What Qualifications Do You Need to Be a Daycare Director in California?

California licenses child care centers and family child care homes through the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Child Care Licensing Program, which operates 21 regional offices.

Center rules sit in Title 22, Division 12 of the California Code of Regulations, and the director qualification routes live in Section 101215.1 of those rules.

Before employment or initial presence at a facility, staff must obtain a criminal record clearance or exemption from CDSS, with fingerprints submitted to the California Department of Justice and the FBI.

All center personnel, including volunteers, also need a health screening that includes a tuberculosis test.

Alongside Title 22, California runs a separate permit system: the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's Child Development Permits, and holding the right one is the fourth route to director qualification.

Title 22 does not set one education requirement for directors; Section 101215.1(h) lists four routes and each sets its own education total.

The first route combines high school graduation or GED with 15 semester units at an accredited or approved college: 12 units in early childhood education or child development plus 3 units in administration or staff relations.

The second replaces the 15-unit count with an associate of arts degree with a major or emphasis in early childhood education or child development, plus 3 units in administration or staff relations.

The third repeats that structure at the bachelor's level: a BA with a major or emphasis in early childhood education or child development plus the 3 administration or staff relations units.

The fourth route steps outside the unit counts entirely: a Child Development Site Supervisor Permit or Program Director Permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing qualifies a person to direct a licensed center without the separate unit and experience routes.

Experience requirements scale with education: at least four years of teaching experience behind the high school route, at least two behind the associate degree, and one year behind the bachelor's degree.

California defines a qualifying year of director experience precisely: at least 3 hours per day for a minimum of 100 days in a calendar year, worked as a teacher under the supervision of a person who would qualify as a director.

On the associate degree route, the experience must be teaching in a licensed child care center.

The four Title 22 director routes name no standalone director credential; the credential-style option among them is the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's Child Development Permit ladder.

A Child Development Site Supervisor Permit or a Child Development Program Director Permit qualifies a person to direct a licensed center without the separate unit and experience routes.

The Program Director Permit's first option calls for a bachelor's degree, 6 units in administration or supervision of child development programs, 2 units of adult supervision, and one year of site supervisor experience.

The permit ladder itself is being redesigned: the CTC approved a revised Child Development Permit matrix on February 6, 2025, and the new structure is expected to move toward regulatory adoption in 2026, with an effective date still to be determined, so the current six-level permit remains in force for now.

The explicit training total in the rule is 16 hours of health and safety training for center teachers and directors, required 'if necessary' under Health and Safety Code Section 1596.866.

Separately, at least one staff member trained in pediatric CPR and pediatric first aid must be present whenever children are at the center or offsite for center activities; Title 22 phrases that as an on-site coverage rule, not a requirement that every staff member hold the training.

Our research did not confirm an annual in-service training-hour total for California center directors, so check current training expectations with CDSS Child Care Licensing.

Directors who qualify through the permit route are on a different clock: Child Development Permits are issued for five years and renew for successive five-year periods after 105 hours of professional growth.

The coverage role in the rule is the substitute director: the director or a substitute director must be on the premises during operating hours.

When the director is absent, a fully qualified teacher acts as the substitute, and an absence of more than 30 consecutive calendar days means the substitute director must meet the full director qualifications.

A center that offers an evening or nighttime program must employ a director for each such program in addition to the day program director.

The rules also bound how a director counts in staffing: the licensee may include the director in the teacher-child ratio only when the director is actually teaching a group of children, and clerical, housekeeping and maintenance staff may not be counted.