Opening a family child care home in Tennessee: the TDHS license, step by step

Five to seven unrelated children: where the license starts

Tennessee’s child care rules define a family child care home as any place, operated by any person or entity, that provides child care “for three (3) or more hours per day for at least five (5) children, but not more than seven (7) children who are not related to the primary educator.”⁠¹ Child care means care for less than 24 hours a day, and a child is anyone under 18, so school-age children count as well as infants.⁠¹

“Related” has a fixed meaning in the rule: your children, step-children, grandchildren, step-grandchildren, siblings (whole or half-blood), step-siblings, nieces, nephews and foster children.⁠¹ A neighbor’s child or a godchild is unrelated.

TDHS lists three kinds of care that do not need a license: care in the child’s own home, care that runs less than three hours a day, and care for fewer than five unrelated children.⁠⁶ Running a child care agency without a required license is a Class A misdemeanor under T.C.A. § 71-3-505. TDHS investigates suspected illegal operations with unannounced visits and can go to chancery court for a restraining order.⁠⁵

Some programs fall under the separate exemption statute, T.C.A. § 71-3-503, which Public Chapter 135 changed effective July 1, 2025 (adding gym care, care at professional sporting events and occasional “parent’s night out” events, among others).⁠⁵ Those exemptions are written for gyms, camps, houses of worship and similar organizations, not for a home caring for children every day.

Family home or group home: picking the tier before you apply

The same rule chapter licenses four classes of child care agency, and the class decides your ratios, square footage and fee. For a home-based business the choice is between two of them:

Sources: rule 1240-04-01-.02, .20 and .21;⁠¹ fees from rule 1240-04-05-.03(14);⁠² counts from TDHS.⁠⁶

At 13 or more unrelated children you become a child care center, which has its own director qualifications and $500,000 insurance minimum; see the Tennessee child care center license guide.⁠¹

A group home’s three extra school-age children are allowed only before and after school, on school holidays, on snow days and during summer vacation.⁠¹ A group home can also exceed its ratios and group sizes by up to 10% (rounded) on no more than three days a week, but never for infant and toddler groups and never beyond licensed capacity.⁠¹ Family homes have no such variance.

How Tennessee counts your own children

This is the rule most new providers get wrong. In a family home, no more than seven children may be present at one time, except that up to 12 may be present if every child above seven is related to you.⁠¹ TDHS describes this as up to five additional related children.⁠⁶

Your related children aged 9 or older are not counted at all if the home is your residence and they have a separate space from the child care area. They may still mix with the enrolled children as long as supervision does not suffer.⁠¹ Related children under 9 are counted when working out how many educators you need:

So a provider with 7 unrelated children and a 3-year-old of their own has 8 children present and needs a second educator, even though the home is within its licensed capacity.⁠¹ Whenever you are off-site during operating hours, a qualified educator must be on-site.⁠¹ Infants under six weeks old may not be enrolled, and no child may be in care more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period without an individual plan approved in advance by TDHS.⁠¹

The primary educator: qualifications and three rounds of training

The rule calls the person running the home the primary educator: the adult on site who is directly responsible for the children and the daily operation.⁠¹ The minimums are age 18 and a high school diploma or equivalent.⁠¹ Training comes in three stages.

Before you have contact with children (rule 1240-04-01-.06(6)(a), as amended effective February 8, 2026):⁠¹

• a child care agency orientation session during the pre-licensure period;
• licensing rules and regulations training, including building and physical premises safety;
• shaken baby/abusive head trauma/child maltreatment training;
• pre-service training (“Before You Begin”);
• sudden infant death syndrome training, if the home cares for infants.

During the 120-day provisional period, the primary educator completes 3 hours on the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards (TN-ELDS), New Director Training, personal safety training, Small Business Academy, transportation training before transporting any child, and first aid and CPR within 90 days.⁠¹ One staff member with current CPR certification must be on-site at all times.⁠¹

Every year after that, the primary educator needs 18 training hours, at least 6 in health and safety and at least 3 in pre-literacy and literacy; other educators in the home need 12. Adverse childhood experiences training repeats every five years, and up to 4 hours a year can be earned by teaching training sessions.⁠¹

