Licensing a family or group child care home in New Mexico

Registered, family or group: where the four-child line falls

New Mexico has three tiers of home-based child care, and the number of children decides which one applies to you.

The licensing rule does not apply to “any individual who in their own home provides care, services and supervision to four or fewer nonresident children.”⁠¹ Those providers can register with ECECD as a registered home. Registration requires you to be at least 18, pass a background check (along with every adult living in the home), and complete the required training, including in-person CPR and first aid. ECECD pays registered homes only for the children who do not live there.⁠⁵ The 8.9.3 NMAC text on the State Records Center site still says a registered home that takes child care assistance must enroll in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) unless exempt,⁠⁶ but ECECD’s October 2025 final-rule statement says licensed and registered home providers are not required to participate in CACFP to take part in child care assistance.⁠¹⁰

Once you care for five or more children, you need a license. A family child care home is a private dwelling caring for at least five but no more than six children for less than 24 hours a day. A group child care home cares for at least seven but not more than 12 children, and the care may be in the dwelling “or other building on the premises.”⁠¹ In both, “the licensee will reside in the home and be the primary educator.”⁠¹ If you want care outside a home where you live, or more than 12 children, you need a child care center license instead: see the New Mexico child care center license guide.

Some programs fall outside 8.9.4 NMAC altogether: 24-hour continuous care, child care run by the federal or a tribal government or by a public school system, and care where parents stay on the premises.⁠¹ Homes on sovereign tribal lands that are governed and inspected by a Tribal CCDF Lead Agency (or hold tribal Head Start status) are not inspected by ECECD. Under the final rule adopted in October 2025, they may apply for an ECECD Tribal Government License to receive child care assistance, submitting an application, proof of tribal approval and annual background-clearance attestations, or they may choose a full state license under 8.9.4 NMAC instead.⁠¹⁰

The 8.9.4 NMAC text on the State Records Center site ⁠¹ predates ECECD’s October 2025 amendments and its July 2026 emergency rule. Where this guide describes a change it cites ECECD’s final-rule statement ⁠¹⁰ or SB 96 guidance ⁠¹¹; the home requirements below are otherwise unchanged apart from drafting edits such as “will” becoming “shall”.

Who can hold the license

The licensee is the person in whose name the license is issued and who is legally responsible for compliance.⁠¹ For homes, the rule adds conditions that a center owner does not face:

• You must live in the home and be the primary educator.⁠¹
• You must be in the home for at least 75% of the home’s core hours of operation.⁠¹
• Every educator counted in the ratio, you included, must be at least 18.⁠¹
• Before the license is issued, you as primary caregiver must hold CPR certification.⁠¹
• Nobody disqualified under ECECD’s background check rules may keep working with children or keep living in the home.⁠¹

The rule has no education or degree requirement for a home licensee. Training requirements take its place (see below).

How many children you can take, counting your own

The licensed capacity is a hard ceiling, both in total and by age group. ECECD counts all children in your care, including your own children under six, even when the group is away on a field trip. Nonresident school-age children who drop in after school also count toward the limit.⁠¹

Children under two are the main constraint. The rule defines an infant as 6 weeks to 12 months and a toddler as 12 to 24 months, and you may not admit a child younger than six weeks without a licensed physician’s written approval.⁠¹

So a family home licensed for six can take up to four babies and toddlers only if a second educator is present and the license says so.⁠¹ Substitutes, volunteers and part-time second educators counted in the ratio must meet the same requirements as regular staff, except for training hours.⁠¹ If you care for children overnight, an educator must be onsite, physically available and responsive to children who need attention during the night.⁠¹

Fitting the house to the rule

ECECD measures the rooms where you will care for children. You need 35 square feet of activity and sleeping space per child, not counting bathrooms, kitchens, halls and built-in fixtures. For a home licensed for up to six children ECECD measures one activity room; for a home licensed for 12 it measures no more than two rooms. Children may not be cared for in unlicensed areas of the home, and you need at least one bathroom with a toilet and sink.⁠¹

Outdoors, you need a play area on the premises (or one ECECD approves) enclosed by a fence at least four feet high with at least one latched gate usable as an emergency exit. Climbing structures, swings and slides need energy-absorbing surfacing; grass, artificial turf and rubber mats do not qualify. Trampolines are banned during operating hours.⁠¹

