New York State Child Day Care Regulations and Requirements

Any child care program in New York that serves three or more children for more than three hours a day on a regular basis must be licensed or registered with the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). New York child care regulations set the staffing ratios, background checks, training, facility standards, and reporting duties that every regulated program has to meet, and OCFS enforces them through both scheduled and unannounced inspections. Violations can cost up to $500 per day, and serious or repeated problems can end in suspension or revocation.¹

Which Programs Are Regulated

OCFS regulates four categories of child care, and the category decides whether you need a license or a registration and how many children you can serve.²

Day care centers, usually in commercial or institutional buildings, must be licensed and can serve dozens or hundreds of children depending on approved capacity.
Group family day care homes operate out of the provider’s residence and must be licensed. One caregiver can watch up to six children younger than school age, or up to eight when at least two are school-aged; a second caregiver allows the home to reach its licensed maximum.³
Family day care homes are smaller home-based programs and require registration rather than a full license.
School-age child care programs (SACC) serve roughly ages 5 through 12 before and after school or during vacations, and they require registration.⁴

Licensed programs go through a more involved approval process and stricter oversight. Registered programs follow a somewhat streamlined path. Both are inspected and both must meet OCFS standards.

Getting Licensed or Registered

Every applicant must complete a Child Day Care Orientation offered by OCFS before opening. The orientation walks through adult-to-child ratios, facility requirements, and recordkeeping obligations so a prospective provider can decide whether to proceed.²

After orientation, applicants submit a program description and proof that the proposed space meets health and safety standards. Facilities need adequate square footage per child, proper emergency exits, and age-appropriate equipment. A fire safety inspection and an emergency preparedness plan are part of approval, and OCFS also reviews policies on supervision, discipline, and nutrition.

A registration or license is valid for up to four years as long as the program stays in compliance.⁵ Renovations or an increase in approved capacity need prior OCFS approval. If a license or registration lapses without renewal, the program has to stop operating until it is reinstated.

Background Checks

Every person who will have the potential for regular and substantial contact with children in a regulated program must clear a full background check before starting work. OCFS requires a New York State fingerprint-based criminal history check through the Division of Criminal Justice Services, an FBI national fingerprint-based check, a Statewide Central Register (SCR) screening for substantiated child abuse and maltreatment reports, and searches of both the New York and national sex offender registries.⁶

To begin, the individual schedules a fingerprinting appointment and submits a completed OCFS-6000 packet to the program’s director. The checks must finish before the person works with children. Disqualifying results can lead OCFS to deny or revoke authorization. In home-based programs, household members age 18 and older also have to be screened.

Staff Qualifications

Requirements scale with the role.

Directors

A day care center director needs at least a bachelor’s degree that includes or is supplemented by a minimum of 12 college credits in early childhood education, child development, or a related field, plus one year of full-time teaching experience in a child care program and one year supervising staff.⁷ A New York State Children’s Program Administrator Credential with equivalent experience is an alternative. Most bachelor’s degrees outside early childhood education need a transcript review to confirm the 12-credit requirement.⁸

School-age child care program directors follow a separate track: two years of college with at least 18 credits in child development, elementary education, recreation, or a related field, plus experience working with children.⁸

Teachers and Assistants

Lead teachers in day care centers typically need an associate degree in early childhood education or a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential plus relevant work experience. Assistant teachers may qualify with a high school diploma and some experience with children, though specifics vary by program type.

Training and CPR

All staff, employees, and volunteers with regular and substantial contact with children must complete 30 hours of training every two years across ten required topic areas.⁹ The topics include childhood development, nutrition and health, program development, safety and security, business recordkeeping, and child abuse and maltreatment identification, along with four more that cover reporting procedures, statutes and regulations, and working with children with special needs.

Every regulated program must also have at least one person on site during operating hours holding a valid CPR and first aid certification appropriate to the ages in care, with an in-person competency component.¹⁰

Staff-to-Child Ratios and Group Sizes

OCFS ratios and group size caps apply at all times a program is operating. For day care centers:¹¹

Infants (6 weeks to 18 months): 1 teacher per 4 children, group size cap of 8.
Toddlers (18 to 36 months): 1 teacher per 5 children, cap of 12.
3-year-olds: 1 teacher per 7 children, cap of 18.
4-year-olds: 1 teacher per 8 children, cap of 21.
5-year-olds: 1 teacher per 9 children, cap of 24.
School-age through 9 years: 1 teacher per 10 children, cap of 20.
Ages 10 through 12: 1 teacher per 15 children, cap of 30.

The group size cap is the detail most people overlook. Even with enough teachers to satisfy the ratio, a single group cannot exceed the regulation’s maximum. A room of three-year-olds cannot go above 18 children regardless of how many teachers are present.

Facility Health and Safety

Rooms, equipment, surfaces, and furnishings accessible to children must be cleaned and then sanitized or disinfected using an EPA-registered product. Items children frequently use or touch must be cleaned and sanitized when soiled and at least once per week. Any material exposed to bodily fluids must be sanitized immediately.¹²

Programs using a private water supply must submit a lab report showing the water meets New York State Department of Health drinking water standards, tested within 12 months before applying for licensure. Programs must try to obtain lead screening certificates for each child under age six; if a parent doesn’t have one, the program provides information on lead poisoning prevention and refers the parent to a health care provider.

