Louisiana Child Care Licensing: Rules

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) licenses early learning centers, the state's term for child day care centers, Early Head Start and Head Start centers, and nonpublic pre-K programs. Care for seven or more children who are not related to you, on a regular basis for at least 12.5 hours in a seven-day week, counts as a child day care center, and a center needs a Type I, Type II or Type III license before it opens (R.S. 17:407.33, R.S. 17:407.34). A home daycare with six or fewer children needs no license. It must register with LDOE before it receives any state or federal money for the care, such as Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) payments, and without that money registration is not required (R.S. 17:407.63).

Louisiana Child Care License Types

The center license type depends on where the center's money comes from (R.S. 17:407.34, Bulletin 137 §307). Fees are in Bulletin 137 §313 and §707 and LDOE's fee table, and space rules in §1903. Homes are defined in R.S. 17:407.62; homes that take CCAP follow Bulletin 139.

An in-home provider cares for children in the children's own home and follows the same registration rule (R.S. 17:407.63).

Who Needs a Child Care License in Louisiana

The line is seven children. A child day care center cares for seven or more children, not counting children related to the caregiver, without a parent or legal custodian present, on a regular basis for at least 12.5 hours in a seven-day week (R.S. 17:407.33). "Related" means your natural or adopted child or grandchild, or a child in your legal custody.

Under R.S. 17:407.35, center licensing does not apply to care given without charge, registered family child day care homes, kindergarten and higher grades, pre-K attached to a public day school, Louisiana Montessori accredited or provisionally accredited approved schools, camps, or programs licensed or run by the Louisiana Department of Health or the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). A tax-exempt religious organization open no more than 24 hours in a seven-day week, where no child stays more than 24 hours at a time, is also not an early learning center (R.S. 17:407.35(B)).

Homes follow a separate law. A family child care or in-home provider must register with LDOE before receiving any state or federal funds for the care. A provider with no such funds, or who cares only for related children (your child, grandchild, niece or nephew), does not have to (R.S. 17:407.63, R.S. 17:407.62), though LDOE encourages homes with up to six children to register. For the home daycare steps, see Louisiana Home Daycare Requirements.

LDOE may fine a person up to $1,000 for each day of knowing and continued unlicensed operation of a center (R.S. 17:407.37). A home that must register and operates without a valid registration faces a fine of $25 to $100, with each day a separate offense (R.S. 17:407.69).

Louisiana Ratios and Training

Center ratios and maximum group sizes come from Bulletin 137 §1711. LDOE's ratio sheet lists the same child-to-staff ratios but not the group sizes, which are in Bulletin 137 only.

At least two staff members must be present when more than four children are at the center. Ratios may be averaged for mixed groups aged 2 to 5. When a group includes a child under 2, the youngest child's age sets the ratio.

A CCAP-certified family child care provider may care for no more than six children under 13, or children with special needs under 18, at a maximum ratio of 6 to 1. The provider must be at least 18 (Bulletin 139 §309).

Center staff training, from Bulletin 137 §1719 to §1727:

• Within 7 calendar days, before taking sole responsibility for any children: Key Training Module 1 and the DCFS online Mandated Reporter Training. Key Orientation Training Modules 2 and 3 within 30 calendar days, and also before taking sole responsibility for any children.
• Within 90 calendar days of hire and before taking sole responsibility for any children: current pediatric first aid and CPR certification. Direct-care staff must be supervised until it is done. Staff accessible to children need infant, child and adult CPR.
• Each center anniversary year: at least 12 clock hours of continuing education, or 3 for staff who are never left alone with children and do not supervise them.
• Medication administration training every two years for staff who give medicine. Each center keeps at least two trained staff members, with one on the premises during operating hours.
• Every year between June 1 and August 31: the DCFS Mandated Reporter Training again.

Before CCAP certification, a family child care provider completes four hours of CCAP pre-service orientation; Key Orientation Training Modules 1, 2 and 3; infant, child and adult CPR; pediatric first aid; and DCFS Mandated Reporter training, then 12 clock hours of LDOE-approved training each year (Bulletin 139 §323).

Louisiana Child Care Rules Changing

Act 893 of 2026 took effect August 1, 2026. LDOE's FAQ on the law, released August 5, 2026, says an early learning center in a building constructed before 1978 that begins operating on or after that date needs a lead hazard risk assessment before it opens, by a risk assessor accredited by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, unless that building or those portions were already inspected, given a risk assessment, or abated or remediated for lead since 1978. A building constructed in 1978 or later needs documentation of its construction date, such as a building permit or property deed, instead of an assessment. Centers already operating are not covered unless they undergo major renovation or remodeling or a lead hazard is found after opening.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) has proposed adding this to Bulletin 137 §701. Under the proposed text, the application for a site first operating on or after August 1, 2026, must include the risk assessment results, and if lead hazards are found, "the facility shall not commence operations until appropriate lead hazard control methods have been implemented and confirmed." The notice ran in the Louisiana Register on September 20, 2026, comments closed October 12, 2026, and the projected effective date is December 20, 2026 (BESE rulemaking docket).

Louisiana Child Care Licensing FAQ