Mississippi child care facility license: how a center gets licensed by MSDH

Six children, and the Health Department licenses you

The Mississippi Child Care Licensing Law (Miss. Code Ann. § 43-20-1 et seq.) puts child care licensing with the Mississippi State Department of Health. The Department of Human Services does not license centers.⁠¹ A child care facility is any place that gives shelter and personal care to six or more children under 13 who are not related to the operator within the third degree, for any part of the 24-hour day, whether or not it is run for profit. The term covers day nurseries, day care centers, child care centers and preschool programs.⁠¹ On its application page, MSDH spells out “related” as your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews.⁠²

Operating without a license is a misdemeanor. The fine is up to $100 for a first offense and up to $200 for each later one, and MSDH can also seek an injunction.⁠¹

There are three neighboring categories to sort out first:

• Five or fewer children in your home falls under a separate Child Care Family Home rule chapter.⁠⁴ See the Mississippi child care family home license.
• Six to twelve children in the operator’s own home is still a child care facility, but it has its own rule set, effective February 12, 2022.⁠⁴⁠⁶ Its director qualifications match the center rules, and a capacity of 12 or fewer carries the lowest license fee, $97.50.⁠⁶⁠¹
• Exempt programs. MSDH recognizes the exemptions in Miss. Code Ann. § 43-20-5(a). If MSDH asks in writing, a program claiming an exemption has 30 days to send documentation sworn by affidavit. An exempt program that chooses to get licensed anyway must follow every rule and pay every fee.⁠¹ The rule text does not list the exemptions; they sit in the statute itself. Before you assume you are exempt, ask the Child Care Licensure Bureau at (601) 364-2827 whether your program qualifies under § 43-20-5, and get the answer in writing.

Do not sign a lease before the inspector’s first visit

MSDH’s own guidance for new applicants is blunt: do not sign a lease or buy a building for a child care facility until a Child Care Licensing Inspector has made an initial visit and inspected the building.⁠² Start by calling the Child Care Licensure Office at (601) 364-2827. The bureau sits at 143B Lefleur’s Square in Jackson.⁠²⁠³ Several building rules can rule out a property on the spot:

• No house trailers, relocatable classrooms or portable buildings unless the structure was designed for educational use and meets the Mississippi Department of Education’s relocatable-classroom standards. Existing licensees in such buildings lose that exemption on a change of ownership or a major renovation.⁠¹
• Full separation from other businesses. People from other tenants may not pass through the child care space to enter, leave or reach another part of the building.⁠¹
• Lead. A building constructed before 1978 must have a lead hazard screen or a lead-based paint risk assessment by a risk assessor certified by the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality. The facility cannot operate until it is found lead-safe.⁠¹ The playground soil must also be tested for lead before opening, with a limit of 400 ppm.⁠¹
• Playground siting. The play area must adjoin the building or be reachable by a hazard-free route of no more than 660 feet (1/8 mile). It must be at least 30 feet from transformers, high-voltage lines, substations, railroad tracks and sources of toxic fumes.⁠¹
• Water and wastewater. Water must come from a public system or a private system MSDH has approved. Wastewater disposal approval and drinking water approval are both in the pre-opening packet.⁠¹

Plans and specifications for any construction or major renovation go to MSDH for approval first.⁠¹ Under the bureau’s 2022 renovation guidance, a “major renovation” is any work that disturbs more than 24 square feet, the area of a standard 36-by-96-inch interior door. You must prove the year the building was constructed. In a pre-1978 building, major renovations must be done by an MDEQ-certified firm or individual, and you must document that afterward.⁠⁵

How MSDH sets your capacity

The license states a maximum capacity. Capacity is the lowest of the limits set by indoor square footage, kitchen square footage, outdoor playground area, and toilet and sink counts. Each room’s capacity is also calculated on its own.⁠¹

“Usable space” is measured wall to wall inside the room. It excludes kitchens, bathrooms, offices, hallways, closets, storage shelving, the ill-child area and any space taken up by adult-size furniture.⁠¹ You also need a separate, supervised space where a sick or injured child can wait for a parent.⁠¹

The other three limits:

• Kitchen size. 90 sq ft for 1 to 50 children, 150 for 51 to 70, 210 for 71 to 100, and 300 above 100. At 50 or more children you need a stand-alone freezer. Kitchens serving 13 or more children, and any kitchen not in an occupied dwelling, must meet the MSDH Food Code. Children are not allowed in the kitchen, and the kitchen must be fully enclosed with barriers approved by the local fire authority.⁠¹
• Toilets and sinks. One per 15 children. Urinals may make up no more than a third of the toilet fixtures, and sinks in the diapering area don’t count. Hot water may not exceed 120°F.⁠¹ School-age programs use one toilet and one sink per 30 children.⁠¹
• Playground. 75 sq ft per child using it at one time, and the total area must hold at least 33% of licensed capacity at once. It needs a fence at least 4 feet high with gaps of 3½ inches or less, at least two exits (one away from the building), shade, and equipment that meets the CPSC Handbook for Public Playground Safety (Publication 325).⁠¹

Other building rules that inspectors check: two remote exits from every floor, each at least 32 inches wide and opening outward, with neither exit routed through the kitchen; dead-end corridors no longer than 20 feet; indoor temperatures of 65 to 78°F; a protective barrier up to 4 feet on glass unless it is certified safety glazing; shielded, shatterproof ceiling lights; carbon monoxide monitors if any equipment is nonelectric; and fire extinguishers serviced every year.⁠¹

If the Board of Health later changes the capacity rules, an operating facility keeps its existing capacity, even through a change of ownership. That protection ends with any break in licensed use or any change in layout.⁠¹

Ratios and group sizes

Ratios apply at all times, including opening, closing, field trips and water activities. In a mixed-age group, the youngest child sets the ratio. Preschoolers may not be grouped with school-age children.⁠¹ Video monitors do not count as supervision, and no one person may supervise more than one classroom.⁠¹

During rest time, children 2 and older may be supervised in the room by half the required staff, as long as the full ratio is kept on the premises.⁠¹ Whenever children are present, someone must be on site who meets director or designee qualifications, along with someone who holds adult, child and infant CPR and first-aid certification. That CPR and first-aid training must be in person and hands-on. MSDH does not accept online courses.⁠¹

The director and the rest of the staff

Director (Rule 1.5.3). The director must be at least 21 and meet one of these routes:⁠¹

1. Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, child development, elementary education, child care, special education, child psychology, family and consumer sciences (child development emphasis), or an equivalent child-related field.
2. Associate degree in child development technology that includes at least 480 hours of supervised practical training in a college-run child care lab.
3. Associate degree in child development technology or child care, plus two years of paid experience in a licensed facility.
4. Two years of paid caregiver experience in a licensed facility, plus one of: a CDA credential that has not expired, an MDHS Child Care Director’s Credential, or 24 semester hours of early childhood coursework with a C or better.
5. An MSDH certificate showing the person qualified as a Mississippi director before January 1, 2000.

The director can be the operator or a hired employee.⁠¹ You must give the licensing official a list of everyone qualified to be in charge when the director is absent.⁠¹ A director designee must be at least 21, with a high school diploma or GED and two years of paid experience in a licensed facility. A designee may hold sole authority for no more than 24 hours a week. The one exception is a single stretch of up to 14 consecutive days per licensure year, which can be extended for the director’s medical leave with MSDH approval.⁠¹

Caregivers must be 18 or older, with a high school diploma or GED, a CDA or MDHS credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13. Anyone who doesn’t qualify is a caregiver assistant. Assistants must be at least 16, always work under on-site supervision, never serve as a group’s only caregiver, and may not discipline children if they are under 18.⁠¹

Training. Before a new license is issued, owners, directors and director designees must complete MSDH’s three mandatory courses: Child Care Regulations, Director Orientation and Playground Safety. A director or designee appointed later has six months to finish them.⁠¹ Only bureau staff teach the mandatory courses, and MSDH offers all of its staff development training free.⁠¹⁠³ After opening, every director, designee and caregiver needs 15 contact hours of approved training each licensure year. No more than 5 of those hours may come from your own in-house training.⁠¹ Volunteers get at least a one-hour orientation from the director.⁠¹

