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Home Daycare License Requirements in Massachusetts (2026)

Opening a home daycare in Massachusetts means getting a family child care home license from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). Here is exactly what that takes in 2026 — your capacity limit and ratios, the training and background checks, the application steps, and the postings and enrollment forms you need — sourced to the state’s own rules and dated.

Who needs a license — home types in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts you are applying to the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), the agency created by St. 2004, c. 205 and operational since July 1, 2005, which sits inside the Executive Office of Education and issues every child care license in the Commonwealth under 606 CMR 7.00, "Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Family Child Care; Small Group and School Age and Large Group and School Age Child Care Programs," whose sole regulatory authority line reads "606 CMR 7.00: M.G.L. c. 15D." Mass.gov states the scope plainly on its Child Care Program Licensing page: "EEC licenses or approves group, school age, and family child care programs; family child care assistants; residential programs for children; and adoption/foster care placement agencies." The licensing requirement itself is statutory, not regulatory, and it is criminal: M.G.L. c. 15D, s. 6(a) provides that "No person shall operate a school-aged child care program, a child care center, family child care home, large family child care home, placement agency, group care facility, or temporary shelter facility unless that person is licensed by the department," and M.G.L. c. 15D, s. 15(a) provides that "Any person who violates section 6 shall be punished for each violation by a fine of up to $5,000 or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years, or by both." A department, agency or institution of the Commonwealth or a political subdivision "shall obtain an approval rather than a license," which is why you will see the phrase "licensure or approval" in the title of 606 CMR 7.00; if you are a private individual opening a home program, the word that applies to you is license, not approval.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

How many children you can care for in Massachusetts

Ten is the answer, but ten is a regulatory number that survives a statute which no longer says it, and the reason that matters to you is that the statute was amended in 2024 while the regulation was not. Start with what is in force. The Department of Early Education and Care defines your business at 606 CMR 7.02 as "Family Child Care - Temporary custody and care provided in a private residence during part or all of the day for no more than ten children younger than 14 years old or children younger than 16 years old if such children have special needs. Family child care shall not mean an informal cooperative arrangement among neighbors or relatives, or the occasional care of children with or without compensation therefore." Ten. The same section defines the group instrument that gets you there: "Multi-age Grouping - Ten or fewer children from birth through 13 years (or 16 years, if such children have special needs) assigned to a single group." Ten again.

And it defines what a licence number actually is: "Licensed Capacity - Determination by the Department of the number of children that a program can care for at any one time under 606 CMR 7.00." That definition is worth reading twice, because the ceiling on your licence is not ten; it is whatever number the Department writes on your licence, and ten is only the maximum it may write. 606 CMR 7.03(2) tells you how that number is set: "Programs will be licensed for the maximum number of children who may be in the care of educators at any one time, taking into consideration the size and layout of the physical facility, the number and qualifications of educators, the equipment and resources available to the children, the individual needs and characteristics of the children served, and the building certificate capacity, if applicable. At no time shall a program admit, supervise or provide care for more than the maximum number of children indicated on the license." Five inputs, and any one of them can hold you below ten: your square footage, your staffing, your equipment, the children you actually serve, and your building certificate.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Adult-to-child ratios

Massachusetts does not give family child care a staff-to-child ratio in the form you are expecting, and the first money an applicant loses here is lost by looking for one. There is no line in 606 CMR 7.00 that reads one adult to four toddlers or one adult to seven preschoolers for a home program. The operative instrument is a five-row table inside 606 CMR 7.10(4), headed Multi-age Grouping, whose columns are "Regulation Number", "Group Size", "Minimum Number of Educators Present" and "Limits on Ages of Children". Each row is a permitted shape of a group: a total headcount, the number of educators that shape requires, and an age composition that shape must satisfy. You do not compute a ratio and then fill seats; you pick a row and you stay inside it. 606 CMR 7.10(4) opens by telling you who may use those rows: "The Multi-age Grouping ratios and group sizes specified at 606 CMR 7.10(4)(d) through (h) may be used by: (a) family child care and small group and school age child care programs", and only then, in (b) and (c), by large centres under conditions. The definition at 606 CMR 7.02 fixes the outer edge of the instrument: "Multi-age Grouping - Ten or fewer children from birth through 13 years (or 16 years, if such children have special needs) assigned to a single group." A family child care home in Massachusetts is one multi-age group.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Training you must complete before licensure

START WITH THE DATE, BECAUSE THE MASSACHUSETTS PRE-SERVICE GATE MOVED AND THE DOCUMENT MOST OF THE INTERNET STILL QUOTES IS A 2012 POLICY WHOSE EVERY TRAINING LINK IS DEAD. Verified 26 August 2026 against the operative text and against the live servers, not against a pinned copy. The regulation that licenses you is 606 CMR 7.00, Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Family Child Care; Small Group and School Age and Large Group and School Age Child Care Programs, promulgated by the Department of Early Education and Care under the authority line that closes the chapter: "606 CMR 7.00: M.G.L. c. 15D." The chapter as it stands today was last amended by Massachusetts Register Issue 1452 and Massachusetts Register Issue 1459, both effective 1 September 2021; there is no later amendment to 7.03 or 7.09. The Secretary of the Commonwealth serves that text at reg_pub/pdf/600/606007.pdf, a file whose server stamps it last modified 24 December 2021, and the 2021 emergency-revision content (including the workforce-shortage clause at 606 CMR 7.09(20)) is present in it, which is how you know the file the Secretary serves and the text the codifiers report are the same text.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Ongoing (annual) training

