Michigan Child Care Licensing: Rules

The Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) licenses child care through its Child Care Licensing Bureau. It took over from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) on December 1, 2023. Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) 722.111 defines three licenses: a family child care home for up to 6 unrelated children, a group child care home for 7 to 12, and a child care center. Caring for even one unrelated child in your home for pay, for more than 4 weeks in a calendar year, falls under the family home definition, unless it is babysitting as the law defines it.

Michigan Child Care License Types

Under the Child Care Organizations Act, Public Act 116 of 1973, no one may run a center, group home or family home "unless licensed by the department" (MCL 722.115m). The table uses MCL 722.111 for the definitions, R 400.1925 and R 400.8103 for capacity, and MCL 722.115m(11) for fees, which MiLEAP's home and center apply pages call non-refundable.

You can request increased capacity once you hold a current license, have been licensed for at least 29 consecutive months, renewed your regular license after that time and cared for at least 1 unrelated child (R 400.1925(2)).

Homes follow the Licensing Rules for Family and Group Child Care Homes (R 400.1901 and following), updated effective April 27, 2026. MiLEAP's announcement lists food allergy plans, training tracked in MiRegistry, the end of tuberculosis (TB) testing for staff and household members, and adjusted ratios for school-age children among the changes. Providers had at least 90 days from adoption to comply. Centers follow the Licensing Rules for Child Care Centers (R 400.8101 and following), updated effective May 7, 2025.

The apply pages send you to MiLogin to apply online, with paper applications for anyone who cannot finish online. For the business setup, see the opening a daycare checklist.

Who Needs a Child Care License in Michigan

For care in your home, the test is the family child care home definition in MCL 722.111: a private home caring for 1 to 6 children for pay, for less than 24 hours a day. It "includes a home in which care is given to an unrelated minor child for more than 4 weeks during a calendar year." It leaves out two kinds of care:

• Children related to an adult member of your household.
• Babysitting, as the statute defines it: caring for a child for the child's parent or guardian when your pay for the year stays below $600. The law also refers to the amount that would require the parent to issue you a Form 1099-MISC. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raised its 1099 reporting threshold to $2,000 for payments made in 2026, and personal payments by a parent are often not reportable at all, so do not treat $600 or $2,000 as a safe line. Check with the Licensing Bureau at 517-284-9730 (press 4) before you rely on it.

Outside a home, a facility caring for children under 13 for less than 24 hours a day, while parents are not immediately available, is a child care center. MCL 722.111 also excludes Sunday schools and vacation Bible schools within set hour limits, care of up to 3 hours during religious services, single-subject lessons for school-age children such as dance or music, clubs and scouting where the child "can come and go at will," and therapeutic programs.

License-exempt providers can enroll with MiLEAP's subsidy office, the Office of Child Development and Care (CDC), whose provider page says they must take a free annual health and safety refresher. The CDC call center is 866-990-3227.

Michigan Ratios and Training

Centers with more than 20 children use the ratio table in R 400.8222. Small capacity centers (20 or fewer children) are exempt from it and follow a flat rule of at least 1 staff member to 6 children, no more than 4 children under 30 months per staff member, and a maximum group size of 20 (R 400.8222(14) and (15)). In a center that uses the table, mixed ages in one room mean "the ratio and group size is determined by the age of the youngest child," unless the age groups are clearly separated.

In family and group homes, R 400.1927 and R 400.1928 set a ratio of "not less than 1 member of the staff to 6 children," or 1 to 7 with increased capacity. The count includes every unrelated child plus any child under school age related to you, your staff, an unsupervised volunteer or a household member. "For each staff member, not more than 4 children shall be under the age of 24 months, with not more than 2 of the 4 children under the age of 12 months."

Training rules are R 400.1922 to R 400.1924 for homes and R 400.8216 and R 400.8216a for centers:

• Home license: it goes to a person who "has successfully completed an orientation session offered by the department" and who meets the act's other requirements (MCL 722.115m(6)).
• Home staff: a MiRegistry account within 30 calendar days of employment, and new hire training within 90 days and before caring for children unsupervised. The rule lists 14 topics, from safe sleep and abuse reporting to pediatric first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
• Home yearly training: at least 10 clock hours for the licensee and 5 for other staff each calendar year.
• Center program staff (substitute teachers and volunteers have lower hour counts): orientation topics within 30 calendar days, more within 90 days, and 16 clock hours of professional development each calendar year, or 10 in a small capacity center.
• Center first aid and CPR: MiLEAP checks that at least 50% of program staff are currently certified before it issues or renews a license.

Applicants, licensees, licensee designees, program directors, staff members, unsupervised volunteers and adult household members in child care homes all need a comprehensive background check with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprints, through the Child Care Background Check Program.

Michigan Child Care Licensing FAQ