Registering as a family child care provider in New Jersey

Optional registration, with real consequences

New Jersey splits home child care from center care at a single number. DCF’s Office of Licensing licenses child care centers, which serve six or more children under 13 for less than 24 hours a day, and “Child care centers are required by State law to be licensed.” Family child care homes, which serve “five or fewer children below 13 years of age in the provider’s private residence,” are not licensed at all. Their providers “may choose to become voluntarily registered” through Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies under contract with the Department of Human Services (DHS).⁠²

The rules for registered homes are in N.J.A.C. 3A:54, the Manual of Requirements for Family Child Care Registration, adopted under the Family Day Care Provider Registration Act (N.J.S.A. 30:5B-16 et seq.), which took effect April 27, 1987. The present edition took effect January 19, 2024 and expires January 19, 2031.⁠¹

Voluntary does not mean unimportant. Three things depend on holding a Certificate of Registration:

• Zoning. Under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-66.5b, “Family day care homes shall be a permitted use in all residential districts of a municipality,” with the same requirements as a single-family home, and a deed restriction against the use is unenforceable unless the party enforcing it proves it is necessary for neighbors’ health, safety and welfare. As enacted in P.L.1992, c.13, the statute defines a family day care home as a private residence “registered as a family day care home” under the Registration Act, so an unregistered home does not get this protection.⁠⁵
• Subsidy. To take CCAP children, a provider must be licensed or registered by DCF, or approved by DHS’s Division of Family Development.⁠⁴ The registered family child care provider route is the home-based option that pays the higher family child care rate (see the CCAP section below).⁠³
• What you may say. A provider “shall not claim in advertising or in any written or verbal announcement to be registered with the Department of Children and Families or the State of New Jersey unless a Certificate of Registration is currently in effect.”⁠¹

Condominiums and co-ops are a partial exception to the zoning rule. Communities that market themselves to retirees or set a minimum age may ban family day care homes through deed restrictions or bylaws, and other condominium and co-op associations may restrict them under conditions set in the statute.⁠⁵ If you live in one, read your association documents before you start.

How many children you can care for

The rule counts children (anyone under 13) present “at any one time.” The definition of a family child care home covers three to five children for at least 15 hours a week, but DCF may not exclude a home with fewer than three children from registration, so a one- or two-child home can register too.⁠¹

Source: N.J.A.C. 3A:54-6.1 and 6.2.⁠¹

The infant rule is the one that catches people. Your own baby counts: all children under six who are present, including those who live in the home, count toward the trigger for a second caregiver. That second caregiver must be your alternate provider, substitute or provider assistant, all of whom the sponsoring organization must have approved.⁠¹ The sponsoring organization can also set a lower limit for your home if space, equipment, the number and ages of your own children, care you give to another household member, local fire, zoning or health codes, or renovations make five unsafe.⁠¹

If you plan for six or more unrelated children, you are outside this registration. That is a child care center under N.J.A.C. 3A:52, which DCF licenses for six or more children under 13; the center rules require an application at least 45 days before opening and set license fees starting at $110 for 6 to 15 children.⁠⁶ See the New Jersey child care center license guide.

Who actually registers you

DCF does not process family child care applications itself. It contracts, through DHS, with a sponsoring organization for each geographic area, and in practice these are the county CCR&R agencies.⁠¹⁠² The sponsoring organization hands you the manual and the application, evaluates you, trains you, inspects your home, collects the fee, issues and renews the certificate, investigates complaints, and is the first level of appeal if it turns you down.⁠¹ DCF’s Office of Licensing monitors the sponsors and also conducts its own random inspections of registered homes.⁠¹

DHS’s statewide CCR&R line is 1-800-332-9227.⁠³ The application itself now runs through the New Jersey Child Care Information System (NJCCIS), where you and every person who works with the children need an account.⁠³

The people the rules cover

New Jersey’s rules name four roles besides the provider. Each has its own age floor and paperwork.⁠¹⁠³