THE DISTINCTION THAT COSTS MASSACHUSETTS PROVIDERS THE MOST MONEY IS THIS ONE: YOUR LICENCE RUNS THREE YEARS, YOUR TRAINING OBLIGATION RUNS EVERY YEAR, AND NOBODY COUNTS THE HOURS FOR YOU UNTIL A LICENSOR IS STANDING IN YOUR LIVING ROOM. Verified 26 August 2026 against 606 CMR 7.00 as amended by Massachusetts Register Issues 1452 and 1459, both effective 1 September 2021, the current text of the chapter, served by the Secretary of the Commonwealth at reg_pub/pdf/600/606007.pdf and confirmed against the codified version. 606 CMR 7.03(5)(b) provides that for family child care "A regular license or approval is valid for three years from the date of issuance unless revoked, suspended, or made probationary." 606 CMR 7.09(15)(f) states the training requirement PER YEAR. Massachusetts never restates the requirement as a per-renewal-cycle total, and that silence is the trap. A full-time family child care educator owes ten hours a year, which is thirty hours across one licensing period, and the regulation gives you no way to satisfy year two by doubling up in year three. If you are shopping for a training bundle that promises to cover you "for your licence period", you are buying against a rule that does not exist here.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Background checks

In Massachusetts the background check is not a step in your family child care application. It is the gate, and the most common reason a file that looks complete sits unissued for months. The licensing authority is the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC), which mass.gov today places under the Executive Office of Education but which still issues the license itself: M.G.L. c. 15D, § 7(a) provides that "The department shall issue and may renew a license to any person ... who meets applicable standards and requirements to establish and maintain ... a family child care home." No transfer of that issuing authority has occurred; EEC sitting inside an executive office describes reporting lines, not the signature on your license. The operative regulation is 606 CMR 14.00, Criminal Offender and Other Background Record Checks. As of 26 August 2026 the EEC index at mass.gov/lists/eec-laws-and-regulations serves exactly one file for it, "EEC BRC Regulations (606 CMR 14)," a 37-page document whose credits line records the last substantive amendment as "1433 Mass. Reg. 81, amended eff. Dec. 25, 2020" and whose currency line reads "current through Register No. 1467, dated April 15, 2022." EEC's proposed-amendments page states on the same date that the "Department of Early Education & Care does not have any proposed amendments to its regulations at this time."

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

The application, step by step

Work through these in order — the prep packet turns them into a checklist you can tick off:

