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Home Daycare License Requirements in New Hampshire (2026)

Opening a home daycare in New Hampshire means getting a family child care home license from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Child Care Licensing Unit. 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 New Hampshire

WHAT COUNTS AS A "FAMILY DAY CARE HOME" IN NEW HAMPSHIRE — THE STATUTORY DEFINITION, THE RULE'S GLOSS, AND THE 2025 REWRITE OF WHERE THE HOME MAY PHYSICALLY BE THE CONTROLLING SENTENCE. Everything starts with RSA 170-E:2, IV(a), which reads in full: "'Family day care home' means an occupied residence in which child day care is provided for less than 24 hours per day, except in emergencies, for up to 6 children from one or more unrelated families. The 6 children shall include any foster children residing in the home and all children who are related to the caregiver except children who are 10 years of age or older. In addition to the 6 children, up to 3 children attending a full day school program may also be cared for up to 5 hours per day on school days and all day during school holidays, provided that the after school and holiday increase in capacity is permitted by the state fire code and in compliance with any local ordinance." The immediately following subparagraph, RSA 170-E:2, IV(b), defines the next tier up: "'Family group day care home' means an occupied residence in which child day care is provided for less than 24 hours per day, except in emergencies, for 7 to 12 children from one or more unrelated families.

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 New Hampshire

HOW MANY CHILDREN A NEW HAMPSHIRE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME MAY SERVE — THE STATUTORY CEILING, THE RULE'S CEILING, THE SQUARE-FOOTAGE TEST, THE PLUMBING TEST, AND THE FOUR SEPARATE APPROVALS THAT CAN LOWER ALL OF THEM THE HEADLINE NUMBERS. A family day care home is capped at 6 children; a family group day care home runs from 7 to 12 children. RSA 170-E:2, IV(a): "'Family day care home' means an occupied residence in which child day care is provided for less than 24 hours per day, except in emergencies, for up to 6 children from one or more unrelated families." RSA 170-E:2, IV(b): "'Family group day care home' means an occupied residence in which child day care is provided for less than 24 hours per day, except in emergencies, for 7 to 12 children from one or more unrelated families." Both tiers carry a school-age add-on that sits ON TOP of the base number. For the family home, RSA 170-E:2, IV(a) continues: "In addition to the 6 children, up to 3 children attending a full day school program may also be cared for up to 5 hours per day on school days and all day during school holidays, provided that the after school and holiday increase in capacity is permitted by the state fire code and in compliance with any local ordinance."

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

Adult-to-child ratios

STAFF-TO-CHILD RATIOS IN A NEW HAMPSHIRE HOME PROGRAMME — WHAT THE RULE SAYS, WHICH TABLE DOES NOT EXIST, AND WHERE THE REAL NUMBERS HIDE (read on 26 August 2026 against the codified rule as the Office of Legislative Services serves it today, Document #14356, effective 22 September 2025, EXPIRES 22 September 2035, and against the enrolled 2026 session laws) START WITH THE FINDING THAT WILL SAVE YOU A WEEK. New Hampshire does not publish an age-banded staff-to-child ratio table for family child care homes or family group child care homes. There is no "one adult to four infants, one adult to five toddlers" grid anywhere in He-C 4002 that applies to your house on an ordinary care day. What New Hampshire publishes instead is a set of three combination caps — a named adult or pair of adults, a total number of children, and two age sub-caps — and the ratio is whatever falls out of the arithmetic. Every commercial "New Hampshire ratios" page reproduces the CENTRE table and prints it as though it governed a home. It does not. The rule that governs your home is He-C 4002.33, and Appendix A of the part ties it to a different statutory hook from the centre rules: "He-C 4002.33 — RSA-170-E:11, I(b); 45 CFR 98.41(d)", where I(b) is the commissioner's power over "The character, qualifications, mental and physical ability and competence of the applicant", while He-C 4002.35 and He-C 4002.36 are anchored on "RSA 170-E:11, I(a) and (c)", paragraph I(c) being the one headed "The number of individuals or staff required to insure adequate supervision and care of the children received".