Sources: N.J.A.C. 3A:54-1.2, 4.1 and 5.2; DHS registered provider page.⁠¹⁠³

You must be scheduled to care for the children for at least 75 percent of operating hours, or 50 percent if you share the work with an alternate provider. A home open 24 hours a day must have an alternate, and no caregiver may work more than 16 consecutive hours. You may not leave the premises unless an approved caregiver is with the children, and you may not do other work, hobbies or extended socializing while on duty.⁠¹ Before a new substitute or alternate cares for children, you must give and document an orientation covering your policies, the enrolled children, their health and nutrition needs, the activity plan and where emergency contacts are kept.⁠¹

Background checks: two layers

The 2024 manual itself requires Child Abuse Record Information (CARI) checks, a DCF search of substantiated child abuse and neglect findings, for you, your substitute, assistant, alternate, every household member 14 or older and anyone else working at the home regularly. DCF answers the sponsor within 30 working days of receiving the consent forms.⁠¹ Anyone 14 or older who moves in or starts working in the home later, and expects to stay longer than 15 consecutive days or come frequently, needs a CARI consent too.⁠¹ The application also requires each of those people to disclose criminal convictions. A conviction is not an automatic bar under the manual; the sponsor decides case by case under the Rehabilitated Convicted Offenders Act, and you must report any new conviction by the sponsor’s next business day.⁠¹

On top of that, DHS applies the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant comprehensive check. It covers you and anyone who works for you, including an assistant, substitute or alternate, and every household member 18 or older, and it must be complete before you can be registered. It includes a state fingerprint check with an FBI fingerprint check, the CARI check, state and national sex offender registry checks, and interstate checks for anyone who lived in another state in the past five years. DHS states that “Background checks are free.”⁠³ Under the federal disqualification list, being on a sex offender registry, refusing consent, making a false statement, certain felonies (including drug-related offenses in the preceding five years), violent misdemeanors against a child, or a substantiated child abuse finding can end your registered status and CCAP eligibility.⁠³⁠⁴

If a household member who is not the provider refuses a CARI check or has a substantiated finding, the manual lets you remove or replace that person before the denial takes effect, and the sponsor then continues processing your registration.⁠¹

Training before and after registration

Before the first child arrives, DHS lists:⁠³

1. CCR&R orientation

   A required two-hour orientation from your local CCR&R.

2. Health and safety course

   “Health, Safety, and Child Growth and Development/Mandated Reporting: Basic Requirements for Licensing,” taken in NJCCIS, covering premises and transportation safety, hazardous materials, emergency preparedness, infectious disease, food allergies, medication, abusive head trauma, safe sleep, child development, discipline and mandated reporting.

3. Pediatric first aid and CPR

   Arranged through your CCR&R; the CPR course is hands-on.

Anyone involved in the children’s care or who may have unsupervised access must complete the same trainings.⁠³ The manual adds that CPR must be certified through the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, the National Safety Council (infant and toddler CPR only if you serve only that age group) or the Medic Pediatric course, and that CPR and first aid must include an in-person component and stay current for as long as you are registered.⁠¹

The manual’s hour counts do not line up with each other: one section has the sponsor providing 18 hours of pre-service training, another has the applicant attending eight hours.⁠¹ Ask your CCR&R which sequence it uses; DHS’s own steps (orientation, the NJCCIS course, first aid and CPR) are the current description of what you must finish.⁠³

Ongoing training also comes from two sources. For renewal, the manual requires you and any alternate to document 20 hours of in-service training over the three-year period, not counting first aid or CPR, with up to 10 of those hours by distance learning.⁠¹ DHS states that all registered providers and their staff must complete at least six hours of in-service training each year and upload it to NJCCIS, and that missing it can cost CCAP eligibility.⁠³ Six hours a year adds up to only 18 over a three-year period, so plan on at least 20 documented hours before renewal.

