup. Once federal approval is granted (starting no earlier than January 1, 2026), violations are not posted until the 20-day reconsideration window has closed.⁠⁷
• Pending: new chapter 142H, effective July 1, 2027. Laws 2026, chapter 127, article 12 (“Child Care Center Licensing Modernization”) moves the center standards from Minn. R. chapter 9503 into a new Minn. Stat. chapter 142H and repeals the 9503 rules, along with the center training and staffing subdivisions of sections 142B.41 and 142B.65, on July 1, 2027.⁠⁹ The ratio and group-size table, the 35 square feet of indoor space, and the 1,500 square foot outdoor area carry over unchanged, but the new chapter lets a center double the ratio for up to two hours at nap time in groups that include no infants. Directors must be at least 21 and hold 12 semester credits (or 120 training hours) in child development, supervision, management or leadership, and a director designated on July 1, 2027 keeps qualifying while working at that program.⁠⁹ If your application will still be open or your license will be new around that date, ask your licensor which version applies. This guide describes the rules in force on 2026-10-12.
• Other 2026 items. The Revisor flags chapter 142B as affected by laws from the 2026 Regular Session. DCYF has said it will publish a separate implementation plan for the 2026 changes that affect centers.⁠²⁠⁸ DCYF’s Child Care Regulation Modernization project has also published a report proposing new licensing standards.⁠⁶

For licensing questions, call the Child Care Center Licensing licensor on call at 651-431-6015 (weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) or email [email protected].⁠³ See the Minnesota state page for the state’s other care licenses.

Sources

1. 1
   Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota, Minnesota Rules, chapter 9503, Child Care Center Licensing Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota, Minnesota Statutes, chapter 142B, Children, Youth, and Families Licensing Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Apply for a child care center license Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Phases of the application process for child care center licensure Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Licensing Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Child Care Center Licensing Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Licensed Child Care Centers: Implementation plan for 2025 legislative changes (DHS-8903A, updated June 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Updates to Child Care Center Implementation Plan for 2025 Legislative Changes (licensing bulletin) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota, Laws of Minnesota 2026, chapter 127, article 12: Child Care Center Licensing Modernization Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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