How to Start a Daycare in Mississippi: Licensing Steps, Costs and Staffing

The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) licenses child care facilities through its Child Care Facilities Licensure branch, under the Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities with authority from Miss.

Code Ann. §43-20-1 et seq.

The threshold is broad: MSDH requires a license from anyone caring for six or more unrelated children under 13, for any amount of time, day or night — a rule the agency applies to day care centers, day nurseries and home-based care alike.

Licensing is not the only desk an operator touches.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) runs the subsidy side: centers that serve Child Care Payment Program children must hold MDHS's Standard Center designation.

MSDH keeps three separate rulebooks.

Chapter 1 covers child care facilities, the rule's term for centers.

A second rulebook covers facilities for 12 or fewer children in the operator's home — amended effective February 12, 2022, with a tighter infant ratio than centers.

Chapter 3 covers child care family homes of 5 or fewer children, where the total count, including the caregiver's own children, may not exceed five; the family home director must be at least 21 with a high school diploma or GED and 2 years of documented experience caring for children under 13, caregivers must be 18 with a year of experience, and ratio and group size are 5 children per staff member.

The license requirement itself starts at six or more unrelated children, and our research did not establish whether the five-or-fewer family home license is voluntary or subsidy-linked, so ask MSDH which rulebook fits the program you plan.

Applying runs through MSDH, with fees paid online — the nonrefundable $130 application fee plus the initial license fee for your capacity band.

MSDH says it can take up to 90 days to obtain a license once an application is submitted and the application fee is paid, and licensing requires a state Fire Marshal inspection of the facility.

Before a new license is issued, owners, directors and director designees must complete mandatory training in Child Care Regulations, Director Orientation and Playground Safety; directors appointed after issuance have 6 months to finish.

And the agency tells would-be operators to hold off on leases and building purchases until an inspector has walked the site with them.

Center directors must be 21 with a bachelor's in early childhood education, child development or a related field; an associate degree in child development technology with 480 hours of supervised lab practicum, or in child development technology or child care plus 2 years of paid experience; or 2 years of paid caregiver experience plus a CDA, an MDHS Director's Credential or 24 ECE semester hours.

A family home director needs a high school diploma or GED and 2 years of documented experience with children under 13; our research did not capture the in-home facility's staff qualifications, so ask MSDH.

Center caregivers must be 18 with a high school diploma or GED, a CDA or Director's Credential, or three years of documented experience with unrelated children under 13; assistants can be 16 but never serve as sole caregiver.

Every operator and employee needs a fingerprint-based background check, repeated every five years, and no new hire starts until MSDH issues a Letter of Suitability.

All staff complete 15 contact hours of training each licensure year, at most 5 in-house, and someone with in-person infant, child and adult CPR and first aid must be on site during all operating hours.

Center ratios step up with age: 1:5 for children under 1 year, 1:9 at age 1, 1:12 at age 2, 1:14 at age 3, 1:16 at age 4, 1:20 for ages 5 through 9 and 1:25 for ages 10 through 12.

Group sizes are capped alongside them — 10 infants, 18 for toddlers (12 to 24 months), 24 two-year-olds, 28 three-year-olds, 32 four-year-olds and 40 for ages 5 through 9, each group with 2 caregivers.

Two rules shape every schedule you build: in mixed-age groups the youngest child sets the ratio, and during rest periods children over 2 can be under the direct supervision of 50% of the required staff as long as full-ratio staff remain on the premises.

An in-home facility for 12 or fewer children uses a tighter 1:4 infant ratio under age 1.

Mississippi's fee schedule is capacity-based: a nonrefundable $130 application fee, then an initial license fee of $97.50 for 12 or fewer children, $195 for 13 to 30, $260 for 31 to 50, $390 for 51 to 100, $455 for 101 to 150 and $520 for 151 or more, all paid online.

MSDH says to allow up to 90 days from a submitted application and paid fee to a license.

These are the state's fees only, and they cover the initial license — our research did not capture a renewal fee table or Mississippi figures for buildings, build-out, equipment, insurance or payroll.

Price those from your own site and staffing plan, and confirm the current fee schedule with MSDH before you apply.

Our research did not confirm a Mississippi startup grant for new child care businesses, so ask MDHS's Division of Early Childhood Care and Development and MSDH what is currently open.

The supports our research did confirm are staff-side.

MDHS offers the Mississippi Director's Credential as a 9-module course, and credentialed directors renew it every 4 years, with renewal sessions offered each spring and fall.

MSDH's resource list points to the Early Childhood Academy run through the Mississippi Community College Board as a provider support resource.

T.E.A.C.H.

Early Childhood does not operate in Mississippi as of our October 2026 check, and the state's Early Child Care Development Initiative scholarship, which offered employees of subsidy-participating providers up to $1,500 toward a CDA and $1,500 toward up to two semesters of tuition for an Early Childhood Development Technology associate degree, is listed as closed on its program page.