What Are the Home Daycare License Requirements in New Mexico?

New Mexico licenses child care through the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD), whose Regulatory Oversight Unit sits inside the Child Care Services Bureau; the family child care rules live in 8.16.2 NMAC, the child care licensing rulebook that replaced the prior rule on 10/1/2016, with its personnel sections last amended 1/1/2022.

Under that rulebook, a family child care home is licensed for 5 to 6 children and a group child care home for 7 to 12, and the licensee must live in the home and be its primary educator.

ECECD also registers smaller homes; the registration rule and its threshold were not covered in the sections of the rule we read, so this page states no number — ask ECECD which category the home you plan falls into.

The rule sets two licensed home types.

A family child care home provides care to at least five but no more than six children for less than 24 hours of any day; a group child care home serves 7 to 12 children.

Two staffing rules sit on top of the headline numbers.

A home licensed to care for more than 2 children under age 2 (up to 4) must be specifically licensed for it and must have at least 2 educators in the home at all times.

A group home needs at least 2 educators whenever more than 6 children — or more than 2 children under age 2 — are present.

Read the under-2 rules before you set your capacity: they bind before the headline number does.

The licensee lives in the home and works as its primary educator, and must be in the home at least 75% of core hours.

The primary educator finishes the 45-hour entry level course within 6 months.

Every home educator logs at least 12 documented hours of training each year — 6 in child growth and development and 3 in health, safety and nutrition.

All home educators must hold first aid and pediatric CPR certification within 3 months of hire, and the primary caregiver must have CPR certification before licensure.

Our research captured no minimum age or education requirement written for home educators in the sections of the rule we read — ask ECECD what applies to you before you build your application.

The applicant applies for a national criminal records check, and adults living in the home are subject to the background check rules of 8.8.3 NMAC.

Those same background check rules run on all staff, educators and volunteers before employment — or a provisional employment notice — and again at least every 5 years.

Our research captured the rules the checks follow, not the forms, the timelines or how results are decided, so ask ECECD what to submit and when.

The closest thing to an inspection requirement in the sections of the rule we read sits in the application documents: a New Mexico license application needs all supporting documents — zoning, certificate of occupancy, fire marshal and environment department approvals — within 6 months, or the application is rejected.

Our research did not capture the on-site inspection a home can expect before or after licensure, or what a licensing visit covers.

Ask ECECD's Regulatory Oversight Unit what an inspection of your home involves and how the fire marshal and environment department approvals are scheduled.

Applications go through ECECD: since February 14, 2026, providers have been able to submit licensing and registration applications through the online Child Care Licensing and Registration Portal, and the requirements did not change with it.

Whichever route an application takes, all supporting documents must be received within 6 months of the date indicated on the application, or the application is rejected.

On cost, the sections of the rule we read charge $20 for a director change or capacity change application and a $25 late fee for renewals filed after expiration; the base license fee amount was not found in the rule, so ask ECECD what the license itself costs before you budget.

The rule itself supplies the triggers.

A home caring for more than 2 children under age 2 (up to 4) must be specifically licensed for it and have at least 2 educators present, and a group home needs at least 2 educators whenever more than 6 children — or more than 2 children under age 2 — are present.

An educator hired to meet those numbers is a home educator, so the home-educator rules cover them too: at least 12 documented training hours a year, first aid and pediatric CPR certification within 3 months of hire, and a background check under 8.8.3 NMAC before employment and at least every 5 years.

Confirm the current staffing rules with ECECD before you post the job.

Yes.

Alongside the two license types, ECECD registers smaller homes — 'registered homes' — and the online portal takes registration applications as well as licensing applications.

What our research did not capture is the registration rule itself and the threshold that places a home in the registered category, so this page states no number of children for it.

If you plan to care for fewer children than the family child care license covers, ask ECECD which category your home falls into and what the registration requires.