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

Director qualifications sit in Nevada statute and administrative code.

NRS 432A.1773 sets the qualifications for the person responsible for a center's daily operation, and NAC 432A sets the approval, presence and designation rules around that role.

The body that administers them is Child Care Licensing (CCL) in the Division of Social Services of the Nevada Department of Human Services.

Before serving as the director of a facility, a person must apply to the Division and receive its approval, and the licensee must notify the Division of the appointment within 5 working days.

One Nevada wrinkle matters here: a county or city that has its own child care licensing agency and ordinance licenses facilities in its jurisdiction instead of the state Division, and local standards must be no less restrictive than the state's, so confirm which agency licenses the facility you work for.

Nevada sets four qualification routes for center directors, all in the same statute section.

The first is an associate degree or higher in early childhood education.

The second is an associate degree or higher in another field plus 15 semester hours of early childhood education coursework.

The third is a high school diploma or GED plus that same 15 semester hours, and the fourth is a current Child Development Associate credential.

The CDA is awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition, and the statute's CDA route asks for a credential with an endorsement for preschool age children or infants or toddlers, as appropriate.

Whichever route you take, some early childhood coursework or the CDA is part of it.

The experience hours attach to the route you qualify through.

An early childhood education degree asks for at least 1,000 hours of verifiable experience in a child care facility.

The other-field degree route asks for 2,000 hours, the high school diploma or GED route asks for 3,000 hours, and the CDA route asks for 2,000 hours.

On top of the route hours, a Nevada director must have at least 1,000 verifiable hours in an administrative position or have completed a course or other training in business administration.

The statute lists the route experience and the administrative requirement as separate items.

Nevada names no separate state-issued director credential in the statute section we read; qualification runs through the four routes above, and the only credential among them is the CDA.

What the statute adds for every director is the administration requirement: at least 1,000 verifiable hours in an administrative position, or a completed course or other training in business administration.

Our research did not find director qualification tiers that vary by center size in the statute.

If you are moving between a small center and a large one, confirm the requirements with the Division.

Child care employees and directors in Nevada must complete 24 hours of training each year.

At least 12 of those hours must be specific to the age group served and 2 must cover lifelong wellness, obesity, nutrition or physical activity.

No more than 3 of the annual hours may be CPR.

Nevada licensing also allows annual training hours to be met through an early childhood course at a community college or university as well as informal training.

The number itself is a state decision: the federal CCDF rule requires states to set a minimum number of annual training hours for caregivers, teachers and directors without fixing the number, and Nevada's is 24.

Nevada directors must designate a staff member to be in charge when they are absent.

The same rule section sets a presence floor for part-week operations: if the facility is in operation 25 hours or less per week, the director must be present in the facility during at least half the hours of operation.

Our research did not find a separate assistant-director qualification tier in the Nevada statute and code sections we read; the rule we confirmed is the designation duty.

If you are appointing a second-in-command, ask Child Care Licensing what qualifications, if any, apply to that person.

Yes.

Nevada directors must apply to The Nevada Registry within 90 days and renew that membership annually, alongside the qualification rules in NRS 432A.1773.

The Registry is the state's career development and recognition system for the early childhood workforce, and it approves and tracks informal training.

It places members on a Career Ladder based on college credits or degrees earned rather than years of service, reassessed at each annual renewal, and the Registry notes that administrators may use Career Ladder levels to recruit staff and justify wage increases.