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

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) licenses child care agencies in Tennessee — a category that covers child care centers, group child care homes, family child care homes and drop-in centers.

The rulebook is 1240-04-01, the Licensure Rules for Child Care Agencies, issued under T.C.A. § 71-3-501 et seq.

TDHS's posted rulebook is marked February 2026 (Revised), with amendments effective November 20, 2025 and February 8, 2026.

One agency runs both paths this page covers: the home path and the center path.

Confirm current requirements with TDHS Child Care Services before you apply.

Tennessee licenses all four agency types — family child care homes, group child care homes, child care centers and drop-in centers — under the same rulebook, so the first planning decision is which size category a program lands in.

A family child care home provides care for three or more hours a day for five to seven children who are not related to the primary educator.

A group child care home cares for eight to twelve unrelated children, up to fifteen if approved for three additional school-agers.

A child care center provides care for three or more hours a day for thirteen or more children not related to the primary educator.

Tennessee's rules call ratio-counted caregivers 'educators,' and each type carries its own staffing and training rules: a family or group home primary educator must be 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent, a home educator assistant may be 16 with no education minimum, and home annual training runs 18 hours for primary educators and 12 for other home educators.

Tennessee issues a license only after successful completion of a provisional licensure period and compliance with all rules, and a license is not transferable to a new address or a new owner.

Buying an existing program or moving to a new site therefore cannot carry the license over.

During the pre-licensure period, the center director completes a child care agency orientation session, and Licensing Rules training must be done before contact with children.

New directors also complete New Director Training, 3 hours on TN-ELDS, first aid, CPR and personal safety training during the 120-day provisional period.

Our research did not confirm the inspection steps TDHS requires between application and license — ask TDHS Child Care Services what your site and license type will need.

A center director must be 21 and hold a 4-year degree — or an RN license without the degree — plus one year of full-time group experience with children, or 36 hours of coursework (30 in business management, child/youth development, ECE or a related field) or the Tennessee Early Childhood Administrator Credential plus two years, or a high school diploma plus a TECTA 30-hour Administrator Orientation and four years of full-time group experience.

A single-site center director completes at least 24 annual training hours (at least 6 health and safety, 3 literacy) or one academic course in a related field.

Center educators must be 18 — a diploma or equivalent is required only when they are the only educator for a group or meet the group requirement; student assistants may be 16 if enrolled in a technical child care educational program.

Before contact with children, staff complete Licensing Rules training, abusive head trauma and maltreatment training, the 'Before You Begin' pre-service course and SIDS training if infants are served.

Educators then complete 12 annual training hours (at least 6 health and safety, 3 literacy), CPR within 90 days of employment, and fingerprinted background checks at least every five years.

Tennessee centers staff by age band under the February 2026 rulebook: 6 weeks to 15 months at 1:4 with a maximum group of 8, 12 to 30 months at 1:6 (12), two-year-olds at 1:7 (14), three-year-olds at 1:9 (18), four-year-olds at 1:13 (24), five-year-olds at 1:16 (24) and school-age at 1:20 with no maximum group size set.

Two staffing rules shape the schedule: a center may exceed ratios and group sizes by up to 10% no more than three days a week — never for infant and toddler groups and never above licensed capacity — and when more than 12 children are present, a second adult must be physically available on the premises.

Infants must have separate space and are never grouped with children older than 30 months.

On the home side, no more than seven children may be present in a family child care home except up to 12 when those above seven are related to the primary educator, and a home with seven or fewer children needs one educator if no more than four are under two — five or more under-twos takes two educators.

Our research did not confirm a Tennessee license application fee, so we can't state an amount — ask TDHS Child Care Services about current fees before you budget.

We did not confirm dollar figures for startup costs either; the licensing agency is the source for what your site, capacity and license type will require.

The timeline markers the rules do give: a license issues only after successful completion of a provisional licensure period and compliance with all rules, licenses are not transferable to a new address or a new owner, and a new center director completes New Director Training and related trainings during the 120-day provisional period.

Tennessee's free state-supported training resources double as operator resources once you hire: the Tennessee Child Care Online Training System (TCCOTS) offers free online trainings that meet licensing and CCDBG requirements, and TrainTN is TDHS's clearinghouse for approved external trainings, with records feeding into TNPAL, the required system of record for all Tennessee child care training.

Operators of licensed family and group child care homes also have the Tennessee Family Child Care Network (TFCCN), which offers free training, technical assistance and peer mentoring.

On staffing, Child Care WAGE$ Tennessee — administered by Signal Centers in Chattanooga — pays education-based salary supplements to eligible staff: people working in a TDHS-licensed program, at an education level on the supplement scale, with at least 6 months at one program and at least 10 classroom hours a week with children ages birth to 5.

As of 2025, WAGE$ Tennessee counts directors' and assistant directors' administrative hours as eligible.

On the T.E.A.C.H.

Early Childhood National Center's state list, Tennessee appears for WAGE$ only, not for a T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program, as of our October 2026 check.

Our research did not confirm startup grant programs in Tennessee — ask TDHS Child Care Services what funding is currently available.