A helper in the home (an “educator assistant”) can be 16 with no diploma, but still needs the rules, shaken baby, pre-service and (for infants) SIDS training before contact.⁠¹ In group homes, 16- and 17-year-olds can count in the ratio only if never left alone and always directly supervised.⁠¹ A group home’s primary educator may not hold another job during operating hours.⁠¹

Insurance Tennessee requires before the doors open

Tennessee sets specific coverage minimums for family and group homes, and the rule says plainly that “a standard homeowner’s policy is not sufficient.”⁠¹

The sexual abuse coverage can be a separate policy or part of a broader general liability or homeowner’s policy, but the general liability limits must still be met.⁠¹ Documentation that the coverage is in effect must be kept in your agency records and be available to TDHS on request.⁠¹

Background checks for you and your household

You need a fingerprint-based background check no more than 90 days before you have access to the home as a child care agency. The same applies to employees, to substitutes counted in ratio for more than 36 hours a year, and to “any person who is fifteen (15) years of age or older who will reside in a child care agency.”⁠¹ Checks repeat at least every five years.⁠¹

TDHS pays for one check per person per agency per year. You pay if prints are rejected and must be redone, or if you resubmit someone more than once in 30 days.⁠¹ No one may be a licensee, work or have unsupervised contact with children until TDHS issues a Final Clearance Letter or a Conditional Letter for supervised work while other states’ results are pending.⁠¹ Excludable offenses go beyond child abuse and violence: any drug offense, including simple possession or a lesser included offense, excludes a person.⁠¹

You also need a written drug testing policy for anyone with direct contact with children, and TDHS can require the licensee of a family home to take a drug test at their own expense when it has reasonable suspicion.⁠¹

Getting the house approved

TDHS will not issue a license, even a provisional one, until the home passes a State Fire Marshal’s Division inspection (or its designee) and an inspection by the Tennessee Department of Health’s General Environmental Division. Both repeat every year.⁠¹⁠² You need new approvals before moving or before using renovated or previously unlicensed space.⁠¹

The physical rules that most often affect a house:

• Indoor space. If more than seven children are present, or care happens in one room, you need 30 square feet of usable play space per child. Restrooms, hallways, the kitchen, office space and space taken up by cribs or large furniture do not count.⁠¹
• Outdoor space. 50 square feet per child using the area at one time, enclosed by a fence or barrier at least 4 feet high, unless TDHS waives the fence.⁠¹
• Temperature and heating. Rooms must stay between 68°F and 78°F; portable heaters and unvented fuel-burning heaters are prohibited.⁠¹
• Water and sewage. Drinking water from an approved source; a private septic system needs state ground water protection approval and must work at all times.⁠¹
• Pools, pets and weapons. Pools fenced with locked gates; no reptiles or amphibians as pets; firearms in a private residence locked and unloaded, with ammunition locked separately.⁠¹
• Smoking. No smoking or vaping within 50 feet of the child care entrance.⁠¹

TDHS also requires a clearance letter from local codes and zoning, and a Choose Safe Places review, before it will request your fee.⁠⁴

The TDHS application process, in order

TDHS publishes a ten-step sequence.⁠⁴ All licensed agencies must also register in the TDHS provider portal and use it to submit records.⁠¹

1. Contact the Pre-Licensure Unit

   Email [email protected] (preferred) or call (615) 906-0517.⁠⁴

2. Get instructions from a Program Specialist,

   including how to set up a provider portal account.⁠⁴

3. Create an eLicensing account and register for orientation

   ⁠⁴

4. Attend the orientation/intake session,

   then complete the pre-application screen.⁠⁴

5. Begin Small Business Academy

   ⁠⁴ The February 2026 rule lists it among provisional-period training for the primary educator, so ask your Program Specialist when it must be finished.⁠¹

6. Complete the application in eLicensing

   It must include a written program description (services, ages, hours, food service), a proposed budget showing funding for start-up and ongoing costs, a written statement of legal and administrative responsibility, and copies of your business filings with the Secretary of State’s Division of Business and Charitable Organizations.⁠¹

7. Measuring visit

   The Program Specialist measures the home for capacity, looks for hazards, and requests the fire inspection, environmental inspection and Choose Safe Places review. You get the codes and zoning clearance letter, plus any special use or occupancy permits.⁠⁴

8. Pay the fee

   Once all inspections and clearance letters are in, TDHS requests the fee and, if you meet the Establishment Grant requirements, submits your grant eligibility form.⁠⁴ TDHS’s process page does not state the grant amount or eligibility criteria and names only “CFMT” as the recipient of the form, so ask your Program Specialist whether you qualify and what it covers.