Inside, the building and safety section of the rule (8.9.4.38 NMAC) requires, among other things:⁠¹

• rooms used by children kept at 68°F to 82°F, with no unvented, open-flame or portable heaters;
• faucet water below 110°F, with a tempering valve ahead of the domestic water-heater piping;
• no multi-prong or gang plugs (surge protectors are allowed);
• in each activity area without a door to the outside, at least one window usable as an emergency exit, and all activity space for children under two and a half on the level of exit discharge or the ground floor;
• an operating smoke detector in every activity room and every room where a child sleeps, and carbon monoxide detectors covering licensed areas if anything in the home burns coal, wood, oil, kerosene, propane, natural gas or similar fuel;
• a 210ABC fire extinguisher mounted in the kitchen and professionally inspected every year;
• a phone within easy reach with emergency numbers posted (a cell phone alone is acceptable);
• written notice to parents before pets are in the home, and veterinary inoculation records.

Sleep equipment is tightly specified. Each infant needs a crib meeting CPSC 16 CFR 1219 or 1220. No child may sleep in a play pen, pack and play, swing, car seat or bouncer. Cribs, cots and mats must be at least 30 inches apart where the room allows (otherwise as far apart as possible), and no child may sleep behind a closed door.⁠¹ You may not use accordion-style baby gates.⁠¹

The rule also sets daily program limits. Children under two may have no media time at all, and children two and older may have no more than six hours a month. Full-time children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day, part-time children 30.⁠¹ Meals and snacks you serve must follow USDA CACFP meal patterns.⁠¹

Background checks for the whole household

A national fingerprint-based criminal records check is required for you, any staff, volunteers, anyone with unsupervised access to children, and all adults residing in the home, under ECECD’s background check rule, 8.9.6 NMAC. All of these checks must clear before ECECD will issue an initial license.⁠¹ A household member who turns 18 must submit a background check within 30 days of their birthday. Every check is repeated at least once every five years.⁠¹⁠² Each year, every adult and teenager living in the home signs a statement on whether they would be disqualified. For a teenager, the guardian signs.⁠¹

In the portal, the home applicant’s EPICS number (which also becomes the license number) is assigned when the background check is completed, and staff checks are tied to it.⁠³ ECECD says background checks are free for registered home providers.⁠⁵

Training before and after you open

New Mexico sets its training requirements in hours and deadlines rather than degrees.⁠¹⁠⁷

• Before licensure: CPR certification for you as primary caregiver. All educators need first aid and CPR with a pediatric component within three months of hire, and online courses count only if they include a hands-on component.⁠¹
• Within three months of hire: the federal CCDF health and safety topics plus a child development course.⁠¹ ECECD delivers these as seven courses on its Quorum platform totaling 23 hours: communicable disease prevention (2 hours), food to physical activity (4), keeping children safe (4), safe sleep (2), transporting children (3), child abuse prevention (3) and developmental milestones (5).⁠⁷
• Within 12 months: a 14-hour introductory package (learning environment, challenging behavior, family relationships, honoring all families), or a three-credit early care and education course. This package replaced the former 45-hour entry course.⁠¹⁠⁷
• Infant and toddler care: at least two hours of infant-toddler training within six months. These hours count toward the annual total.⁠¹
• Every year: 12 documented hours, including six in child growth and development and three in health, safety, nutrition and infection control. No more than three hours of first aid or CPR may count, and trainers must be on the New Mexico trainer registry.⁠¹

You, as primary educator, must complete all required hours no matter how many hours you work. A second educator working 20 hours a week or less completes half.⁠¹

Written policies ECECD will ask for

The home rule requires a set of documents that many applicants underestimate:⁠¹

• an emergency evacuation and disaster preparedness plan covering relocation, shelter-in-place, lockdown, reunification and plans for children with special needs, approved by ECECD every year;
• mission, philosophy and curriculum statements;
• a family handbook (the October 2025 amendments renamed the parent handbook)⁠¹⁰ with listed contents, including enrollment, disenrollment and expulsion-prevention policies for children birth to five, fees and late penalties, health and medication policies, an anti-discrimination policy, a staff cell phone policy and, if it applies, a disclosure that you carry no liability or accident insurance;
• a written guidance (discipline) policy that parents and staff sign;
• a personnel handbook for any non-resident employee, plus a written professional development plan for each educator (homes without employees are exempt from the plan).