Background checks: the Letter of Suitability

Every operator, employee and prospective employee needs a fingerprint-based check. It covers the FBI and state criminal databases, the state child abuse registry, the national and state sex offender registries, and other states where applicable. The check is repeated every five years.⁠¹ No one may start work until the MSDH Criminal Records Check Unit has issued a Letter of Suitability, and you track each person’s status on MSDH’s website.⁠¹ If the facility has more than one operator, every operator goes through the checks, including a spouse who co-owns the business but is not named on the license.⁠¹ Paid employees under 18 need the full check, and so does anyone returning after a break of more than 180 days.⁠¹ Volunteers who will serve 120 or more hours in a licensure year need a Letter of Suitability. All volunteers need a Form 121 immunization certificate, and volunteers under 120 hours a year also need a timesheet of their hours.⁠¹ Fingerprinting costs $50 per card as published on 2026-10-12.⁠¹

What MSDH must have before you open

You open on a temporary license. MSDH will not issue it until it has received or verified the items in Rule 1.2.2:⁠¹

• The license application, the $130 application fee and the license fee for your capacity
• Proof that your director meets Rule 1.5.3, and proof that owners and the director finished the three mandatory courses
• A Letter of Suitability and a Form 121 immunization certificate (or Form 122 medical exemption) for everyone who will work at opening. Religious exemptions do not apply to staff.
• MSDH Fire Inspection Form 333, signed by the local fire department, or by the State Fire Marshal where there is no fire department
• Proof of passing an ANSI-CFP accredited food manager course. The rule names ServSafe, the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals, Prometric and MSU Extension’s TummySafe.
• Wastewater, drinking water, zoning and lead-testing approvals (the building if built before 1978, plus the playground)
• CPR and first-aid certification covering all hours of operation
• A floor plan, the Maximum Capacity Worksheet (Form 28), the Child Care Facility Inspection Report (Form 281), the Data Sheet (Form 286) and, if applicable, a food service inspection (Forms 301-302) and a menu
• A daily schedule and arrival and departure procedures
• A discipline policy that bans every practice prohibited in Subchapter 14
• An emergency preparedness plan meeting the Stafford Act definition. It must cover evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, lockdown, reunification with families, continuity of operations, and children with disabilities or chronic conditions. It must also name two relocation sites, one at least 1 mile away and one at least 5 miles away.
• A transportation policy and proof of vehicle insurance if you transport children. An emergency transportation policy is required even if you never plan to.
• A written statement of whether the operator carries accident or liability insurance

The rules do not require insurance. They require disclosure. Parents must be told what coverage you carry, and if you have no liability insurance, each parent signs a statement acknowledging that.⁠¹ After you open, you hold monthly fire and tornado drills and other disaster drills at least every six months.⁠¹

Applying, in order

1. Call the bureau and book the initial visit

   Do this before you commit to a building.⁠²

2. Pick the director and lock down the building

   Run the capacity math above against the floor plan. Then line up zoning, water, wastewater and lead approvals.⁠¹

3. Book the fire inspection

   The local fire department completes Form 333, which goes in with the application and fees.⁠¹⁠²

4. Fingerprint the owners and staff, and take the mandatory courses

   Letters of Suitability must be on file before anyone works.⁠¹

5. Apply online

   Submit the application through MSDH’s new-application portal and pay the fees at healthyms.com.⁠²⁠¹

6. Pass the MSDH inspection

   An agency representative inspects every facility before issuing or renewing a license and gives you the written findings on the spot.⁠¹ Inspections review caregiver records, children’s and immunization records, policies, program content, and the building and grounds.⁠³

7. Open on the temporary license

   MSDH says licensing can take up to 90 days after the application is submitted and the fee paid.⁠² The temporary license runs to the last day of the sixth month after issue. A regular license follows once you meet every requirement.⁠¹

The license is issued in the operator’s name for one address and cannot be transferred. Under the rule, a change of ownership includes any deal that shifts a majority interest, including leases, stock transactions and changes of entity form, so the new owner needs a new license.⁠¹ Post the license, with MSDH’s complaint notice beside it, where everyone who enters can see it.⁠¹

Fees, as published

All fees are paid online and are nonrefundable. Government-run facilities pay only the fingerprint fee, but private contractors running care for a state agency pay everything.⁠¹ MSDH will not issue or renew a license while the operator owes monetary penalties.⁠¹

Renewal, license types and penalties

Renewal. MSDH emails a renewal notice at least 75 days before expiration. File the online renewal, any inspection certificates MSDH requires, and the fee at least 30 days before expiration. Filing later adds the $25 late fee.⁠¹ If the license lapses, MSDH may reinstate it within one month if you pay both the renewal fee and the $260 reinstatement fee. After that month, you start over with an initial application under the rules in effect at that time.⁠¹

