Louisiana In-Home Daycare: FCC Registration vs. Center License

Louisiana in-home daycare license requirements turn on one number: how many children you care for. If you watch six or fewer unrelated children in your home, you register as a family child care provider with the Louisiana Department of Education and do not need a formal license. Once you take a seventh child, you are running a child day care center and must be licensed as an early learning center under Bulletin 137.¹²

Which Path Applies to You

A family child care home in Louisiana can care for no more than six children, not counting the provider’s own. Providers at that size are exempt from formal licensing and are regulated instead under the state’s Family Child Care Provider and In-Home Child Care Provider Registration Law, which sets its own health and safety standards.¹³

If you plan to care for seven or more unrelated children on a regular basis for at least 12.5 hours per week, the state classifies your operation as a child day care center. You need a full early learning center license issued under Bulletin 137, the state’s comprehensive licensing regulations.² Licensed centers face more extensive inspections, staffing rules, and administrative obligations than registered homes.

A third category, “in-home child care provider,” refers to someone who cares for children in the child’s own home, similar to a nanny. These providers follow the same registration law as family child care providers, not the center licensing rules.³

Registering as a Family Child Care Provider

Family child care providers register through the Louisiana Department of Education. The department encourages every provider caring for up to six children at home to complete the registration, which is a prerequisite for participating in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program.⁴ Registration requires meeting the health and safety standards set by the registration law and passing an inspection by the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal.³

Registration is lighter than full licensure, but skipping it has costs. Unregistered providers cannot accept families receiving CCAP subsidies, which in many parishes cuts off a large share of potential clients.

Getting an Early Learning Center License

An in-home operation serving seven or more children needs an early learning center license from the Department of Education. The process starts with an application and an initial inspection of the facility to confirm compliance with licensing laws and safety standards.² Inspectors measure indoor and outdoor space, check safety equipment, and assess the physical environment before a license is granted.

The annual licensure fee for a center with 15 or fewer children is $25, and fees rise with capacity.⁵ If the initial inspection finds violations, the department can deny the application and pursue legal remedies.² You will also need to check local zoning; parish rules vary, and some residential areas restrict commercial child care.

Licensed centers must also follow specific child-to-caregiver ratios under Bulletin 137, which are tightest for infants and loosen with age. Those ratios drive staffing levels and required space, so the jump from six children to seven brings significantly higher operating costs.

Criminal Background Checks

Everyone who will have direct contact with the children in your care must clear a criminal background check. The process runs through the Department of Education’s Child Care Civil Background Check System and includes fingerprint-based criminal history results, which pull from both state and national databases rather than just name-based records.⁶

Health and Safety Standards

Both registered homes and licensed centers must meet health and safety requirements, though the specifics differ. Family child care homes are inspected by the Office of State Fire Marshal, which reviews fire safety and the general safety of the environment.³ Licensed centers face more detailed standards under Bulletin 137, including smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, sanitation, ventilation, and secure play areas.

Basic expectations for either category include working smoke detectors, an accessible fire extinguisher, secured cleaning supplies and hazardous materials, covered outlets, and safely fenced outdoor areas. Pools, ponds, and standing water on the property need to be inaccessible to the children in your care.

Safe Sleep for Infants

The safe sleep rules for licensed centers are detailed, and in-home providers are wise to follow the same practices. Every infant must have their own safety-approved crib; sharing is not allowed. Infants must be placed on their backs to sleep, and any other position requires the child’s physician’s written authorization, posted on or near the crib.⁷

Positioning devices like sleep wedges are prohibited unless a physician authorizes them in writing. Bibs must be removed before sleep, nothing may be placed over an infant’s head or face, and “Back To Sleep” signs must be posted in the room where infants sleep.⁷ Pacifiers may be offered at sleep time but should not be replaced once the child is asleep. If a child needs to sleep in a car seat or similar device, a physician’s written authorization is required and must specify how long the child can remain in it. Cribs and play yards must meet current federal safety standards; older or hand-me-down equipment often does not.⁸

