Arizona child care licensing requirements are set by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) Bureau of Child Care Licensing, and getting through them takes fingerprint clearance for every adult with child contact, local zoning and building approvals, an application with a capacity-based fee of $330 to $2,575, and a pre-licensing inspection of your facility. From the day ADHS accepts a complete application, the department has up to 120 calendar days to issue a decision.1Administration for Children and Families. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-202 – Time-frames The clock does not start until every prerequisite is in place.
Who Needs a License
Arizona treats an operation as a child care facility once it regularly provides compensated care for five or more children who are not related to the operator.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 36-881 – Definitions Below that number, you are outside the licensing framework. At or above it, the type of approval depends on where you operate.
A child care center is a commercial facility — a standalone building, a leased storefront, a church basement — that serves five or more children under a state license issued by ADHS. A child care group home is a residential setting where the operator cares for five to ten children in a home.3Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes Title 36 Section 36-897 Group homes go through certification rather than the center licensing process, with different forms, fees, and standards. Both tracks are overseen by the same ADHS bureau.4Arizona Department of Health Services. Child Care Facilities Licensing – Home What follows is the child care center track.
Some programs caring for children are exempt: care by parents or blood relatives, religious institution nurseries during services, public and private schools during regular school hours for enrolled students, single-subject instruction like dance or music, voluntary-attendance recreational programs for school-age children who can come and go freely, and certain limited academic programs for children ages three to six.5Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 36-884 – Exemptions If your program does not clearly fit an exemption, assume it needs a license. Operating without one when you should have one exposes you to enforcement.
Fingerprint Clearance Cards
Before ADHS will issue a license, every person who will have contact with children at the facility must hold a Level One Fingerprint Clearance Card. That covers owners, all staff, and volunteers counted in staffing ratios. For group homes, it also covers every household member aged 18 or older.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 41-1758.07 – Level I Fingerprint Clearance Cards The Arizona Department of Public Safety issues the card after a state and federal background check.
The DPS processing fee is $67 per person, or $65 for volunteers, and it is non-refundable whether the card is approved or denied.7Arizona Department of Public Safety. Fingerprint Clearance Card A facility opening with eight staff will spend over $500 on cards before the license application is filed. Cards expire, and federal law requires the background check to be repeated at least every five years.8Administration for Children and Families. Comprehensive Background Check Requirements
Local Approvals Before ADHS Will Review Your File
ADHS will not process the license application until you have cleared several local hurdles. These take weeks on their own, so start early.
Confirm with your local zoning office that commercial child care is a permitted use at the address. Residential zones often restrict it or require a special use permit, and the office will tell you whether your proposed capacity is allowed at that location. The building itself must meet local construction and fire codes, which usually means building permits for any renovation, particularly when converting residential or retail space. Contact your local fire department or fire marshal to confirm compliance with fire suppression, alarm, and exit requirements.
If your facility will prepare food beyond prepackaged snacks, the county health department must conduct a kitchen plan review of your layout, equipment, and food handling procedures. Timelines and fees vary by county.
The Application, Fees, and Timeline
With fingerprint cards in hand and local approvals secured, you can submit the license application through the ADHS Child Care Licensing Management System.4Arizona Department of Health Services. Child Care Facilities Licensing – Home The application asks for facility name, address, requested service classifications, and an affirmation of compliance with department rules. Attach documentation of your completed prerequisites, including fingerprint clearance cards and evidence of local zoning and building compliance.
A non-refundable fee is due at submission, based on licensed capacity:9Administration for Children and Families. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-206 – Licensure Fees
- 5 to 10 children: $330
- 11 to 59 children: $1,330
- 60 or more children: $2,575
ADHS may discount these fees based on available funding or participation in a department-approved quality program.
After ADHS receives the application, it has 30 calendar days for administrative completeness review — confirming every required document is present.1Administration for Children and Families. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-202 – Time-frames If anything is missing, ADHS issues a deficiency notice and the clock pauses until you supply it. Fail to respond within 180 days and the application is deemed withdrawn. Once the packet is complete, a 90-day substantive review begins, and ADHS schedules the pre-licensing inspection during that period. The overall time frame is 120 calendar days assuming no deficiency delays.
One detail catches people off guard. The application is not considered complete until you notify ADHS in writing that the facility is ready for its on-site inspection. Filing paperwork while you are still renovating will not start the clock.
What the Pre-Licensing Inspection Checks
The inspection measures the facility against the standards in Arizona Administrative Code Title 9, Chapter 5. These are the standards you need to have satisfied before the inspector arrives, not after.