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

WHAT MUST BE FINISHED BEFORE NEW HAMPSHIRE LETS YOU OPEN, AND WHAT MUST BE FINISHED BEFORE ANY ADULT IS ALONE WITH A CHILD (verified 26 August 2026 against the rule the Office of Legislative Services shows as in effect today, not against a pinned PDF). START WITH THE VERSION QUESTION, BECAUSE IT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS LOST. There are two full texts of He-C 4002 circulating in New Hampshire and both of them are on the department's own web server. The one that governs you is Document #14356, "Readopt w/Amendment He-C 4002 NH Child Care Program Licensing Rules", effective 22 September 2025, expiring 22 September 2035, which is what the General Court's filing history for He-C rules lists as the operative filing; the department publishes its text under the running header "He-C 4002 Adopted Rule 8/26/25". The one that Google, most consultants, and several commercial "New Hampshire licensing requirements" pages serve is the file headed "Adopted Rule Text 4/21/22", which is Document #13373, effective 22 April 2022,, now superseded. The difference is substantive. In the 2022 text, professional development was Section He-C 4002.33 and it opened with a hard number: "All center directors, agency administrators, site coordinators, or site directors, and all other child care staff who are responsible for the supervision of children, or who are necessary for the staff to child ratios, shall keep on file documentation of completion of a minimum of 6 hours of professional development".

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

Ongoing (annual) training

THE ONGOING TRAINING CLOCK IN A NEW HAMPSHIRE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME: TWELVE HOURS, MEASURED FROM HIRE AND NOT FROM THE LICENCE (verified 26 August 2026 against He-C 4002 as readopted with amendment by Document #14356, effective 22 September 2025, which is what the General Court's filing history for He-C rules lists as operative; the department publishes that text under the header "He-C 4002 Adopted Rule 8/26/25"). THE NUMBER IS TWELVE, AND IF YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD EIGHTEEN YOU ARE READING A REPEALED RULE. He-C 4002.32(e) provides: "The program manager and all child care staff shall complete 12 hours of professional development within their first 12 months of hire, and annually thereafter, in accordance with the following: (1) A minimum of 3 hours shall be in health and safety topics listed in (b)(2)-(13) above; and (2) The remaining 9 hours shall be in any other areas listed in (o) below." The predecessor rule, Document #13373 effective 22 April 2022, said something materially different at what was then He-C 4002.33(f): "The center director, agency administrator, site coordinator, site director, and all child care staff shall complete 18 hours of professional development within their first 12 months of hire, and annually thereafter", with three hours in health and safety and "the remaining 15 hours" in the open list.

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

Background checks

THE FIRST THING TO GET RIGHT ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE SCREENING IS THE RULE NUMBER, BECAUSE EVERY FREE LEGAL DATABASE ON THE INTERNET IS CURRENTLY SERVING THE WRONG ONE. The background check rule for a New Hampshire family day care home is N.H. Code Admin. R. He-C 4002.40, "Background Checks and Determination of Eligibility". It is NOT He-C 4002.41. He-C 4002.41 is now "Complaints and Investigations". The Office of Legislative Services filing history for He-C 4002, which is the index of what is actually in effect rather than a pinned copy of a document, records twelve filings for this Part and ends with "#14356 - Readopt w/Amendment He-C 4002 NH Child Care Program Licensing Rules (eff 9-22-25; expires 9-22-35)", superseding "#13373 - Readopt w/Amend He-C 4002 NH Child Care Program Licensing (eff 4-22-22)". The 2025 readoption deleted the old He-C 4002.15, "Notice and Reporting Requirements to the Department and Parents", dispersed its contents through the rest of the Part, and renumbered everything above it downward by one.