1. START BY FIXING WHO LICENSES YOU AND UNDER WHICH TEXT. In Massachusetts family child care is licensed by the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) under M.G.L. c. 15D, and the operative standard is 606 CMR 7.00: Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Family Child Care; Small Group and School Age and Large Group and School Age Child Care Programs, whose regulatory authority line reads simply "606 CMR 7.00: M.G.L. c. 15D." M.G.L. c. 15D, s. 6(a) makes the licence mandatory: "No person shall operate a school-aged child care program, a child care center, family child care home, large family child care home, placement agency, group care facility, or temporary shelter facility unless…
2. DECIDE YOUR CAPACITY TIER BEFORE YOU TOUCH THE APPLICATION, BECAUSE IT SETS YOUR QUALIFICATIONS. Massachusetts has three family child care tiers and the tier you choose determines the experience and training you must already hold on the day you apply. Under 606 CMR 7.09(15)(b)1, an applicant for a licence to care for six or fewer children needs at least one of: one year of experience as a parent; one year of full-time experience, or the equivalent, caring for children younger than 12; nine months of full-time experience with children younger than 14 plus 15 hours of EEC-approved training not counting the EEC educator orientation; six months of full-time experience with children younger…
3. CONFIRM THE DWELLING ITSELF IS LICENSABLE, AND GET WRITTEN PERMISSION TO USE IT. 606 CMR 7.03(5)(e) is narrower than most applicants expect: "family child care may only be provided in a dwelling that provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation." That dwelling must either be occupied full time as a legal residence by the licensee or by an individual personally known to the licensee, or be unoccupied and fall into one of exactly three shapes: physically on the same property as the licensee's permanent residence where that residence is a single-family home; one half of a…
4. MEASURE THE APPROVED ACTIVITY SPACE WITH A TAPE, AND DISTRUST THE THIRTY-FIVE-SQUARE-FOOT FIGURE. 606 CMR 7.07(15)(c)1 sets family child care indoor minimums that are not a per-child rate at small capacities: "a minimum of 150 square feet of approved activity space for one or two children; a minimum of 225 square feet of approved activity space for three to six children; 35 square feet of approved activity space for each child when serving seven to ten children." Two structural limits follow. 7.07(15)(c)2 says the counted square footage "can be located on no more than two adjacent floors", so a first-floor playroom plus a third-floor bedroom does not add up. 7.07(15)(c)3 says "no more than…
5. PROVE TWO SEPARATE EXITS TO THE OUTSIDE, BECAUSE THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST COMMON MASSACHUSETTS DISQUALIFIER. 606 CMR 7.07(15)(b)1 states that "family child care homes must have at least two separate exits to the outside, approved by the Department", and 7.07(15)(b)2 adds that if a basement space is approved for child care, "the basement must have at least two separate means of egress directly to the outside", both approved by the Department. Homes initially licensed before October 10, 2003 and continuously licensed since are exempt from the basement rule under 7.07(15)(b)3 until substantial renovation. EEC's policy "Exits and Evacuations in Family Child Care Programs", effective January 29,…
6. REGISTER FOR A PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS NUMBER AND A STRONGSTART ACCOUNT BEFORE YOU BOOK ANY TRAINING. EEC's step-2 page, "Complete FCC program trainings", is explicit that you must create two accounts before you can complete a single required course: first, "Register with the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to get a Professional Qualifications (PQ) number", done through EEC's Professional Qualifications Registry profile setup at eec.state.ma.us; second, create a StrongStart account, StrongStart being EEC's online professional development system at strongstart.eoe.mass.gov, through which every required online and in-person course is enrolled and recorded. The PQ number is…
7. COMPLETE THE FULL ORIENTATION AND POTENTIAL-PROVIDER TRAINING SET, AND CHECK THE LIST AGAINST THE VISIT CHECKLIST. 606 CMR 7.03(1)(b) conditions the licence on the fact that "within one year prior to licensure the licensee (or his or her designee) has attended an orientation to early education and care approved by the Department", and 606 CMR 7.09(9) repeats that all educators must attend a Department-approved orientation. As EEC delivers this today, the applicant-facing package on mass.gov step 2 is: the Potential Provider Training, a two-part online StrongStart course of 1.5 hours known as PPT 1 and PPT 2, available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin; and the Family Child Care…
8. HOLD FIRST AID AND CPR CERTIFICATION AND A CURRENT MEDICAL FORM IN HAND ON THE DAY YOU APPLY. 606 CMR 7.09(15)(b) is unusually direct about timing: "Prior to being licensed for the first time to provide family child care the applicant must submit evidence of current certification in basic first aid and CPR that is age appropriate for all of the children in care." 606 CMR 7.03(5)(a)2 lists that certification among the documents required for a family child care licence, citing 7.09(15)(e), and EEC's pre-visit checklist specifies "Infant/Child First Aid and CPR (must include in-person skills practice)" for the licensee and for every adult working in the program. That in-person skills…
9. REQUEST A LEAD ACCOUNT, OPEN THE LICENSING TRANSACTION, AND WATCH THE NINETY-DAY CLOCK. All EEC licensing now runs through the Licensing Education Analytic Database, a cloud-based system EEC describes as handling "all licensing-related transactions", including applying for a new licence and applying to renew one. Family child care applicants and family child care assistants may request a new user account themselves through the LEAD Provider Portal request form at childcare.mass.gov, or by telephoning an EEC regional office; group, school age, residential and placement applicants must go through the regional office instead. Once approved you receive an email with instructions to log in and…