Other license types. MSDH can issue a probational license of up to six months, with a written corrective action plan, when violations threaten children but can be corrected. It can also put restrictions on any license, such as barring a named person from the premises. Violating a restriction means immediate emergency suspension.⁠¹

Monetary penalties (Rule 1.25.9).⁠¹

• Class I, such as a death or permanent injury MSDH finds you failed to prevent, or a child left unattended: $500 for the first occurrence and $1,000 for each repeat. Two Class I citations can lead to suspension or revocation.
• Class II, which covers ratio, group-size and capacity breaches, personnel records, emergency planning, discipline, release to an unauthorized person, immunization records and similar violations: $50, then $100 for repeats within the same licensure term. Class II citations on four separate inspection dates can lead to suspension or revocation.
• Class III, any other violation: $25 each.

You have 10 business days to appeal a penalty. Unappealed penalties are due within 30 business days.⁠¹

School-age, summer camp, night and hourly programs

Some programs run under special sections of the same chapter. Where a special section conflicts with the general rules, the special section controls:⁠¹

• School-age programs serve ages 5 to 12 during the school year, and may run year-round. Summer day camps serve the same ages from May through August only, for at least 22 days and no more than 16 weeks. Both use 25 sq ft per child and one toilet and sink per 30 children.
• Night care applies to any facility open past 11:30 p.m. as part of its regular hours. It requires beds or cots with mattresses at least 3 inches thick (mats are not allowed), bathtubs or showers near the sleeping areas, and dinner and breakfast depending on the hours.
• Hourly child care is short-term care tied to a business such as a hotel, mall or entertainment venue. It is capped at 8 hours per stay and 45 hours per child per month. If MSDH finds full-time care, the program must meet all regular facility rules.

Getting paid through the Child Care Payment Program

Child care subsidies in Mississippi run through the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP), administered by the MDHS Division of Early Childhood Care and Development. A center can apply only after MSDH licenses it. It must be in good standing with MSDH and be designated a Standard Center.⁠⁷ Standard Center status asks more than licensing does: all staff complete the mandatory training required by the federal CCDBG Act of 2014 and 15 hours of professional development a year in the areas the Act lists. Provider registration renews every year.⁠⁷ Providers are usually paid through a monthly voucher. Parents owe their co-payment plus any gap between the voucher and your published tuition.⁠⁷ Beginning August 1, 2025, MDHS began accepting CCPP applications from working families outside its six priority groups, inviting them from the waitlist.⁠⁷ MSDH separately requires every licensed provider to enter its hourly rate by age group in the Child Care LARS database.⁠¹

What changed in 2026

The Board of Health approved proposed amendments to the child care facility regulations on January 14, 2026.⁠⁸ The complete Chapter 1 rules posted by MSDH took effect on February 26, 2026, and those are the rules this guide follows.⁠⁴⁠¹ MSDH posts the amended text, not a summary of what changed, and the Board minutes list the amendments only by title.⁠⁸ Ask the bureau which provisions changed from the 2022 version. If you prepared from an older printout, check your plans against the February 2026 PDF. One example: the April 2022 renovation memo quotes a pre-1965 lead-testing threshold, while Rule 1.11.1 as effective February 26, 2026 uses 1978.⁠⁵⁠¹ The separate rules for 12 or fewer children in the operator’s home were last amended effective February 12, 2022.⁠⁶

Sources

1. 1
   Mississippi State Department of Health, Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities, 15 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 11, Subpt. 55, Ch. 1 (effective February 26, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Mississippi State Department of Health, New Child Care Facility License Application: Start Here Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Mississippi State Department of Health, About the Child Care Licensure Bureau Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Mississippi State Department of Health, Child Care Facilities Regulations and Guidelines Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Mississippi State Department of Health, Bureau of Child Care Licensure, Rules Regarding Renovations in Child Care Facilities (April 13, 2022) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Mississippi State Department of Health, Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities for 12 or Fewer Children in the Operator's Home (effective February 12, 2022) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Early Childhood Care and Development, Child Care Providers (Child Care Payment Program) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Mississippi State Department of Health, Minutes, Mississippi State Board of Health, January 14, 2026 Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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