How to Open a Daycare in Mississippi: License, Inspections, Insurance

To open a daycare in Mississippi, you need to form a legal business, hire a director who meets state qualifications, secure a facility that passes fire and environmental health inspections, clear background checks for every staff member, and submit a license application to the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) before caring for six or more unrelated children. Operating without that license is a misdemeanor, so the sequence below matters.¹

Do You Actually Need a License?

Mississippi draws the line at six children. If you plan to care for six or more unrelated children under age 13, you must be licensed by MSDH, whether you operate out of a home or a commercial building. If you care for five or fewer unrelated children in your own residence, you qualify as a Family Child Care Home and licensing is optional, though you can voluntarily register with MSDH to signal credibility to parents and open the door to certain federal reimbursement programs.¹

The rest of this guide assumes you are opening a licensed Child Care Facility.

Set Up the Business First

Before MSDH will process a license application, you need a legal entity to hold the license. Most owners form a limited liability company (LLC) through the Mississippi Secretary of State. The LLC separates personal assets from the business, which matters in an industry where injury claims are a real risk. A sole proprietorship is possible but gives up that protection.

Once the entity exists, apply to the IRS for a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). You will have employees, so you need one. The online application is free and issues the EIN immediately; the IRS never charges for it, so avoid third-party sites that do.² Form the state entity first because the EIN application asks for it.

Line Up a Qualified Director

MSDH will not issue a license, even a temporary one, until it has verified that your designated director meets one of the state’s qualifying pathways. The main options are:

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college plus paid experience in a licensed child care facility.
An associate degree in child development technology or child care from an accredited community or junior college, plus two years of paid experience in a licensed facility.
A current Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or a Mississippi child care director’s credential, plus two years of paid experience in a licensed facility and 24 semester hours of early childhood coursework with a grade of C or better.³

If you plan to direct the facility yourself, confirm your own education and experience meet one of these pathways before you sign a lease. Hiring a qualified director is one of the first commitments to lock down.

Prepare the Facility

Your indoor space must provide at least 35 square feet of usable floor area per child, measured wall-to-wall and excluding bathrooms, hallways, kitchens, and storage.⁴ Your licensed capacity flows directly from this calculation, so a room that looks big enough on paper may still cap your enrollment lower than you expect.

Outdoor play space must provide at least 75 square feet per child using the area at any one time.⁵ You do not need enough yard for every enrolled child at once; most centers stagger outdoor time across age groups.

If you plan to serve infants, cribs must comply with federal Consumer Product Safety Commission standards under 16 CFR Parts 1219 and 1220, and infants must be placed alone, on their backs, on a flat and firm surface with no loose bedding or restraints nearby.⁶

You will also need written zoning approval from your local government confirming that childcare is a permitted use at the address, plus proof of occupancy (a deed or lease) showing you control the property.

Clear Background Checks and Plan for Ratios

Every person who will have contact with children, including volunteers, must clear a comprehensive background check before working. MSDH’s background check unit runs fingerprints through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the FBI, searches the national sex offender registry, and reviews the child abuse central registry.⁷⁸ When someone clears, MSDH issues a Letter of Suitability for Employment, and you need that letter on file before the person starts. Interstate checks are required for anyone who recently lived in another state.

Staffing ratios are where new operators often underestimate payroll. The regulatory floor is one staff member for every five children in the youngest age group.⁹ Ratios ease with age: roughly one adult for every nine children between 12 and 24 months, and about one for every fifteen at age five and up. These apply at all times, not on average. If someone calls in sick and you drop below ratio, you need a substitute or you reduce enrollment that day. Build staffing buffers into your budget.

Submit the Application, Pass the Inspections, Pay the Fees

The MSDH application package pulls together everything above. Core items include:

The license application and a flat $130 fee.⁴
A floor plan showing all interior rooms with wall-to-wall dimensions, used to calculate your maximum capacity.
Current MSDH Form 121 immunization records for every employee, volunteer, and enrolled child.¹⁰
A fire inspection certificate (MSDH Form 333) signed by your local fire department, or by the State Fire Marshal if your area has no local department.¹¹
Background check clearances for all staff.
Zoning approval and proof of occupancy.
Director credential documentation.
Verification that the owner/operator and director have completed MSDH-required pre-licensure training.⁸

MSDH publishes a license checklist that tracks every required document; use it, because an incomplete package gets sent back.¹²

Once the application lands, inspections begin. An environmental health specialist evaluates water quality, sanitation, plumbing, and food preparation areas, and the fire inspection using Form 333 can happen on a parallel track. The inspectors verify that the physical facility matches your floor plan.