Food preparation and storage must comply with the State Sanitary Code. Perishable food, milk, breast milk, and infant formula must be refrigerated, and diaper-changing areas cannot double as food preparation surfaces. Before licensure, the local health department must inspect and approve the facility.

Records, Medication, and Incident Reporting

Every regulated program must keep detailed records available for OCFS inspection at any time. Each child’s file must include name, address, gender, date of birth, parents’ names and contact information, emergency contacts, a health care plan, parental consent for emergency medical treatment, and any individual health care plans.⁴

Medication rules are strict. A program can give prescription or over-the-counter medication for one day with a parent’s verbal permission. Beyond the first day, the program needs written parental permission and written instructions from the child’s health care provider. Staff must document dosage and time every time medication is given.

Programs must document injuries, behavioral incidents, and emergency evacuations. On serious events, the program must immediately notify both the parent and OCFS upon learning of a child’s death, serious injury, serious incident, serious condition, communicable disease, or transport to a hospital while in the program’s care. Staff who suspect child abuse or maltreatment must report immediately to the Statewide Central Register. Failing to maintain records or report incidents can lead to fines or loss of the program’s license or registration.

Inspections and Penalties

OCFS conducts scheduled and unannounced inspections to verify compliance. Inspectors assess cleanliness, staff-child interactions, emergency preparedness, supervision, and recordkeeping, and review training documentation, background check completion, and medical records.

Violations are issued in writing with a correction deadline and fall into three tiers:¹

Class I (most serious): up to $500 per day.
Class II: up to $450 per day for a first offense, up to $500 per day for repeat offenses.
Class III: up to $400 per day for a first offense, up to $500 per day for repeat offenses.

Operating without any license or registration carries its own fine of up to $500 per day. Beyond fines, OCFS can deny, suspend, limit, or revoke a license or registration. Repeated or serious violations, such as leaving children unsupervised or maintaining hazardous conditions, can trigger temporary closure or permanent revocation.

ADA Obligations

Child care programs in New York must also comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. A program cannot refuse to enroll a child simply because the child has a disability. The exceptions are narrow: the child’s presence would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or accommodating the child would fundamentally alter the nature of the program.¹³

A direct threat finding cannot be based on stereotypes or generalizations. It must come from an individualized assessment of the child’s actual abilities and the specific activities involved. Higher insurance premiums are not a valid reason to turn a child away, and a center cannot exclude a child who needs one-to-one care if a personal assistant is provided at no cost to the program.

Centers must make reasonable modifications to integrate children and parents with disabilities. That can mean adjusting a blanket no-medication policy when giving medication is necessary for participation, diapering an older child who needs it due to a disability when the program already diapers younger children, or helping a child with leg braces. Existing facilities must remove architectural barriers when readily achievable, and any newly constructed facility with first occupancy after March 15, 2012 must fully comply with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

Wage Rules for Child Care Staff

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, nonexempt child care employees must be paid at least the federal minimum wage and receive overtime at one and one-half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. A common industry mistake is paying overtime only after 80 hours in a two-week pay period instead of after 40 hours each week.¹⁴

New York’s minimum wage is higher than the federal floor. As of January 2026, it is $17.00 per hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $16.00 per hour in the rest of the state.¹⁵ Time employees spend in state-mandated training counts as compensable working hours.

Checking a Provider or Filing a Complaint

Parents can look up any regulated provider and review its compliance history through the OCFS “Search for Child Care” tool on the OCFS website.¹⁶ Results include past inspections and violations. You can also contact the regional OCFS Division of Child Care Services office directly to request the full regulatory compliance history of a current or former provider.

Concerns about a program can be filed with the regional OCFS office that covers the program’s area. The OCFS Office of the Ombudsman also runs a helpline at 1-888-219-9818, available weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with after-hours coverage on nights and weekends. Suspected child abuse or maltreatment should go straight to the Statewide Central Register, not through the general complaint process.

1
Office of Children and Family Services. 18 NYCRR Part 413 – Child Day Care Definitions and Enforcement
2
Office of Children and Family Services. Starting a Child Care Program
3
Office of Children and Family Services. 18 NYCRR Part 416 – Group Family Day Care Homes
4
Office of Children and Family Services. 18 NYCRR Part 414 – School-Age Child Care Regulations
5
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 18 CRR-NY 414.15 – Effective Period of Registration
6
Office of Children and Family Services. CCDBG Background Checks
7
Cornell Law Institute. 18 NYCRR 418-1.13 – Staff Qualifications
8
Office of Children and Family Services. Policy Statement 17-5 – Evaluating Qualifications for Day Care Center Directors
9
Office of Children and Family Services. Training Requirements
10
Cornell Law Institute. 18 NYCRR 418-1.14 – Training
11
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 18 CRR-NY 418-1.8 – Supervision of Children
12
Office of Children and Family Services. 18 NYCRR Part 418-1 – Child Day Care Centers
13
U.S. Department of Justice 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 46 – Daycare Centers and Preschools Under the FLSA
15
NY.gov. New York State’s Minimum Wage
16
Office of Children and Family Services. Find Child Care