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Required Postings and Records for a Home Daycare

What you must display where families can see it, and what you have to keep on file for every child — explained plainly for a first-timer.

The short version

Two questions decide most of what a licensor looks for when they walk into a family child care home: what is on your walls, and what is in your files. "Postings" are the things you display where parents and inspectors can see them at a glance. "Records" are the documents you keep on file for each child and for the program itself.

In the United States, child care licensing is run by the states, not the federal government. There is a federal frame — the Child Care and Development Block Grant sets baseline health and safety expectations for programs that serve subsidized families — but the specific list of what you must post and keep is written by your state's licensing agency. So treat everything below as the common pattern, then confirm the exact wording against your state's requirements page.

The good news: this is a checklist, not a mystery. Once your postings are up and your files are organized, staying compliant is mostly upkeep.

What you post on the wall

Most states require a small set of items displayed in a spot that is visible to parents — usually near the entrance or in the main care area. The exact list varies, but these show up almost everywhere:

• Your license or permit itself — the current, unexpired certificate, shown in plain view rather than filed in a drawer.
• Emergency phone numbers — typically 911, poison control, and often the number for the local licensing office or a child-abuse reporting hotline.
• An evacuation and emergency plan — a floor plan or written procedure showing exits and where you take the children in a fire, and often a separate plan for severe weather or other disasters.
• Your daily schedule and sometimes the meal or snack menu, so parents can see the rhythm of the day and what is being served.
• Situational notices: allergy or emergency information for enrolled children (kept where caregivers can act on it but away from casual view), and any inspection or complaint-history notice your state requires.

The records you keep for each child

Alongside what is on the wall, states require a file for every enrolled child. This is where an inspector confirms that you actually know how to reach a parent and what each child needs. Expect to keep:

An emergency contact and authorization form — parent or guardian contact, at least one backup person, who is allowed to pick the child up, and consent to seek medical care if you cannot reach the family. A health record is usually required too: the child's physician, known allergies and conditions, and any medication instructions.

Immunization records are a near-universal requirement, showing the child is up to date or has a valid exemption on file according to your state's rules. States differ on which forms they accept and how exemptions work, so this is a detail to verify locally rather than assume.

Finally, enrollment paperwork and signed permissions — the agreement with the family, and consent for things like transportation, field trips, water play, or photos. Keep these current; a file that was complete at enrollment can drift out of date as a child grows.

Attendance and daily logs

Attendance is its own requirement in most states, and it is one inspectors check quickly because it is easy to verify. You are generally expected to record which children are present each day, often with arrival and departure times, so that in an emergency you know exactly who is in your care.

Depending on your state and the ages you serve, you may also keep additional logs: medication administration, incident or injury reports, and — for infants — feeding and sleep records. These protect the children and protect you, because a written record answers questions that memory cannot.

Why the exact list comes from your state

It is worth saying plainly, because it saves a lot of second-guessing: there is no single national checklist. One state may require a posted disaster plan and a specific immunization form; a neighbor state may word it differently, ask for an extra notice, or place items in different sections of the regulations. Ratios, training, and fees vary the same way.

This is exactly why we keep a separate requirements page for each state. Before you print and laminate anything, open your state's requirements page and match your postings and record templates to that state's language. If something there is unclear, the licensing agency listed on that page can confirm it — a quick call before an inspection beats a correction notice after one.

Staying inspection-ready

Compliance is easier to keep than to recover. A few habits make the difference: keep every child's file in the same order so a gap is obvious at a glance; put a reminder on your calendar to refresh immunization dates, emergency contacts, and your posted license before it expires; and walk your own space now and then as if you were the licensor, checking that each required item is actually posted and readable.

When you enroll a new family, complete the full file on day one rather than promising to collect the missing form later — "later" is where compliance gaps live. And when your state updates its rules, revisit your postings, because a plan that was correct last year may need a new line this year.

A note on trust and limits

This article is general information to help you get oriented, not legal advice, and it does not replace your state's regulations or the guidance of your licensing worker. Licensing rules change, and they differ meaningfully from one state to the next.

Use this as your mental model — display the license and safety information, keep a complete and current file for every child, track attendance — and then confirm the specifics against your state's requirements page and, when in doubt, the agency itself. That combination is what keeps you both compliant and genuinely ready for the children in your care.

If you do one thing today, make it a two-column list: what is on my walls, and what is in my files. Put the license and emergency information where anyone can see them, build a complete folder for each child with contacts, health, and immunization records, and start a simple daily attendance log. Then open your state's requirements page and check your list against the exact wording — because the frame is national, but the rules that grade you are your state's.