What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in Mississippi?
To work as a daycare teacher in a licensed Mississippi center, you must qualify as a 'caregiver' under the state's child care licensing rule: at least 18, with a high school diploma or GED, a CDA or the MDHS Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13.
All staff complete 15 contact hours of approved staff development each licensure year, someone with infant, child and adult CPR and first aid is present during all operating hours, and new employees cannot start until MSDH issues a Letter of Suitability.
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At a glance
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Child Care Facilities Licensure branch, under 15 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 11, Subpt. 55, Ch. 1.
At least 18, plus a high school diploma or GED, a CDA or the MDHS Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13.
At least 16, under direct on-site supervision and never the sole caregiver for a group.
Not established in our research — ask the licensing agency.
15 contact hours of approved staff development each licensure year, no more than 5 of them in-house.
At least one staff member with valid infant, child and adult first aid and CPR present during all operating hours; renewal certifications must be in-person, hands-on (online-only courses are not acceptable).
A comprehensive fingerprint-based check — FBI, state criminal, child abuse and sex offender registries — with a Letter of Suitability before you start, repeated every five years.
Classroom roles in Mississippi, by the rule's own titles
- CaregiverRole
The Mississippi rule's title for the lead classroom role: at least 18, with a high school diploma or GED, a CDA or the MDHS Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13.
- Caregiver assistantRole
At least 16, always under direct on-site supervision and never the sole caregiver for a group; under 18, may not discipline children.
Who licenses childcare centers in Mississippi?
Mississippi licenses child care facilities through the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Child Care Facilities Licensure branch.
The rules centers and the teachers in them follow sit in Title 15, Part 11, Subpart 55, Chapter 1 of the Mississippi Administrative Code, the 'Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities.' Mississippi places licensing with its health department rather than a human services agency; subsidy work and the Standard Center designation sit with the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) and its Division of Early Childhood Care & Development.
When a requirement on this page and MSDH's current rulebook disagree, the rulebook governs.
What qualifications does a lead teacher need in Mississippi?
Mississippi's rulebook titles the lead classroom role the 'caregiver,' so whether a posting says lead teacher, preschool teacher or head teacher, the state's rule calls the role caregiver.
Under Rule 1.5.4, a caregiver must be at least 18 years of age and have, at a minimum, a high school diploma or equivalent (GED), or a CDA or the MDHS Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13.
Any one of the three routes qualifies — the CDA, awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition, is one way in, not a requirement on top of the diploma.
Staff who do not meet the caregiver rule work as caregiver assistants, a narrower role covered next.
“Caregivers shall be at least 18 years of age, and shall have at a minimum: 1. A high school diploma or equivalent (GED).”
What does an assistant teacher need in Mississippi?
Mississippi's rulebook sets a second classroom role, the caregiver assistant (Rule 1.5.5).
A caregiver assistant must be at least 16 years of age, work under direct on-site supervision, and never be the sole caregiver for a group; an assistant under 18 may not discipline children.
Staff who do not meet the caregiver rule are caregiver assistants under the rule, which makes assisting the entry rung for 16- and 17-year-olds and for adults still working toward the caregiver qualifications above.
How a center pairs assistants with qualified caregivers is a staffing decision to confirm with the hiring director.
What training do you need before you start?
Mississippi's rulebook sets its training requirement as an annual figure — 15 contact hours each licensure year, covered below — and our research did not confirm a separate pre-service hour figure for new hires.
Ask MSDH or the hiring center what training is due before your first shift.
What the rule does schedule before you start is the background check: a prospective employee cannot begin work in a child care facility until the MSDH Criminal Records Check Unit has issued a valid Letter of Suitability.
How many training hours do you need each year?
Rule 1.5.8 requires all Mississippi child care staff, directors, director designees and caregivers to complete 15 contact hours of approved staff development during each licensure year, and no more than 5 of those hours may be in-house training the facility itself provides.
MDHS ties a further training condition to its Standard Center designation: centers serving children through the Child Care Payment Program, the state's subsidy, must be designated Standard Centers, and those centers must have all staff complete CCDBG mandatory training plus 15 hours of continuing professional development a year — covering health and safety, early learning standards, child abuse recognition, social-emotional development and expulsion practices, and developmental screening.
