What Are the Home Daycare License Requirements in North Dakota?

North Dakota licenses early childhood programs through the Department of Health and Human Services under N.D. Century Code chapter 50-11.1, with the family child care rules in N.D. Administrative Code chapter 75-03-08.

Under NDCC 50-11.1-03, a family child care license is required when a home provides care for four or more children aged 24 months and under, or for six to seven children through age 11, with no more than three of them under 24 months.

Below those counts, the Century Code defines self-declaration as a voluntary documentation option for a provider caring in a private residence for up to five children through age 11, no more than three of them under 24 months.

Both routes run through the same department, which issues no more than one in-home registration, self-declaration or license per residence — so the two cannot be stacked in one home.

North Dakota's statute sorts care by size.

Family child care is a private residence licensed for no more than seven children at a time, plus two additional school-age children.

Group child care is the 8-to-30 tier, and a child care center is more than 30 children, so a home that grows past the family limits moves into the group child care chapter.

Group child care carries its own staffing math: a group child care provider may care for up to seven children (no more than three under 24 months) plus two school-age children per provider, or elect decimal ratios, with no more than four children under 18 months per staff member in mixed-age groups.

The voluntary self-declaration sits below these tiers for up to five children.

This page stays on the family child care home; the group and center tiers answer to their own administrative code chapters.

The provider of a licensed North Dakota family child care home must be at least 18.

Within 90 days of licensure, the provider completes a basic child care course.

Each year, the rule requires nine hours of department-approved child care training, which includes mandated-reporter training.

Safe sleep runs on its own clock: the provider takes one hour of safe sleep training before caring for infants and then annually.

Our research captured no CDA, college-credit or experience requirement for family child care providers in the family child care chapter, so the training rule is the core of the bar — ask Early Childhood Services if you are counting a credential toward something.

North Dakota's fingerprint-based criminal history check reaches household members of a home-based program.

The Century Code requires it for license applicants, staff, emergency designees and household members, with two fingerprint sets submitted through BCI.

A check is valid for five years unless the person leaves early childhood employment for more than 180 days, and the department may charge up to $30 for the check.

That puts the household at the center of the application: the people who live in the home are inside the rule's scope, not only the people paid to provide care.

Our research captured who needs a license, the capacity caps, the provider's training, the fingerprint checks and the statutory fee schedule, but it did not capture the department's inspection requirements for family child care homes — what a pre-licensing or renewal visit of your residence covers, or any fire or sanitary inspection paperwork a home must file.

What the research did capture is the first step: the department's online Childcare Provider Orientation course, then an application through the Child Care Licensing (CCL) portal.

Ask ND HHS Early Childhood Services what an inspection of your home involves before you build your application.

Two application mechanics are on the record.

The department's become-a-provider guidance names an online Childcare Provider Orientation course as the first step for new childcare owners, operators, directors and supervisors, and applications are filed through the Child Care Licensing (CCL) portal.

The fee schedule sits in statute: a family child care license costs $20 for one year or $35 for a two-year license, and a group child care license costs $25 a year or $45 for two years.

A renewal filed less than 60 days before the license expires costs double.

Our research captured no processing timeline for a North Dakota home application, so ask Early Childhood Services what to expect after you submit.

North Dakota's home rules set the staffing ages.

Family child care staff may be 14, with parental consent required under 16, and a member of the provider's immediate family may provide care from age 12.

Whoever helps you, the Century Code's fingerprint-based criminal history check applies to staff of home-based programs as well as to applicants and household members.

The training rule in the family child care chapter is written for the provider — the basic course within 90 days of licensure and the nine annual hours — and our research did not capture a separate training requirement for home staff, so confirm with Early Childhood Services what an assistant must complete before their first day.

Hiring help does not enlarge the license either: the family child care definition still caps the residence at seven children plus two additional school-age children.