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. STEP ONE — DECIDE WHICH REGIME YOU ARE IN BEFORE YOU TOUCH A FORM, BECAUSE NEW HAMPSHIRE LETS YOU CARE FOR FOUR UNRELATED CHILDREN WITH NO LICENCE AT ALL AND MOST PEOPLE WHO APPLY DO NOT NEED TO. There are three doors, and the numbers that separate them are statutory. Door one is the exemption at RSA 170-E:3, I(c), which removes from the definition of a child day care agency "Private homes in which any number of the provider's own children, whether related biologically or through adoption, and up to 4 additional children are cared for regularly for any part of the day, but less than 24 hours, unless the caregiver elects to comply with the provisions of this chapter and be licensed." Read…
2. STEP TWO — THERE IS NO MANDATORY ORIENTATION, NO PRE-APPLICATION MEETING, AND NO LICENCE FEE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE; DO NOT SPEND A WEEK LOOKING FOR THEM. This is a verified negative and it is worth money, because roughly forty states put a compulsory orientation session in front of the application and providers arriving from another state waste weeks hunting for New Hampshire's. It does not exist. Part He-C 4002, as readopted by Document #14356 effective 22 September 2025 and served today by the Office of Legislative Services index of rules in effect, opens the licensure sequence at He-C 4002.02(a) with nothing but an account: "Any person or entity who intends to operate a program shall create…
3. STEP THREE — PROVE THAT YOU QUALIFY AND THAT THE BUILDING QUALIFIES, BECAUSE BOTH TESTS ARE DECIDED ON PAPER BEFORE ANYONE VISITS. The personal gate is He-C 4002.33(e): "To qualify as a family child care provider or a child care manager of a small child care center, an individual shall be: (1) At least 21 years of age; or (2) At least 18 years of age and submit with their application documentation that they have a high school diploma or equivalent ... and at least one of the following: a. Successful completion of a 2-year child care curriculum approved by the department of education; or b. College courses, totaling 6 credits, in child development or human growth and development, early…
4. STEP FOUR — START THE BACKGROUND CHECKS FIRST, NOT LAST, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE LONG POLE AND THE PERMIT CANNOT ISSUE UNTIL THEY CLOSE. This step runs in parallel with every other step in this list and should be launched on day one. The unit says so in terms in its new-applicant cover letter: "A permit cannot be issued until background record checks are complete, and the application will be held pending background check results." The statutory clock is forty-five days from a COMPLETE submission — RSA 170-E:7, III: "The department shall make a determination regarding the individual's eligibility for employment no later than 45 days from submission of all required information as described in…
5. STEP FIVE — GET A SECRETARY OF STATE GOOD-STANDING VERIFICATION, THE CHEAPEST ATTACHMENT AND THE ONE MOST OFTEN MISSING FROM RETURNED PACKETS. He-C 4002.02(e)(6) lists among the documents the applicant for a new licence "shall submit to the department ... with the application": "Verification from the New Hampshire secretary of state that the applicant is in good standing." It reappears verbatim at renewal, He-C 4002.02(h)(4). Two things make this trip people. First, it is not optional for a sole proprietor operating under her own legal name — the rule is unqualified, and the unit's own new-applicant checklist glosses it as "DOCUMENTATION FROM SECRETARY OF STATE regarding trade names,…
6. STEP SIX — GET THE TOWN'S ZONING VERIFICATION IN WRITING, AND KNOW THAT SINCE 2024 THE LAW IS ON YOUR SIDE BUT THE PAPER IS STILL YOUR BURDEN. He-C 4002.02(e)(4) requires "Documentation from the applicable town or city that the program has been granted zoning approval or that no zoning approval is required." Read the disjunction: a signed statement that no approval is needed is as good as an approval, and that is the sentence to put in front of a code enforcement officer who does not want to open a file. The department supplies a Zoning Verification form, and its instructions say it "must be completed in full with the top portion being completed by the applicant, and the remainder being…
7. STEP SEVEN — GET THE LOCAL FIRE INSPECTOR THROUGH THE HOUSE, AND WATCH THE TWELVE-MONTH WINDOW, BECAUSE THIS APPROVAL AGES OUT WHILE THE REST OF YOUR PACKET IS STILL BEING ASSEMBLED. He-C 4002.02(e)(3) requires, with the application, "Written approval from the local fire inspector that, within the 12 months preceding the date the application for licensure is received by the department, the premises have been inspected for compliance with Saf-FMO 300 and RSA 153:1 VI-a, by the local fire department or the state fire marshal's office, and approved to operate as a program." Four operative facts sit in that sentence. The inspector is LOCAL by default, with the state fire marshal's office as…
8. STEP EIGHT — GET THE LOCAL HEALTH OFFICER THROUGH THE HOUSE ON THE SAME TWELVE-MONTH CLOCK, AND UNDERSTAND THAT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS IS A TOWN OFFICIAL, NOT A STATE SANITARIAN. He-C 4002.02(e)(2) requires with the application "Written approval from the local health officer documenting that, within the 12 months immediately preceding the date the department receives the application, the premises have been inspected and approved by a local health officer, for operation as a program." The department's form for it is the Health Officer Inspection Report, and the unit repeats its fire warning: "Review this form to ensure that it was completed fully by the health officer prior to submitting it…
9. STEP NINE — IF YOU ARE ON A PRIVATE WELL, ORDER A TWELVE-ANALYTE WATER PANEL WITHIN NINETY DAYS OF FILING, AND KNOW THAT RADON AND PFAS ARE ON THE LIST. This is the most expensive attachment in a rural New Hampshire application and the one most often discovered too late, because the ninety-day window runs FORWARD to the filing date. He-C 4002.26(e): "New applicants that have their own independent water supply shall submit with their application documentation of water test results completed not more than 90 days prior to the date of submission of the application for arsenic, bacteria, nitrate, nitrite, lead, both stagnant and flushed, copper, both stagnant and flushed, fluoride, uranium,…