Staff-to-Child Ratios
Ratios are among the first things inspectors evaluate. Arizona sets the minimum based on the age of the youngest child in each group:10Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-404 – Staff-to-children Ratios
- Infants: 1:5 (or 2:11)
- 1-year-olds: 1:6 (or 2:13)
- 2-year-olds: 1:8
- 3-year-olds: 1:13
- 4-year-olds: 1:15
- 5-year-olds not yet school-age: 1:20
- School-age: 1:20
The ratios must be maintained at all times, not on average. In a mixed-age group the youngest child sets the ratio, so one toddler in a room of four-year-olds pulls the whole group down to 1:6. A qualified volunteer who meets director or teacher-caregiver qualifications can count toward the ratio; student-aides and teacher-caregiver-aides cannot.
Staff Training and Certifications
Every staff member providing direct care must complete at least 18 hours of training every 12 months across at least two topic areas.11Cornell Law Institute. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-403 – Training Requirements Staff with less than 12 months of child care experience must complete at least 12 of those hours in core child development topics during their first year at the facility. More experienced staff need at least six hours in core topics annually. Anyone caring for infants adds at least six hours of infant-specific training each year.
Separately, every staff member counted in the required ratios must hold current first aid and CPR certifications specific to infants and children. The CPR certification must include a hands-on skills demonstration; an online-only course does not satisfy the rule. Copies of current certification cards stay on file at the facility.
Physical Space and Fire Safety
Indoor usable activity space must be at least 35 square feet per child, counting only the space where children spend time — hallways, kitchens, bathrooms, and storage do not count. Outdoor space must be at least 75 square feet per child, calculated for 50 percent of licensed capacity. A facility licensed for 40 children needs at least 1,500 square feet of outdoor area available at any given time.
Fire safety covers extinguishers, detection, and egress. You need at least one functioning fire extinguisher rated 2A 10BC or higher near the kitchen and one on each floor of a multi-level facility. Smoke detectors go in the main activity area and on every level. Exit routes must remain clear. Locks on exterior doors and windows must open from the inside without a key or combination. The facility must maintain a written emergency evacuation plan, and facilities caring for six or more children must practice and document evacuation drills at least once every three months.
Immunization Records
You must collect an immunization record for every enrolled child at enrollment, either from the child’s health care provider or printed from ASIIS, Arizona’s statewide immunization information system.12Arizona Department of Health Services. Child Care Immunization Quick-look Toolkit 2025-2026 Records attach to an Emergency Information and Immunization Record Card. If a child is missing required doses, parents have 15 days from notification to provide an updated record before the child can continue attending. Arizona allows medical and religious exemptions, each on a specific ADHS-issued form. Medical exemptions must be signed by a physician or nurse practitioner, and for measles and varicella, laboratory proof of prior infection must accompany the form.
ADA Compliance
Federal law prohibits child care facilities from excluding children based on disability, regardless of facility size or age. Blanket policies turning away children with a particular disability are not allowed; each child’s needs must be evaluated individually.13ADA.gov. Equal Access to Child Care Reasonable modifications are expected: training staff to help a child with autism de-escalate, adjusting a toilet-training policy for a child with a physical disability, or allowing trained staff to administer emergency medications like insulin. For physical accessibility, existing facilities must remove architectural barriers when readily achievable, meaning without significant difficulty or expense. New construction after March 2012 must fully comply with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.14ADA.gov. Commonly Asked Questions about Child Care Centers A child can be excluded only if their presence would pose a direct threat that cannot be addressed through reasonable modifications, or if accommodating them would fundamentally alter the program. Decisions must rest on current medical evidence, not assumptions about a disability.
Liability Insurance
Licensed facilities must carry insurance under Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-308. Confirm the current minimum coverage amounts directly with ADHS during application. Expect at minimum a general liability policy covering injuries to children and visitors and property damage on premises. Workers’ compensation is required if you employ staff. Build premiums into your startup budget; for a small facility, annual general liability commonly runs several hundred dollars, rising with capacity and coverage limits.
Keeping the License Current
An Arizona child care center license runs on an annual cycle. No more than 60 calendar days before the anniversary of your license, submit a renewal application and the same capacity-based fee you paid initially: $330, $1,330, or $2,575.15Administration for Children and Families. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-205 – Submission of Licensure Fees If cash flow is tight, you can pay half with the application and the remaining half within 120 days after the anniversary.
Miss the fee deadline and your license becomes invalid, at which point your facility is treated as operating without one.16Administration for Children and Families. Arizona Administrative Code R9-5-207 – Invalid License The regulation contains no grace period language. Beyond renewal, ADHS conducts periodic compliance inspections throughout the year, and keeping your staff training records, immunization files, ratio logs, and safety equipment current is the only reliable way to avoid citations that put the license at risk.