Licensed homes must also keep personnel records in ECECD’s Professional Development Information System (PDIS) for each staff member, including substitutes and volunteers who work more than six hours a week with direct contact with children.⁠¹⁰

Children’s records must be complete before a child starts and kept for 12 months after their last day.⁠¹

Zoning, fire inspection and HOAs under Senate Bill 96

Since July 1, 2026, child care homes are a standard residential use in all residential zones. A city or county may not apply fees, rules or regulations to a home that it does not apply uniformly to other private residences in the same zone, and it may not charge business licensing or registration fees to home-based providers, though it may ask for a business registration for information only. A sign ordinance that covers every home in the district still applies to you.⁠¹¹ ECECD says it does not condition a state license or registration on completing a local business registration.⁠¹¹

Homeowners’ associations must treat a child care home like any other residence. They cannot charge special fees or impose greater restrictions, but they can enforce rules on parking, noise, safety, architectural standards and common areas if the rules apply equally to all lot owners and do not stop you from meeting ECECD’s standards.⁠¹¹ The by-right treatment applies to homes in residential zones; ECECD’s guidance says a home in a zone other than residential must follow the local process to get approval there.⁠¹¹

Applying through the ECECD portal

1. Get local verification

   Senate Bill 96 took effect on July 1, 2026, and ECECD amended 8.9.4.31(A)(4) NMAC by emergency rule the same day. A home now needs written verification of its zoning designation from the city, county or state authority rather than a written zoning approval, and it no longer needs written approval from the fire marshal or local fire authority: ECECD specialists do the fire safety review at the initial and annual inspections.⁠¹¹ ECECD’s description of the July changes mentions only zoning and fire. The rule text still calls for New Mexico Environment Department approval of a private water supply, private waste or sewage disposal and a swimming pool, if you have them,⁠¹ so ask whether that approval is still a portal upload. ECECD’s February 2026 FAQ, written before the July changes, still lists zoning approval and a fire inspection among the documents for a licensed home.⁠³ Ask the Licensing Unit which documents the portal now asks for.

2. Create a portal account

   Since February 14, 2026, applications go through the New Mexico Child Care Licensing and Registration Portal at childcare.ececd.nm.gov, built with Wonderschool. ECECD says the requirements themselves did not change.⁠²⁠⁴

3. Choose the license type and upload documents

   For a licensed home, the February 2026 FAQ lists zoning approval, fire inspection, environment department approval, CPR/first aid certification, your activity schedule, background check clearances for you, any secondary caregivers and household members over 18, and a W-9 if you will receive child care assistance payments.⁠³ New applications must describe the home’s proposed activities and schedule.⁠¹

4. Complete the background check tab

   ECECD emails you an EPICS ID. You enter it in the portal and finish the background check steps.⁠⁴

5. Finish within six months

   All supporting documents must arrive within six months of the application date, or you start over. The rule allows a 45-day extension if you can show you applied to the other agencies on time and they have not responded.⁠¹⁠³

6. Initial survey

   When the application is complete, ECECD schedules an initial visit within 14 calendar days.⁠³ The job aid says approved applicants are contacted by email or phone within 10 business days.⁠⁴

You may not operate before the license is issued, and ECECD will not pay retroactively for care given before then.⁠³ For help, ECECD lists 1-800-832-1321 and its regional licensing offices.⁠²

Fees

Effective November 1, 2025, ECECD eliminated application fees: providers “no longer need to pay for an initial or amended license or registration” (as published on 2026-10-12).⁠³ The version of 8.9.4 NMAC on the State Records Center site predates the November 2025 amendments and still refers to a non-refundable application fee, a $20 fee for amended licenses and a $25 late fee for renewals postmarked less than 30 days before expiration.⁠¹ In ECECD’s final adopted language, the application-fee wording in 8.9.4.31(A)(1), the $20 amendment fee and the notarized-renewal, fee and late-fee provisions in 8.9.4.11 are struck out.⁠¹⁰ ECECD’s sources do not list any remaining license fee for a home, so ask the Licensing Unit to confirm that nothing is charged at application, amendment or the annual survey.