Getting the house ready for the home visit

The sponsor’s evaluation visit can be announced or unannounced and includes every room children use, plus the basement, accessible attic, storage shed, garage and carport, to look for hazards.⁠¹ N.J.A.C. 3A:54-6.3 through 6.6 set the standard. The requirements that most affect the layout of a house:⁠¹

• Exits. Each room used for care needs two means of egress. The second can be an operable window of at least 820 square inches that adults and children can get through. Security bars need a one-motion quick release. Children may not nap in a basement unless it has two means of egress approved under the Uniform Construction Code and Uniform Fire Code. Unfinished attics, basements and additions may not be used for care at all.
• Detectors. A working smoke detector on every floor, with battery backup if hardwired, and approved carbon monoxide detectors on every level.
• Heat. Rooms at 65°F or warmer; no portable electric or liquid-fuel space heaters while children are present; barriers on wood, pellet and coal stoves and fireplaces; covered radiators and pipes when the heat is on.
• Program space. It excludes kitchen food-prep areas, bathrooms, hallways, stairways, closets, laundry and furnace rooms, and storage.
• Hazards. Firearms, other weapons (including BB guns, bows and hunting knives) and ammunition locked away; no flaking, peeling or chipped lead paint; tip-prone furniture and TVs secured; outlets capped; trampolines off-limits; indoor doors that lock from inside openable from outside.
• Water. Pools and bodies of water physically inaccessible except during supervised use; hot tubs, spas and wading pools prohibited. In water 24 inches or deeper, one adult may directly supervise no more than two children, and you need a ring buoy or similar rescue device.
• Utilities and outdoors. A working phone, electricity, hot and cold running water, accessible indoor toilets, and a safe outdoor play area at or within walking distance of the home.

You also need a posted emergency plan with an evacuation diagram, a relocation site and the hospital you would use. The rules require monthly evacuation and relocation drills, fire drills that get every child out within three minutes, two shelter-in-place and two lockdown drills a year, and a 72-hour supply of food, water and first aid in case parents cannot reach you after a disaster.⁠¹ DHS also requires written procedures for emergency preparedness, disposal of bio-contaminants, food and allergic reactions, and immunizations; your CCR&R supplies a packet.⁠³ If you have pets, the application must state they are vaccinated and non-aggressive, and you must keep veterinary proof of vaccination at the home.⁠¹

The application, in order

1. Read N.J.A.C. 3A:54 and call your CCR&R

   DHS asks you to review the manual first, then tell your CCR&R you want to register.⁠³

2. Open NJCCIS accounts

   One for you and one for each person with direct or unsupervised access to children.⁠³

3. Choose your substitute

   Every registered provider must name a substitute who is at least 18.⁠³

4. Submit the application in NJCCIS

   It lists everyone in the household, the ages of children under 18 who live there, your planned hours, your substitute, alternate and assistant, a pet statement, any previous denial or revocation in New Jersey or another state, and conviction disclosures. Attach a health care provider’s statement based on an exam within the prior six months (for you, your substitute, alternate, assistant and household members present during care), a Mantoux TB test from the prior six months or a chest X-ray if you previously tested positive, and two reference letters dated within three years or the contact details of two references.⁠¹⁠³

5. Complete the background checks and training

   Fingerprints, CARI consents and the pre-service courses must be done before you can be registered.⁠³

6. Pass the home inspection

   The CCR&R inspects before issuing the certificate and writes up any violations with a reinspection date.⁠¹⁠³

7. Receive a temporary or regular certificate

   If you are in substantial compliance with no serious hazards, the sponsor issues a temporary certificate, good for up to six months, with written instructions on what remains. You cannot operate on temporary certificates for more than one year. The regular certificate requires full compliance and a visit while at least one enrolled child is present.⁠¹

If you do not submit all documentation within 90 days, the sponsor treats the application as withdrawn.⁠¹ Your three-year registration period starts from the first temporary certificate if you received one.⁠¹

Fees

Sources: N.J.A.C. 3A:54-4.5 and 5.6; DHS registered provider page.⁠¹⁠³

The state publishes no fee for the TB test, medical exam or first aid and CPR courses, which you arrange yourself, so those costs vary.

