What Are the Home Daycare License Requirements in Minnesota?

Minnesota licenses family child care.

With the state's move to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), the licensing statutes were renumbered from chapter 245A to chapter 142B, and DCYF says the requirements themselves did not change.

Counties and Tribal Nations have delegated responsibility for most family child care licensing activities — including inspections, investigations and issuing correction orders — and the state issues licenses based on county recommendations.

Our research confirmed two of the statute's exemptions: no license is required for care by a relative, or for nonresidential care given by an unrelated individual to children from a single related family.

Our research did not confirm a headcount threshold for unlicensed care.

Whether a particular arrangement fits an exemption is a question for the county or Tribal licensing agency.

Today's capacity rules sit in Minnesota Rules 9502.0367.

A family day care license allows 10 children with 1 adult; no more than 6 of them may be under school age, no more than 3 of those may be infants and toddlers combined, and no more than 2 may be infants.

A group family day care license allows up to 12 children with 1 adult, or up to 14 with 2 adults.

From July 1, 2027, family child care moves to Class A and Class C1-C5 licenses under the state's rewritten family child care statute, chapter 142I: Class A carries a capacity of 10 with 1 adult and no more than 6 under school age, and the C classes run up to a Class C5 maximum of 18 children with 2 adults, which requires extra experience or credentials and a large-group training.

Minnesota's family child care training rule, Minnesota Statutes 142B.70, requires the license holder and each second adult caregiver to complete at least 4 hours of child development and behavior guidance training before licensure, pediatric first aid and CPR before caring for children, and 16 hours of ongoing training each year.

Our research did not confirm a minimum age, a diploma or any other education credential that a family child care license holder must hold; the county or Tribal licensing agency that takes your application can confirm the current qualifications.

The training rules are part of the 2027 rewrite: 142B.70 is repealed effective July 1, 2027 and its training requirements move into chapter 142I.

Minnesota requires an enhanced child care background study.

It includes fingerprint-based Minnesota BCA and FBI checks, checks of Minnesota's predatory offender registry and child abuse and neglect registry, out-of-state abuse registry checks for every state you lived in during the past five years, and National Crime Information Center (NCIC) / National Sex Offender Registry checks, and a new study is required every five years.

Under the federal CCDF rules that set the background-check floor for licensed providers, any household member age 18 or older in a family child care home counts as a child care staff member who needs the check.

Study subjects are fingerprinted and photographed at a DHS-approved location and have 14 days from study initiation to get fingerprinted; home-based providers go through their county, while centers submit studies through DHS's NETStudy 2.0 system.

The inspection is a county or Tribal agency function.

Counties and Tribal Nations handle most licensing activities for family child care programs, including inspections, investigations and issuing correction orders, and the state issues licenses based on county recommendations.

Our research did not confirm the list of home physical-environment requirements an inspector applies in Minnesota, so the county licensing agency is the office that can tell you what it checks and how a correction order works.

DCYF lays out the steps this way: contact your county or Tribal licensing agency, complete your county or Tribal orientation, submit the Family Child Care Licensing Application together with a workers' compensation certificate, and complete a background study.

Our research did not confirm Minnesota family child care application fees or processing times — the county or Tribal office taking your application is the place to ask for its current fee schedule and timeline.

The background study has its own listed fees — $44 for the study and $10.50 for fingerprinting for adults — although DHS says that until further notice providers are not charged for enhanced child care background studies.

The training rule treats a second adult caregiver much like the license holder: the same package of at least 4 hours of child development and behavior guidance training before licensure, pediatric first aid and CPR before caring for children, and 16 hours of ongoing training each year.

A second adult is also what the larger capacities are built on — group family day care reaches 14 children only with 2 adults, and from July 1, 2027 the Class C4 and C5 capacities of 14 and 18 children are 2-adult classes.

An assistant will also need a background study: federal CCDF rules require a comprehensive check for child care staff members of licensed providers, and your county can confirm who must complete one and when.

Minnesota's 2026 session law rebuilds family child care licensing in a new statute chapter, 142I, effective July 1, 2027.

Until then the current rules apply: family day care and group family day care licenses under Minnesota Rules chapter 9502 and training under Minnesota Statutes 142B.70.

From July 1, 2027, licenses become Class A and Class C1-C5, the training provisions move into the new chapter, and a Class C5 license adds an extra experience or credential requirement plus a large-group training.

The transition follows the earlier move of child care licensing to DCYF, when the statutes were renumbered from chapter 245A to chapter 142B — a change of location that DCYF said did not change the requirements themselves.