10. DO NOT MAIL A CHECK UNTIL EEC ASKS, BECAUSE THE FEE QUESTION IS GENUINELY CONTRADICTED ON MASS.GOV TODAY. Three official texts disagree and you should know all three before you spend anything. The regulation still contemplates a fee: 606 CMR 7.03(1)(c) conditions issuance on the applicant submitting "a completed application on a form provided by the Department, the required license application fee and the following documents", and 606 CMR 7.03(3) requires a renewal applicant to "pay any required application fee not less than 30 days before the date of expiration". 102 CMR 1.03(5), still listed by EEC as a live licensing regulation, adds that "the application, where applicable, shall be…
11. PUT EVERY HOUSEHOLD MEMBER AND FREQUENT VISITOR AGED FIFTEEN OR OLDER THROUGH THE BACKGROUND RECORD CHECK. This is the step that most often decides whether a Massachusetts family child care licence issues, and it reaches people who will never care for a child. 606 CMR 14.05(2) defines the family child care candidate pool as current licensees and applicants for licensure; "household members, as defined by EEC licensing regulations at 606 CMR 7.02: Definitions, 15 years of age or older, regardless of whether such individuals are present while child care children are present; and persons regularly on the premises (including volunteers and other regular visitors) 15 years of age or older"; and…
12. HANDLE LEAD PAINT AS A DISCLOSURE AND PEELING-PAINT PROBLEM, NOT AS A DELEADING CERTIFICATE — THIS IS WHERE MASSACHUSETTS ADVICE GOES WRONG. Family child care and centre-based care are treated differently, and copying the centre rule costs thousands of dollars nobody asked you to spend. For centres, 606 CMR 7.07(16)(a) does require a lead paint inspection: a program serving any child younger than five "must provide evidence of a lead paint inspection from the local board of health, or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, or a private lead paint inspection service and compliance with The Department of Public Health regulations at 105 CMR 460.000: Lead Poisoning Prevention and…
13. INSTALL SMOKE DETECTORS AND CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS TO THE FIRE CODE, AND START THE MONTHLY LOG BEFORE THE VISIT. 606 CMR 7.07(15)(d)1 requires approved smoke detectors on or near the ceiling throughout the home: "on each floor level of the home, including cellars and basements", with a detector installed in each stairway on the ceiling near the base but not within the stairway, a basement detector located near the base of the stairwell leading to the floor above, and detectors "outside of each separate sleeping area", where sleeping areas separated by rooms such as kitchens or living rooms — but not bathrooms — count as separate. 7.07(15)(d)2 then imposes the paperwork that licensors…
14. TEST THE WELL IF YOU HAVE ONE, AND CHECK THE TAP TEMPERATURE EITHER WAY. 606 CMR 7.07(4) applies to every licensee including family child care: "The licensee must provide evidence that any private well or water source has been inspected and approved by the local board of health, health department, or private laboratory within one year of licensure and meets Department of Environmental Protection Standards, if applicable." Two riders matter. 7.07(4)(a) requires that evidence to be updated at each regular licence renewal, which for family child care means every three years under 606 CMR 7.03(5)(b). 7.07(4)(b) adds the threshold that turns a household well into a regulated utility: "Programs…
15. WRITE THE EMERGENCY PLAN WITH ALL SIX REGULATORY ELEMENTS PLUS THE TEN-MINUTE CAREGIVER, AND BEGIN MONTHLY DRILLS. 606 CMR 7.11(7)(f) requires a written plan detailing procedures for meeting potential emergencies "including but not limited to missing children, the evacuation of children from the program in the event of a fire, natural disaster, loss of power, heat or hot water or other emergency situation", and it enumerates what the plan must contain: a method to obtain information from local authorities to determine whether to evacuate or shelter in place in a natural disaster; escape routes from each floor level approved for child care; a designated meeting place outside and away from…
16. ASSEMBLE THE PARENT PAPER SET AND THE CHILDREN'S RECORD FORMS, BECAUSE BOTH ARE APPLICATION DOCUMENTS. 606 CMR 7.03(1)(c)4 requires the applicant to submit "a copy of the written information for parents, as required by 606 CMR 7.08(6)", and 7.03(1)(c)5 requires "forms to record information required to be maintained in children's records, as required by 606 CMR 7.04(7)". These are not things you write after you open. 606 CMR 7.08(6) lists fourteen items that must be given to families in writing before a child enrols: notice that parents are welcome to visit unannounced at any time while their child is present and that input and communication are encouraged; the frequency of children's…
17. STAGE THE HOME EXACTLY AS IT WILL LOOK ON DAY ONE FOR THE PRE-LICENSING VISIT. EEC's instruction is literal: "Before your pre-licensing visit, your home should look exactly as it will on your first day of operation", meaning safe and supplied with the appropriate materials for the children you plan to care for. The visit is a federal requirement as well as a state one; EEC's Inspections and Visits policy, issued under the 2014 CCDBG reauthorisation and 45 CFR 98.42, commits EEC to "at least one pre-licensing visit, and more if needed, to determine, at a minimum, compliance with health, safety, and fire standards", followed by at least one annual unannounced visit thereafter. EEC's step-6…
18. EXPECT TWO TO SIX MONTHS, A THREE-YEAR LICENCE, AND NO PROVISIONAL PERIOD TO HIDE BEHIND. EEC's own guide sets the planning horizon: "It can take 2-6 months to complete licensing steps." The internal clocks that produce that range are the ninety days LEAD allows to complete the application, the up-to-forty-five days 606 CMR 14.08(3) allows for background record checks to be requested from each federal or state repository after fingerprinting excluding review time, the wait for a final suitability determination on every household member and frequent visitor aged fifteen or older that 606 CMR 14.09(2)(a) makes a precondition to issuance, the scheduling of the pre-licensing visit, and the two…