On top of the $130 application fee, you owe an initial licensure fee scaled to capacity: $97.50 for 12 or fewer children, rising through intermediate tiers to $520 for 151 or more.⁴ Even for the largest centers, combined fees stay under $700. When documentation and inspections check out, MSDH issues a temporary license so you can begin operating; a regular license follows after the facility demonstrates ongoing compliance.⁸

Insurance to Have in Place Before You Open

Mississippi’s regulations do not list specific insurance policies as a licensing prerequisite, but opening without coverage is a bad idea. General liability insurance covers injuries to children and visitors. Workers’ compensation is required by Mississippi law once you employ five or more people, a threshold most daycares cross quickly. Experienced operators also carry professional liability, commercial property, and abuse and molestation liability coverage, and if you transport children, commercial auto insurance is mandatory. Budget these as fixed operating costs from day one.

Federal Rules That Apply From Day One

Two federal laws reach almost every private daycare. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires your facility to be accessible to children, parents, and staff with disabilities; existing buildings must remove architectural barriers when doing so is “readily achievable,” and facilities newly constructed after March 15, 2012 must fully comply with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.¹³ The Fair Labor Standards Act requires at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for non-exempt employees and overtime at one-and-a-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek; Mississippi has no state minimum wage that overrides this.¹⁴

After You Open: Training, Renewal, and Food Program Revenue

All directors and staff must complete 15 clock hours of professional development each year, and no more than five of those hours can come from in-service training at your own facility.¹⁵

Your license expires annually. MSDH mails a renewal notice at least 75 days before expiration, and you must file the completed renewal with the fee at least 30 days before the license expires. Miss that 30-day window and MSDH adds a $25 late fee. If the license lapses entirely, you have one month to apply for reinstatement by paying both the renewal fee and a reinstatement fee. After that month, the license is gone and you must reapply from scratch.¹⁶

Once licensed, you can apply to the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which reimburses meals and snacks served to enrolled children. Public and private nonprofit centers are eligible, and for-profit centers can participate if they serve a sufficient number of lower-income children.¹⁷ For centers in the contiguous United States during July 2025 through June 2026, the free-rate reimbursement is $2.46 per breakfast, $4.60 per lunch or supper, and $1.26 per snack.¹⁸

What Happens If You Skip the License

Running a childcare facility with six or more children and no MSDH license is a misdemeanor. A first conviction carries a fine of up to $100, and each subsequent offense carries a fine of up to $200.¹⁹ The fines are modest; the collateral damage is not. An unlicensed operation cannot participate in CACFP, cannot accept childcare subsidies, and will lose families the moment word spreads. MSDH can also suspend, revoke, or restrict a license for any regulatory violation, and a revocation effectively shuts you down and follows you if you try to open at a new location.

1
Mississippi Secretary of State. Mississippi Child Care Licensing Law Definitions and Exemptions
2
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
3
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-1.5.3 – Child Care Director Qualifications
4
Administration for Children and Families. Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities
5
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-1.11.9 – Outdoor Playground Area
6
Federal Register. Safety Standard for Infant Sleep Products
7
Mississippi State Department of Health. Comprehensive Background Checks
8
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-2.2.2 – Types of Licenses
9
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-3.8.2 – Staff-to-Child Ratio
10
Mississippi State Department of Health. Form 121 (Immunization Compliance) and Exemptions – Mississippi
11
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-2.2.5 – Certificate of Inspection by Fire
12
Mississippi State Department of Health. Child Care License Checklist
13
ADA.gov. Commonly Asked Questions about Child Care Centers and the Americans with Disabilities Act
14
U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Fact Sheet: Daycare Centers and Preschools Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
15
Justia. Mississippi Administrative Code Title 15, Part 11, Subpart 55, Rule 15-11-55-2.5.8
16
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-1.2.8 – Renewal of License
17
Food and Nutrition Service. Child Day Care Centers
18
Food and Nutrition Service. CACFP Payment and Reimbursement Rates for the Period July 1, 2025, Through June 30, 2026
19
LII / Legal Information Institute. Mississippi Code R 11-55-1.25.8 – Criminal Penalties