Running a registered home

The certificate names you and your address. It must be posted where parents can see it during care hours, and you cannot transfer it. Report changes to your application in writing within 15 calendar days. If you move, the old certificate is void and you must reapply and pass a new evaluation; the sponsor can issue a temporary certificate for the new address.⁠¹

Report to the sponsor by its next working day: a child hospitalized or treated at any medical facility, a child’s death, damage to the home that affects compliance, a new conviction in the household, a move, or closing the home. Suspected abuse or neglect goes immediately to DCF’s State Central Registry at 1-877-652-2873.⁠¹ Keep a record for each child (contacts, health exam, immunizations, emergency-treatment consent, transport, swimming and school-age release permissions, injuries), a visitor log, and daily arrival and departure times, for at least one year after the child leaves.⁠¹ If you drive children, you need vehicle liability insurance.⁠¹

Night care (8 p.m. to 6 a.m.) is allowed. A caregiver must be awake and alert at all times, no child under seven may sleep in a top bunk, no enrolled child may share a bedroom with an adult, and a child going straight to school gets breakfast unless the school or parent provides it.⁠¹

Inspections, renewal and losing a registration

The sponsor must inspect each home at least once every two years and randomly visit at least 20 percent of its homes each year. It must also do annual unannounced monitoring inspections before renewing your certificate.⁠¹ DHS says CCR&Rs conduct both announced and unannounced inspections, and CCAP programs get an unannounced inspection every year.⁠³⁠⁴ Complaints other than abuse are investigated within 10 working days.⁠¹

The sponsor must send your renewal packet at least 90 days before your certificate expires. You return the application, updated health statements and CARI consents at least 45 days before expiry, along with documentation of the 20 in-service hours, and you must allow a pre-renewal inspection.⁠¹

A sponsor may deny, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew for rule violations, fraud, conduct that endangers children, or a DCF finding that children are at risk. Usually it must first give you written notice and a chance to fix the violation. You can appeal to the sponsor’s appeals committee, which reviews within 15 days, or go directly to DCF’s Office of Licensing; actions based on abuse findings or criminal convictions go straight to the Office of Licensing. From there a case can go to the Office of Administrative Law, and a final DCF decision can be appealed to the Appellate Division within 45 days. Parents must be notified in writing within 10 days of a suspension, revocation or nonrenewal, and after a denial, revocation or nonrenewal you cannot reapply for one year.⁠¹

Getting paid through CCAP

DHS’s Child Care Assistance Program pays providers on behalf of eligible families, and providers must meet federal CCDBG requirements on top of state rules.⁠⁴ Registration moves a home-based caregiver into a higher rate category. In its example, published May 15, 2026, DHS says a Family, Friend and Neighbor “approved home” caring for a full-time toddler would see the monthly rate rise from $603 to $1,217.56 per child after becoming a registered family child care provider.⁠³ Approved-home providers who switch have already done the health and safety training and background checks, and the CCR&R decides whether they qualify.⁠³

Registered providers may also join Grow NJ Kids, the state’s five-star quality rating system, which DHS says can raise the monthly per-child rate further.⁠³

CCAP eligibility is a separate layer from registration. DHS warns that staff who miss the required annual in-service training may cost the program its eligibility, and that a disqualifying background check result makes a person ineligible to operate as a child care provider.⁠³⁠⁴

What changed recently

• January 19, 2024: The edition of N.J.A.C. 3A:54 in force took effect; it expires January 19, 2031. Among other things it contains the shelter-in-place and lockdown drill requirements, the 72-hour emergency supply, the in-person component for CPR and first aid, and annual unannounced monitoring before renewal.⁠¹
• May 15, 2026: The date on DHS’s registered provider page, which describes the NJCCIS-based steps, the free comprehensive background check and the six-hour annual in-service requirement.⁠³
• Pending: The official sources used here show no change to voluntary registration. Earlier legislative sessions saw bills to make family day care registration mandatory (for example A3139 in 2024), and the 2026-2027 Legislature has bills on child care loans, subsidy funding and health coverage that mention registered homes, but this review could not confirm any pending bill that changes registration or its background check rules. Ask your CCR&R or the DCF Office of Licensing whether any rule proposal or bill is moving before you invest in the home.

Sources

1. 1
   New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Office of Licensing, N.J.A.C. 3A:54, Manual of Requirements for Family Child Care Registration (effective January 19, 2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Office of Licensing Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development (Child Care NJ), Registered Family Child Care Provider Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development (Child Care NJ), Provider Eligibility for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   New Jersey State Library, P.L.1992, c.13 (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-66.5b et al.), legislative history and enacted text Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Office of Licensing, N.J.A.C. 3A:52, Manual of Requirements for Child Care Centers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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