What you must post on your walls

• THE CURRENT EEC LICENSE OR APPROVAL, POSTED CONSPICUOUSLY. Two separate regulations impose this, and Massachusetts inspectors cite the one applicants have never read. 606 CMR 7.04(14) opens "Required Postings. The licensee must post the following information in an area easily visible to parents, educators and visitors," and subparagraph (d) is simply "the current license or approval." That is the family child care rule, and it applies to every program type because 606 CMR 7.04 states at its head that "the following requirements apply to all programs, including family child care, small group and school age and large group and school age child care." The second source is 102 CMR 1.00, EEC's…
• THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN, POSTED IN PLAIN VIEW NEXT TO THE LICENSE. This is the newest posting duty in Massachusetts and it is not in 606 CMR 7.00 at all. EEC policy FO-26-01, "Emergency Preparedness in Child Care Programs," release date 21 August 2026, effective date 1 September 2026, applicability "Licensed and Funded Child Care Programs," states under the heading "Posting and Notification" that all programs must "Post their emergency preparedness plan in plain view next to the program's EEC child care license," must "Provide copies of the emergency preparedness plan to all staff," and must "Share the emergency preparedness plan with parents/guardians prior to child enrollment."…
• THE "CALL 911" REMINDER WITH THE PROGRAM'S OWN TELEPHONE NUMBER AND STREET ADDRESS. 606 CMR 7.04(14)(a) requires the licensee to post, in the area easily visible to parents, educators and visitors, a "'Call 911' reminder and the telephone number and address of the program, including the location of the program in the facility." Three separate pieces of information are named and applicants routinely post only the first. The reminder alone is not compliance; the posting must carry the program's telephone number, the street address, and where in the building the program sits, because the point of the requirement is that a substitute, an assistant, a visiting therapist or a panicking parent…
• THE POISON CONTROL CENTER NUMBER AND THE EMERGENCY BACK-UP PERSON. 606 CMR 7.04(14)(b) requires posting, in the same conspicuous area, "the telephone number of the Poison Control Center and the name and telephone number of the emergency back-up person." The regulation does not print a number, so do not copy one from a template; obtain the current Poison Control number for Massachusetts and post that. The second half of the paragraph is the half that fails inspections. The "emergency back-up person" is a named human being with a working telephone number, and in family child care that person is defined by a separate regulation with a hard performance standard. 606 CMR 7.11(17)(b), the…
• THE LIST OF EMERGENCY AND LIFE-SAVING MEDICATIONS, POSTED WITHOUT NAMING WHAT PARENTS MAY NOT SEE. 606 CMR 7.04(14)(c) requires the licensee to post, "in a manner that protects the privacy of each child," first "a list of all emergency or life saving medications, including but not limited to epinephrine auto-injectors, inhalers, and anti-seizure medications, that specifies to which children they belong." The regulation asks for two things that sit in tension and expects you to resolve them: the list must tie a medication to a specific child, and it must not expose that child's medical condition to every parent and visitor who walks past. The workable resolution is a posting located where…
• THE ALLERGY AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL INFORMATION LIST. 606 CMR 7.04(14)(c)2 requires posting, in the same privacy-protecting manner as the medication list, "a list of allergies and/or other emergency medical information provided by the parent for each child." The phrase "provided by the parent" is the operative limit and the operative obligation: what goes on the wall is what the family told you, so an allergy disclosed at enrollment but never transcribed onto the posting is a violation even though it sits correctly in the child's record. The catch-all "other emergency medical information" reaches beyond food allergy to insect-sting reactions, seizure triggers, asthma, and any condition an…
• ANY EEC NOTICE OF HEARING, NOTICE OF SANCTION, ORDER OR DECISION. This is the posting nobody prepares for and the one that hurts. 102 CMR 1.09(2)(a) provides that "every licensee shall post in a conspicuous place any current license or approval issued by the Office and any notice of hearing, notice of sanction, order, or decision issued by the Office that pertains to the program or facility. Such posting shall be in an area easily viewed by visitors and employees." The obligation is automatic and self-executing: if EEC issues you a deficiency correction order, places you on probationary status, suspends or moves to revoke, or refuses renewal, the paperwork announcing it goes on the same…
• EXIT SIGNS, WHICH ARE A POSTING EVEN THOUGH NOBODY CALLS THEM ONE. 606 CMR 7.11(7)(e) states flatly that "exit signs must be posted in rooms that have direct access to the outdoors." It applies to every program type, family child care included, because 606 CMR 7.11 opens by stating that its requirements apply to all programs. EEC's Exits and Evacuations in Family Child Care Programs policy, effective 29 January 2013 and updated 8 May 2024, goes further than the regulation and is enforced as written: citing 606 CMR 7.07(15)(b), it requires that a family child care home have at least two separate, functioning, accessible exits to the outside, and states that all exits must be "clearly marked…
• THE ESCAPE-ROUTE DIAGRAM AT EACH MEANS OF EGRESS, WHICH IS A GROUP-PROGRAM POSTING AND NOT A FAMILY CHILD CARE ONE. Applicants routinely install a framed floor plan in a family child care home believing 606 CMR 7.00 requires it. It does not. The diagram requirement lives at 606 CMR 7.11(18)(b), inside the subsection headed "Additional Requirements for Small Group and School Age and Large Group and School Age Child Care," and reads "Escape Routes. A diagram of escape routes must be posted conspicuously at each means of egress in rooms that do not have direct access to the outdoors." Two limits sit inside that one sentence. The diagram is required only in group and school age programs, and…
• THE STAFF WORK SCHEDULE, POSTED WHERE PARENTS CAN READ IT — GROUP PROGRAMS ONLY. 606 CMR 7.10(8) is headed "Additional Provisions for Small Group and School Age and Large Group and School Age Child Care," and subparagraph (b) provides that "whenever more than one educator is providing care: 1. the Licensee must establish a written schedule listing all persons on duty, including volunteers. The schedule must show compliance with at least the minimum educator ratios at all times, including during breaks and planning time; 2. the Licensee must keep the schedule current and posted in an area easily visible to educators, parents and visitors." The posting standard is the same phrase used for…
• THE LOCATION OF THE HEALTH CARE POLICY, THE HEALTH CARE CONSULTANT'S DETAILS, AND THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST AID KIT — GROUP PROGRAMS ONLY. 606 CMR 7.04(17)(p) requires that, in addition to the four items posted under 606 CMR 7.04(14), a small group and school age or large group and school age licensee post "1. the location of the health care policy; 2. the name, address and telephone number of the health care consultant; 3. the location of the first aid kit; and 4. next to each exit, emergency and evacuation procedures." Note the precise object of items 1 and 3: what is posted is the location, not the document and not the kit. A sign reading that the health care policy is in the binder on…
• THE DIAPERING AND TOILET-TRAINING PLAN, POSTED IN THE DIAPERING AREA — GROUP PROGRAMS ONLY. 606 CMR 7.11(18)(c)1 provides that "a written plan for diapering and toilet training and for the disposal or cleaning of soiled clothing, linen, blankets and diapers must be developed, implemented and posted in diapering areas." It sits in the subsection headed "Additional Requirements for Small Group and School Age and Large Group and School Age Child Care," so it binds group and school age programs, not family child care homes. The verb sequence is worth reading literally: developed, implemented and posted. A plan drafted and filed is two-thirds compliant and fully citable. The plan must cover…
• THE WEEKLY MENU IS NOT A POSTING — IT IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST, AND THAT DISTINCTION IS WORTH MONEY. Every guide to Massachusetts family child care tells applicants to post the menu. 606 CMR 7.00 does not say so. The governing text is 606 CMR 7.12(7), which opens "If the licensee provides meals and snacks for children," and whose subparagraph (f) requires that "the licensee must prepare and make available to parents on request written menus, including snacks, for each week." Available on request. The obligation is to have the week's written menu in existence and to hand it over when a parent asks, not to display it. The retention half of the rule is where citations actually arise: 606 CMR…
• THE EVACUATION DRILL LOG IS KEPT AND PRODUCED, NOT POSTED. Massachusetts requires monthly evacuation drills and meticulous documentation of them, and requires that documentation to be retained rather than displayed. 606 CMR 7.11(7)(h) provides that "the educator must hold practice evacuation drills with all groups of children and all educators from each floor level of the approved space at least monthly. Drills must be held during different times of the program day, and must use alternative exits. The educator must document the date, time, exit route used, number of children evacuated and effectiveness of each drill." The record duty is separately imposed at 606 CMR 7.04(4)(a)3, which…
• THE MANDATED REPORTER NOTICE, THE EEC LICENSURE NOTICE AND THE COMPLIANCE-HISTORY STATEMENT ARE GIVEN IN WRITING BEFORE ENROLLMENT, NOT POSTED. This is the single most common misstatement about Massachusetts postings, and 606 CMR 7.08(6) settles it: "Written Information for Parents. The licensee must provide the following information to families in writing prior to enrollment of their child." Among the fourteen items enumerated are (l) "notice that child educators are mandated reporters and must, by law, report suspected child abuse or neglect to the Department of Children and Families"; (m) "notice that the program is licensed by EEC, including the telephone number and address of the EEC…
• THE EEC REGULATIONS THEMSELVES MUST BE ON THE PREMISES AND HANDED OVER ON REQUEST — THEY ARE NOT A POSTING, AND NEITHER IS YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE, YOUR DISCIPLINE POLICY OR YOUR ILLNESS-EXCLUSION POLICY. 102 CMR 1.03(6) provides: "Availability of Regulations. The licensee shall have a copy of the regulations applicable to any license issued by the Office on the premises of the program and shall make it available to any person upon request." On the premises, available on request — to any person, not merely to parents. A licensor who asks to see your copy of 606 CMR 7.00 and is told it is bookmarked on a phone will make a judgement about whether "a copy... on the premises" is satisfied; print…