At the federal level, 45 CFR 98.41 sets the health-and-safety training topics subsidy-receiving providers must cover, from SIDS prevention and safe sleep and medication administration to pediatric first aid and CPR and recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect.
“shall be required to complete 15 contact hours of staff development, accrued during the licensure year, annually.”
CPR, first aid and health checks
Mississippi requires at least one staff member with valid infant, child and adult first aid and CPR to be present during all operating hours, including arrival and departure — coverage on every shift, not a named certificate for every caregiver in the rule as we read it.
Renewal certifications must be obtained through in-person, hands-on training; online-only courses are not acceptable.
Individual centers may require every staff member to hold current certificates anyway, so ask in the interview.
On health checks, our research did not confirm a physical or immunization requirement for center staff; the immunization compliance form (Form 121) the rulebook records is tied to volunteers working 120 or more hours per licensure year.
How does the Mississippi daycare background check work?
Rule 1.5.2 requires a comprehensive fingerprint-based background check for all operators, employees and prospective employees: an FBI national check, a state criminal check, the state child abuse registry, the National Sex Offender Registry, the state sex offender registry and interstate checks where applicable, repeated every five years.
A prospective employee cannot begin work until the MSDH Criminal Records Check Unit issues a valid Letter of Suitability, and anyone with a break in service of more than 180 consecutive days needs a new check.
Volunteers who work 120 or more hours in a licensure year also need a Letter of Suitability — criminal, child abuse registry and sex offender checks — plus an immunization compliance form (Form 121).
Ask the center director what to submit and when; the MSDH Criminal Records Check Unit is the body that issues the Letter of Suitability.
“Before a prospective staff member may begin work in a child care facility, a valid Letter of Suitability must have been issued by the MSDH Criminal Records Check Unit.”
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Mississippi licensing rules, agency pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state daycare teacher requirements series, current as of October 2026. It is not a substitute for the instructions the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Child Care Facilities Licensure branch publishes. For the rest of the picture in Mississippi, see daycare director requirements in Mississippi, early childhood education programs and scholarships in Mississippi, and childcare teacher pay in Mississippi.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a CDA to work in a Mississippi daycare?
No. Rule 1.5.4 gives future caregivers three routes: a high school diploma or GED, or a CDA or the MDHS Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13.
Any one route qualifies, so the diploma route needs no CDA — the credential, awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition, is one way in among several.
Individual centers and job postings can still ask for more than the licensing floor.
Can a 16-year-old work at a daycare in Mississippi?
Yes, as a caregiver assistant.
Assistants must be at least 16, work under direct on-site supervision, and never be the sole caregiver for a group; an assistant under 18 also may not discipline children.
At 18, the full caregiver routes open up: a high school diploma or GED, a CDA or the MDHS Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13.
How many training hours do Mississippi daycare teachers need each year?
15 contact hours of approved staff development each licensure year, and no more than 5 of those hours may be in-house training the facility provides.
The rule covers all child care staff, directors, director designees and caregivers.
At MDHS Standard Centers — the designation centers serving Child Care Payment Program subsidy children must hold — all staff must complete CCDBG mandatory training plus 15 hours of continuing professional development a year.
Does every Mississippi daycare teacher have to be CPR certified?
The licensing rule requires at least one staff member with valid infant, child and adult first aid and CPR to be present during all operating hours, including arrival and departure — coverage on every shift rather than a certificate named for every caregiver in the rule as we read it.
Renewal certifications must come from in-person, hands-on training; online-only courses are not acceptable.
Individual centers may require every staff member to hold current certificates, so ask in the interview.
What is a Mississippi Letter of Suitability?
It is the clearance a prospective child care employee needs before starting work, issued by the MSDH Criminal Records Check Unit.
It follows the state's comprehensive fingerprint-based background check — FBI national, state criminal, child abuse registry and sex offender registry checks.
The comprehensive check repeats every five years, and a break in service of more than 180 consecutive days requires a new check.
More Mississippi Resources
Sources
- Mississippi MSDH — Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities (child care center rulebook) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Mississippi Department of Human Services — Division of Early Childhood Care & Development, provider requirements (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Council for Professional Recognition — CDA educator pathways (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- eCFR — federal CCDF health and safety training requirements (retrieved 2026-10-05)
Sourced from the documents listed above. Verified October 2026. This is career and employer information, not licensing or legal advice. Confirm current rules with the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Child Care Facilities Licensure branch.