The rule’s civil monetary penalties still apply: $500 to $5,000 for a Class A deficiency, $300 to $3,000 for Class B and $100 to $500 for Class C.⁠¹

Star levels and Universal Child Care payments

On November 1, 2025, New Mexico removed income limits and copays from its Child Care Assistance program, which it now calls Universal Child Care.⁠⁹ For a home provider, that means families of any income can enroll with you at state expense. ECECD pays monthly based on each child’s enrollment (not daily attendance), by facility type, the child’s age, average weekly hours and your star rating.⁠³

Every license carries a star level. Level 1 is for programs that do not receive subsidy. Level 2 means meeting all licensing requirements. Levels 2+ through 5 are voluntary and tied to FOCUS quality criteria, with Level 5 also requiring ECECD-approved national accreditation. A newly licensed program receiving subsidy gets a provisional 2-star license for up to three months while ECECD observes educator-child interactions.⁠¹

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Source: ⁠⁸. Part-time and wrap-around rates are lower. An enhanced rate is available if you pay all entry-level education and care employees at least the basic wage floor for your quality level and offer care ten hours a day, five days a week. Evening, overnight or weekend care can add 5%, 10% or 15% to the standard rate.⁠⁸

After licensure: surveys, renewal and changes

• Surveys. ECECD surveys each licensed facility at least twice a year and may arrive unannounced. Someone who can represent you and open all records must be present. You have 10 working days after a survey to submit a corrective action plan. ECECD takes these through its SansWrite Compliance Portal.⁠¹⁠²
• Incidents. After reporting to the appropriate authorities, notify ECECD within 24 hours of a serious injury, a lost child, suspected abuse, structural damage, a notifiable disease, legal action against a household member and similar events. Parents must sign incident reports within 24 hours.⁠¹
• Continuing the license. The October 2025 amendments removed the one-year term and the notarized renewal application with its 30-day deadline. A license now stays valid while you remain in good standing and in compliance with ECECD’s rules (or hold a waiver or variance, or have a plan of correction from your annual inspection), and you certify on the annual inspection survey that you want to renew it for another year. ECECD can deny an initial or renewal application only under 8.9.4.12 NMAC.⁠¹⁰ Every adult and teenager living in the home still signs the annual disqualification statement.⁠¹
• Temporary license. A home in partial compliance may receive a temporary license for up to 120 days, and no more than two in a row.⁠¹
• Changes. Changing capacity requires a new application and an on-site visit before you take extra children or rearrange the space.⁠¹ The license cannot be transferred. It becomes void if you move, sell or close, so a move means a new license.⁠¹
• Waivers. You can request a waiver of a specific requirement in writing. ECECD decides within 30 calendar days.⁠¹

Recent changes

• November 1, 2025: Universal Child Care removed family income limits and copays, and ECECD stopped charging application fees for licenses and registrations.⁠⁹⁠³ ECECD’s October 24, 2025 provider update said the final amendments to 8.9.3, 8.9.4 and 8.9.5 NMAC would be published in the New Mexico Register on November 4, 2025; they removed the application fee and the annual renewal application, renamed the parent handbook the family handbook, and require licensed homes to keep personnel records in PDIS.⁠¹⁰
• February 14, 2026: the online licensing and registration portal launched.⁠²
• July 1, 2026: Senate Bill 96 made licensed and registered child care homes a by-right residential use, and ECECD’s emergency rule changed 8.9.4.31(A)(4) NMAC to zoning verification, with fire safety reviewed by ECECD.⁠¹¹
• October 8, 2024: amendments to 8.9.4.33 NMAC set the training rules in force for home educators, including the child development course and the four introductory courses.⁠¹

For the other care licenses in the state, see the New Mexico state overview and the national family child care license overview.

Sources

1. 1
   New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, 8.9.4 NMAC, Child Care Licensing (Child Care Centers, Out of School Time Programs, Family Child Care Homes, and Other Early Care and Education Programs) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Regulatory Oversight Unit (child care licensing and registered homes) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, The Child Care Provider Licensing and Registration Portal: Frequently Asked Questions (February 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, License Application Portal Job Aid for Providers (February 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Registered Home Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, 8.9.3 NMAC, Child Care Assistance Programs for Clients and Child Care Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Mandatory Training for New Employees, New Mexico Child Care Development Fund (updated November 2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Provider Rates (rate tables updated January 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Universal Child Care Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Combined Explanatory Statement and final adopted language for 8.9.3, 8.9.4 and 8.9.5 NMAC (October 2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department, Regulated Child Care Zoning Requirements: Senate Bill 96 guidance (August 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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