Enrollment forms for each child

• THE FAMILY CHILD CARE LICENSE APPLICATION IS NOT A FORM — IT IS A LEAD TRANSACTION. Stop looking for a downloadable application PDF: EEC does not publish one. 606 CMR 7.03(1)(c) says the Department may issue a licence provided "the applicant submits a completed application on a form provided by the Department, the required license application fee and the following documents", and the form provided by the Department today is an online "new transaction" opened inside the Licensing Education Analytic Database (LEAD). EEC's own step page, "3. Submit your FCC license application", states it flatly: "You will start your Family Child Care (FCC) license application in the Licensing Education…
• THE BACKGROUND RECORD CHECK (BRC) CONSENT FORM — ONE PER PERSON, NOT ONE PER APPLICANT. This is the form Massachusetts applicants most often under-count, and 606 CMR 14.00: Criminal Offender and Other Background Record Checks defines exactly how far it reaches. 606 CMR 14.04 defines "Family Child Care Candidate" as "The family child care licensee; family child care assistants; and all household members and persons regularly on the premises of the family child care home 15 years of age or older, regardless of whether the individuals are present during child care hours." 606 CMR 14.05(2) repeats the categories: current licensees and applicants for licensure; household members 15 or older…
• THE CHANGES IN HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION FORM — A SEVEN-DAY DUTY THAT SURVIVES YOUR LICENCE ISSUE DATE. EEC publishes this as page 3 of the Family Child Care Sample Forms Packet (file marker FCCSampleFormPacket20100203), and it is not an application document: it is the form you will need repeatedly across a three-year licence. The regulation behind it is 606 CMR 7.04(16)(b): "A family child care licensee must notify the Department within seven days of approval as a foster or adoptive placement resource, or of any change in the household composition." Seven days, in writing, and the clock is not forgiving. The sample form asks for the educator's name, address, date of licence expiration and…
• THE FAMILY CHILD CARE MEDICAL FORM — YOUR OWN HEALTH, SIGNED BY A CLINICIAN, NOT BY YOU. Still served under that exact title, in PDF and DOCX, from the Licensing forms for Family Child Care providers list, carrying the internal marker FCCMedicalForm20101021. It opens "Dear Physician/Health Care Professional" and is addressed to the clinician, not the applicant: "The Department of Early Education and Care requires that all persons who will be caring for children in their homes or working as an assistant in a licensed family child care home be examined by a physician/health care professional." The clinician records the patient's name, date of birth, address and date of examination; states,…
• THE TAX CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (REAP) — THE FORM THAT ARRIVES BY EMAIL AFTER YOU THINK YOU HAVE FINISHED. 606 CMR 7.03(1)(c)6 requires the applicant to submit, with the application, "evidence of compliance with St. 1983, c. 233, Revenue Enforcement and Protection Program (REAP) on a tax certification form provided by the Department". REAP is the Commonwealth's statute conditioning state licences on state tax compliance, and it means your family child care licence is legally hostage to your Massachusetts tax filings. What EEC actually serves today is not a downloadable PDF. Its step-3 page states that after you submit your licensing transaction in LEAD, "EEC will email you 2 more forms",…
• THE FAMILY CHILD CARE ENROLLMENT PACKET AND ITS FACE SHEET — DUE BEFORE THE CHILD'S FIRST DAY, NOT AFTER. EEC serves this under exactly that title, "Family Child Care Enrollment Packet", in English, Khmer, Portuguese and Spanish, with the internal marker FCCEnrollmentPacket20110406 — a 2011 document still in service in 2026. Its first page is headed FACE SHEET and carries the instruction that decides the deadline: "Please fill out these forms completely. If a question does not apply to your child, write N/A (not applicable). The forms must be in the educator's possession on or before the first day your child begins care." Not within a week of admission. On or before day one. The face sheet…
• THE EMERGENCY CONTACT AND AUTHORISED PICK-UP AUTHORISATION — TWO DISTINCT LISTS THAT PROVIDERS COLLAPSE INTO ONE. Massachusetts does not publish a standalone "emergency contact form"; the content lives on pages 1 and 2 of the Family Child Care Enrollment Packet, and it discharges two different regulatory duties that must not be merged. The first is 606 CMR 7.04(7)(a)1.d, which requires the face sheet to carry "the name, address and telephone number of the person to contact in case of emergency when the parent is unavailable". The packet renders this as a numbered list of two: "In the event of an emergency when I may not be reached, the Educator may contact the following individuals (in the…
• THE TRANSPORTATION PLAN CONSENT AND THE NOTICE TO PARENT REGARDING SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN INVOLVING TRANSPORTATION. Two distinct transportation documents exist for Massachusetts family child care, and applicants routinely produce only the first. The first is the individual transportation plan consent, which 606 CMR 7.13(2) states in one line: "The licensee must have written parental consent for each child's individual transportation plan." 606 CMR 7.04(7)(a)3 puts that consent inside the child's record as "consent for the child's transportation plan, as required by 606 CMR 7.13(2)(e)". EEC collects it on page 2 of the Family Child Care Enrollment Packet under the heading TRANSPORTATION…
• THE PARENT HANDBOOK AND THE WRITTEN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT — A FORM YOU FILE WITH EEC AND A SIGNATURE YOU KEEP. EEC serves a fillable template titled simply "Family Child Care Parent Handbook" under the Family Child Care Recordkeeping Forms heading.