9. First walk-through visit

   ⁠⁴

10. Second walk-through

    by the Program Specialist together with two more TDHS staff (listed by TDHS as “a LC and FS”). If everything complies and all documents and training are recorded, a Program Manager approves the provisional license and monitoring visits begin.⁠⁴

Before you enroll anyone, have your parent policies ready. The rule lists the minimum contents, including disenrollment and release criteria, behavior management, hours, rates, late fees, inclement weather, the emergency policy, a shaken baby/child maltreatment policy and an after-hours phone number.⁠¹ Parents must make an on-site visit before their child enrolls.⁠¹

Fees and penalties

The initial application fee, as published on 2026-10-12, is $100 for a family child care home and $125 for a group child care home.⁠² The rule lists no other licensing fee. TDHS pays for one background check per person per year, and civil penalties for violations range from $50 for minor violations to $1,000 for major ones.⁠¹⁠²

The 120-day provisional license and four monitoring visits

Your first license is provisional, issued for 120 days so you can show you can “attain and maintain compliance.”⁠² To move to a continuous license, you must complete the provisional period, including four in-person monitoring visits that TDHS finds satisfactory, and comply with every rule for your class of care.⁠¹ If TDHS has not decided within 120 days, the provisional license stays in effect until it does.⁠² TDHS can also issue a restricted license that limits one or more areas of operation.⁠¹

Keeping the license depends on your compliance history, paying all civil penalties and submitting required documents, including the annual fire and environmental inspections.⁠¹

Quality scores and Child Care Certificate payments

Every licensed agency is scored under Tennessee’s Quality Rating and Improvement System. Licensing consultants make four quarterly monitoring visits a year, each at a different time of day, scoring health and safety and teacher/child interactions out of 100. The scorecard is posted next to your license.⁠³

Any licensed home that contracts with TDHS can take children paid through the Child Care Certificate Program at the base rate. Homes scoring 80 to 89, or 90 to 100, may receive a bonus percentage on top, at TDHS discretion depending on its budget.⁠³ If you take subsidized children or food program funds, keep payment, attendance and food records ready for auditors.⁠¹

Selling, moving or adding services

A Tennessee license covers one address and one owner. It does not transfer to a new address or a new owner.⁠¹ If you sell, you must tell the buyer in writing at least 30 days ahead that the license ends on the transfer date and that they need their own provisional license.⁠² Before-and-after-school care and care during non-traditional hours (6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays, plus weekend care) each need a notation on the license.⁠¹⁠² Changes to your program description must reach TDHS at least 10 calendar days ahead.⁠¹ Home schooling may not take place during child care hours unless a second qualified primary educator is present and it happens in a separate space.⁠¹

Recent changes

• February 8, 2026: amendments to rule 1240-04-01 moved Small Business Academy from the primary educator’s pre-licensure list to the provisional-period list, added “child maltreatment” to the shaken baby training, set a 90-day deadline for first aid and CPR, and required training for substitutes before contact with children.⁠¹ TDHS’s process page still lists Small Business Academy right after orientation.⁠⁴
• November 20, 2025: a broader revision of rule chapters 1240-04-01, 1240-04-05 and 1240-04-07 took effect.⁠¹⁠²⁠³
• July 1, 2025: Public Chapter 135 rewrote the licensing exemptions in T.C.A. § 71-3-503.⁠⁵

If you expect to outgrow 12 children, the Tennessee child care center license guide covers the next tier, which starts at 13 unrelated children.⁠¹

Sources

1. 1
   Tennessee Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations of the State of Tennessee, Rule Chapter 1240-04-01, Licensure Rules for Child Care Agencies (revised February 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Tennessee Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations of the State of Tennessee, Rule Chapter 1240-04-05, Procedures Affecting Licenses of Child Care Agencies (revised November 2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Tennessee Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations of the State of Tennessee, Rule Chapter 1240-04-07, Quality Rating and Improvement System for Child Care Agencies (revised November 2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Tennessee Department of Human Services, Procedures for Becoming a Licensed Child Care Agency Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Tennessee Department of Human Services, How to Become a Licensed Child Care Provider Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Tennessee Department of Human Services, Types of Regulated Child Care Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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