Emergency Preparedness

Louisiana’s hurricane and flood risk makes emergency planning essential. Licensed centers must develop a written multi-hazard emergency and evacuation plan covering shelter-in-place, lockdown, and evacuation to a pre-determined site, with specific procedures for infants and toddlers, accommodations for children with disabilities, and a way to account for every child.⁹ Parents must be told about the plan at enrollment, the plan must be reviewed annually, and practice drills must be run at least twice a year. Family child care providers should build a comparable plan; the registration rule may not require it, but parents expect one.

Insurance

Licensed early learning centers must maintain commercial liability insurance at all times to cover medical costs if a child is injured in care. The policy has to be in the center’s name and list the physical address, insurance company, policy number, period of coverage, and description of coverage.¹⁰

Registered family child care providers are not required to carry commercial liability coverage under the registration law, but operating without it is a real financial risk. One serious injury can produce a claim that outstrips personal assets. Providers commonly carry general liability coverage for injuries on the property and may add professional liability for claims of negligent care. Homeowner’s policies typically exclude injuries tied to a business run from the home, so check the exclusions in yours before assuming you are covered.

Training and Qualifications

Louisiana requires ongoing training. Licensed centers must ensure staff complete at least 12 hours of continuing education each year from trainers approved by the Department of Education through the Louisiana Pathways Early Learning Center Career Development System.¹¹¹² The Bureau of Licensing requires a total of 15 training hours annually, with the 12 Pathways-approved hours forming the core.

Training covers child development, age-appropriate activities, nutrition, emergency response, and child abuse prevention. Providers should also maintain current pediatric first aid and CPR certifications. If you plan to give any medication, including over-the-counter products, you need written parental consent, accurate dosage and timing records, and specific training on medication administration; for licensed centers, that training must be renewed every two years through an approved child care health consultant.

The Child Care Assistance Program

CCAP provides subsidies to eligible Louisiana families for child care. To accept CCAP-funded families, you apply through the state’s online CAFÉ system.³ Participation is optional, but declining means turning away families who rely on subsidized care.

CCAP participation brings extra monitoring. Family child care and in-home providers who accept CCAP families are inspected twice a year in the home where care is provided: one announced visit and one unannounced.³ Falling out of compliance can suspend CCAP payments as well as jeopardize registration.

Penalties and Appeals

Operating an unlicensed child care center is expensive. The state can impose fines of at least $1,000 per day for each day of unlicensed operation and seek a court injunction to force the operation to stop. Anyone enjoined from operating without a license is placed on a statewide registry published on the Department of Education’s website.²

Licensed centers may appeal a denial, revocation, or non-renewal. You have 30 calendar days to appeal a denied application and 15 calendar days to appeal a revocation or refusal to renew. The appeal must identify the specific areas believed to be in error and is heard by the Division of Administrative Law within 30 days. A center can generally keep operating during the appeal unless the department finds that children’s health or safety requires immediate closure; if the appeal fails, operations must terminate immediately.¹³

1
Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal. Family Child In-Home Daycare
2
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Louisiana Early Learning Center Licensing Regulations
3
Louisiana Department of Education. CCAP Providers
4
Louisiana Department of Education. Family Child Care (FCC) Providers
5
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 CLXI-313 – Annual Licensure Fee
6
Louisiana Department of Education. Child Care Criminal Background Checks
7
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 CLXI-1909 – Safe Sleep Practices
8
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Play Yards Business Guidance
9
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 CLXI-1921 – Emergency Preparedness and Practices
10
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 CLXI-1503
11
Well-Ahead Louisiana. Louisiana Child Care Provider Trainings
12
Northwestern State University. Louisiana Pathways
13
Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 28 CLXI-1307 – Appeal of Denial, Revocation, or Non-Renewal of a License