• THE HEALTH CARE RECORD — PHYSICAL EXAMINATION, IMMUNISATION CERTIFICATION AND LEAD SCREENING, EACH ON ITS OWN CLOCK. There is no single EEC "child health form"; 606 CMR 7.04(7)(a)13 requires three separate clinician-sourced documents in every child's record, with three different deadlines, and mixing them up is the most common children's-record finding in Massachusetts family child care. First, immunisation: "a physician's, nurse practitioner's, or physician's assistant's certification that the child has been successfully immunized in accordance with the current Department of Public Health's recommended schedules". Note that the standard is the DPH schedule current today, not the schedule…
• PARENTAL PERMISSION FOR MEDICATION AND RECORD OF MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION — ONE EEC SHEET CARRYING A CONSENT AND A LOG. Page 7 of the Family Child Care Sample Forms Packet holds this under exactly that title, and EEC's covering note defines its scope: "Use this form to get written permission for any prescription or non-prescription medication the parent/guardian may ask you to administer. Use the log to document what you have given." The consent half names the parent, the educator, the child, a start date and an end date, the name of the medication, and "dosage, # of times per day and # of days for that week the medication is to be administered", then asks a question providers skip past:…
• THE EEC INDIVIDUAL HEALTH CARE PLAN FORM — A REAL, NAMED, CURRENT EEC FORM, PUBLISHED INSIDE A POLICY. Massachusetts publishes this as "Individual Health Care Plan Policy and Form", a four-page document whose policy carries "Effective Date: October 29, 2010" and "Updated: June 30, 2022", with the blank form attached at page 3 under the heading "EEC Individual Health Care Plan Form". Do not go hunting for it in the forms list — it sits in the Licensing policies for Family Child Care providers list, which is why applicants report that no such form exists. The authority is 606 CMR 7.11(3): "The licensee must maintain as part of a child's record, an individual health care plan for each child…
• THE FAMILY CHILD CARE INCIDENT REPORT — IMMEDIATE TELEPHONE CALL FIRST, FORM WITHIN 48 HOURS SECOND. EEC publishes this as page 11 of the Family Child Care Sample Forms Packet under the heading "Department of Early Education and Care — Family Child Care Incident Report", with a field for your EEC Program ID number. It is dual-purpose, and the form says so: "Regulations require that Educators document certain incidents. Some require immediate notification to EEC while others must be kept in the records at the Program." The immediate-notification list printed on the form is death; serious injury; hospitalisation; "Medication error that results in a child receiving the wrong medication"; "The…
• THE EVACUATION LOG AND SMOKE DETECTOR LOG — MONTHLY, PER FLOOR LEVEL, AND CHECKED AT EVERY VISIT. EEC publishes both on page 4 of the Family Child Care Sample Forms Packet under the single heading "Evacuation/Smoke Detector Logs", with the warning that decides how seriously to take them: "You must conduct evacuation drills at least once (1) per month from each approved floor level. This sample form also contains a Smoke Detector Log to document your monthly test of your smoke detectors. These logs will be checked by a licensor on home visits." The evacuation grid has seven columns for each of the twelve months: Month/Date, Time, number of children, Floor Level, Exit Used, Meeting Place,…
• THE DAILY ATTENDANCE RECORD — NO EEC FORM, A HARD FIVE-YEAR RETENTION, AND A SECOND REQUIREMENT MOST PROVIDERS MISS. Massachusetts publishes no attendance sheet for family child care; you build your own, and 606 CMR 7.04(4)(a) sets what it must contain. The licensee must maintain complete and accurate accounts, books and all records required by 606 CMR 7.00, "including but not limited to: 1. daily attendance records indicating each child's attendance, including arrival and departure times; 2. a method of knowing exactly who is present on the premises at any given point in the day." Read requirement 2 as separate from requirement 1, because it is. A sheet ticked at 9 a.m. records…
• THE PHOTOGRAPH AND MEDIA CONSENT — NO EEC FORM EXISTS, AND THE REGULATION IS STRICTER THAN THE RELEASES SOLD ONLINE. Search the EEC forms library for a photo release and you will find nothing, in any language. That absence is not permission. 606 CMR 7.04(2) creates two distinct prohibitions and you need written consent to escape either. The first, 7.04(2)(a): "The licensee must not allow children to participate in any activities unrelated to the direct care of children without the written, informed consent of the parent(s)", and "Activities" is defined to mean, but not be limited to, "1. fund raising; 2. publicity, including photographs and participation in the mass media, and 3.…
• THE ANNUAL UPDATE FORM AND THE CHILDREN'S RECORDS CHECKLIST — THE TWO DOCUMENTS A LICENSOR ASKS FOR FIRST. Both are real EEC documents under those exact names. The Annual Update Form is page 2 of the Family Child Care Sample Forms Packet, and it exists because of 606 CMR 7.04(9): "Children's records must be reviewed and updated as necessary, but no less frequently than once per year. A written consent provided under 606 CMR 7.04(7)(a)3. through 12. shall be valid for one year from the date of its execution unless such consent is withdrawn, in writing, prior to that time." Every consent in that range dies annually: the transportation plan consent, permission to transport to a medical…
• THE ASSISTANT PAPERWORK — A CERTIFIED ASSISTANT APPLICATION, AN ASSISTANT RECORD, AND A BRC, BUT NO FORM CALLED AN "ASSISTANT APPROVAL REQUEST". Massachusetts family child care has two grades of assistant and only one of them applies to EEC. 606 CMR 7.09(15)(c)1 describes the certified assistant: an educator meeting the licensee's own qualifications who "may replace the licensee at any time, provided notice is given to parents in advance, in accordance with 606 CMR 7.08(8)(c)", and an educator qualified for six or fewer children who "may substitute for a provider licensed to care for up to ten children for up to 25 hours in a 12 month period". 606 CMR 7.09(15)(c)2 describes the regular…