10. STEP TEN — IF THE BUILDING WAS ERECTED BEFORE 1 JANUARY 1978, YOU NEED A LEAD SAFETY CERTIFICATION, AND THE AGENCY'S OWN APPLICATION CHECKLIST DOES NOT MENTION IT. This is the newest requirement in the New Hampshire packet and the likeliest single reason a 2026 application is returned. He-C 4002.02(e)(8) lists, among the documents a new applicant "shall submit to the department ... with the application": "In accordance with RSA 130-A:5-d, II, certification of lead safety for new applicants in buildings erected prior to January 1, 1978." The statute it points to is short and absolute. RSA 130-A:5-d provides: "After July 1, 2024, the following shall require certification of lead safety…
11. STEP ELEVEN — GET ONE PHYSICAL ON THE DEPARTMENT'S HEALTH FORM, AND STOP LOOKING FOR THE TB TEST: THE ADOPTED RULE DOES NOT CONTAIN THE WORD. He-C 4002.02(e)(1) requires with the application "A 'Child Care Personnel Health Form' (August 2025) or an equivalent record of a health screening for the program manager, completed by a licensed practitioner no more than one year prior to the date the department receives the application, certifying that the program manager has no apparent health problems that would prohibit their employment caring for children, and an authorization by the program manager for the licensed practitioner to release the medical information on the form to the child care…
12. STEP TWELVE — DRAW THE DIAGRAMS AND DO THE SQUARE-FOOTAGE ARITHMETIC YOURSELF, BECAUSE THE DEPARTMENT — NOT YOU, AND NOT THE FIRE INSPECTOR — SETS THE NUMBER THAT GOES ON THE LICENCE. He-C 4002.02(e)(7) requires with the application "A diagram of the indoor and outdoor space for each building", specifying contents so tightly that a freehand sketch fails: for indoor space, "1. Room dimensions; 2. Location of exits; 3. How each room will be used; 4. The location of bathrooms and bathroom fixtures, such as toilets and sinks; 5. The location of other handwashing sinks"; and for outdoor play space, "1. The overall dimensions of outdoor play space; 2. The location of exits, gates, and stationary…
13. STEP THIRTEEN — WRITE THE POLICIES, THE EMERGENCY PLAN AND THE PARENT PAPERWORK BEFORE THE VISIT: ONE OF THEM IS AN EXPRESS PRECONDITION OF ISSUANCE AND THE REST ARE WHAT THE INSPECTOR OPENS FIRST. The precondition is the emergency operations plan, and He-C 4002.16(f) is flat: "Programs shall have an emergency operations plan (EOP) prior to issuance of a permit or renewal of a license." Nothing else in the part is phrased that way: training is due ninety days after hire and insurance disclosure at enrolment, but the EOP must exist before the permit. He-C 4002.16(g) sets its contents. It must accommodate "infants and toddlers, children with chronic medical conditions, and children with…
14. STEP FOURTEEN — HOLD CURRENT PEDIATRIC FIRST AID AND CPR IN YOUR HAND ON THE DAY OF THE VISIT, EVEN THOUGH THE RULE'S DEADLINE FOR IT IS NINETY DAYS AFTER YOU START. New Hampshire's training architecture is back-loaded, and this is where an applicant who reads only the rule gets caught. He-C 4002.32(a) gives the general deadline: the thirteen required trainings shall "(1) Be completed within 90 days of the first date of employment", or within two weeks for programmes operating three months a year or less, or be evidenced by prior completion. He-C 4002.32(b) lists them: child care licensing orientation; prevention and control of infectious diseases; "Prevention of SIDS and use of safe sleep…
15. STEP FIFTEEN — DECIDE THE LIABILITY INSURANCE QUESTION, BECAUSE NEW HAMPSHIRE DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO CARRY IT AND MOST PUBLISHED SUMMARIES SAY OTHERWISE. The statute is one sentence, RSA 170-E:6-b: "Every person required to be licensed as a child day care agency under RSA 170-E:4 and every child day care provider required to be registered under RSA 170-E:6-a shall either maintain liability insurance or provide a disclosure to parents that the facility is uninsured." That is a disclosure statute, not a coverage mandate, and it has been in force since 1 January 1999 with a single amendment, Laws of 2016, chapter 161, section 3, effective 3 June 2016. The rule carries it forward in the same…
16. STEP SIXTEEN — SUBMIT THE PACKET IN ONE PIECE, START THE SIXTY-DAY CLOCK, AND EXPECT THE COORDINATOR'S ON-SITE VISIT BEFORE ANY PAPER ISSUES. Everything above converges here. He-C 4002.02(b) gives you two routes — "either applying online via the portal described in (a) above or by submitting to the department" the paper "Application for Family Child Care Program" (August 2025) — and the form is a set of certifications you sign, including "I have read the NH child care program licensing rules"; "I authorize any police department, court system or human service agency in this or any other state to release copies of any criminal records or child abuse or neglect records to the department"; and…
17. STEP SEVENTEEN — THE SIX-MONTH PERMIT IS A TRAP WITH A THREE-MONTH FUSE: THE RENEWAL FILING FALLS DUE BEFORE YOU HAVE BEEN OPEN HALF A YEAR. This is the most consequential timing fact in New Hampshire home-care licensing and almost nothing published says it. He-C 4002.02(i)(1) gives a new applicant "a 6-month permit". RSA 170-E:8, IV explains it: the department may "in lieu of a license, issue a permit to a newly established facility for child day care for the purpose of demonstrating compliance with this subdivision and the rules adopted under it during actual operation. At the end of the permit period, the department shall renew the permit for good cause, issue a license for the balance…
18. STEP EIGHTEEN — WHAT ISSUANCE BUYS: A YEARLY UNANNOUNCED VISIT, A PUBLIC FILE, A PRICED FINE SCHEDULE AND A TEN-DAY APPEAL WINDOW. The inspection cadence is not triennial, whatever the three-year term suggests. The statutory floor is RSA 170-E:8, III: "The department shall make monitoring visits a minimum of once yearly during each licensing period. At least one such visit during the licensing period shall be unannounced." The rule then compels you to promise parents something stricter, in the block He-C 4002.10(c)(1) makes you reproduce verbatim on every registration form: "A licensing coordinator conducts a yearly, unannounced monitoring visit at every program, as well as an unannounced…