What's specific about getting licensed in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is unusual in two ways that trip up home providers. First, there is no 'small' vs 'large' family child care license and no application fee — the whole thing runs on one FCC license through the LEAD system — but the licensed capacity is not something you choose; EEC assigns it based on your space AND the number of EEC-qualified educators present, and you cannot exceed six children unless you add a Certified or Regular Assistant (a second vetted adult), not just more square footage (606 CMR 7.10(4)). Second, and the biggest trap: under the 'Determining Capacity' rule at 606 CMR 7.04(5)(c), your own children living in the home who are younger than school age (plus home-schooled children of any age and certain other resident and visiting children) count toward the 10-child cap and the infant/under-two sub-limits at 606 CMR 7.10(4). A provider with a toddler and an infant of her own has already spent much of a one-educator home's room for children under two. Add that ~16.5 hours of training plus a PQ number and StrongStart account must be finished BEFORE you can even open the application, and the realistic path is months, not weeks.

How long it takes and what it costs in Massachusetts

Timeline: EEC states the licensing process takes about 2 to 6 months. Front-loaded steps (getting a PQ number, ~16.5 hours of training including a scheduled in-person Potential Educator Meeting, plus first aid/CPR and the medical form) run before you open the LEAD application; once started you have 90 days to finish, then wait for BRC clearance and a scheduled pre-licensing home visit (usually 1-2 hours, with follow-up items to cure before the license issues).

Cost: No cost to apply for the FCC license (mass.gov states there is no application fee). Real out-of-pocket costs are for prerequisites: basic first aid and infant-and-child CPR certification (commonly ~$70-$120, varies by provider), the healthcare-professional visit to complete the Family Child Care Medical Form, and fingerprinting for the BRC national criminal history check (fee varies — confirm the current amount with EEC and its fingerprinting vendor). EEC training (StrongStart courses and the Potential Educator Meeting) is generally provided at no charge.

Source: Sources officielles consultées pour Massachusetts :

https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-early-education-and-care

https://www.mass.gov/eec-laws-regulations-and-policies

https://www.mass.gov/lists/eec-laws-and-regulations

https://www.mass.gov/doc/family-group-school-age-child-care-programs-606-cmr-7-0/download

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/reg_pub/pdf/600/606007.pdf

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/bookstore/numerical.htm

https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/bookstore/agencies/102-early-education-and-care.htm

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/early-education-care-eec-proposed-amendments-to-regulations

Verified 2026-08-26. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state’s licensing agency before applying.