What you must post on your walls

• THE ENTIRE POSTING UNIVERSE IS ONE SHORT RULE, AND IT IS SHORTER THAN YOU EXPECT. He-C 4002.14, titled "Required Postings", is four sentences long. Reproduced in full, paragraph (a) provides: "The program shall post in a prominent location: (1) The current license or permit, visible to parents or guardians, staff, and visitors; (2) The most recent statement of findings and corrective action plan approved by the department, where it is visible to parents or guardians, staff, and visitors; and (3) A written procedure for emergencies and managing injuries, which shall include: a. The location of first aid supplies; b. The location of child care registration and emergency information forms; c.…
• THE LICENCE OR PERMIT: THE FIRST THING THE COORDINATOR LOOKS FOR, AND THE DOCUMENT THAT CARRIES YOUR CAPACITY. He-C 4002.14(a)(1) requires you to post "The current license or permit, visible to parents or guardians, staff, and visitors." Three audiences are named, which is why a licence taped inside a cupboard door in your kitchen fails even though you can find it: a parent standing in your entryway must be able to read it without asking. The word "current" does the second half of the work. A family child care licence runs three years — RSA 170-E:8, I: "Licenses ... shall be valid for 3 years from the date issued unless revoked or suspended by the department or voluntarily surrendered by…
• THE STATEMENT OF FINDINGS AND CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN: POSTED, AND ALSO KEPT AVAILABLE, AND ALSO ON THE STATE WEBSITE. This is the single most misunderstood item in New Hampshire, because the same document carries three separate duties in three separate places. First, the posting. He-C 4002.14(a)(2) requires you to post "The most recent statement of findings and corrective action plan approved by the department, where it is visible to parents or guardians, staff, and visitors." Three conditions hide in that sentence. It is the MOST RECENT one, so last year's comes down when this year's issues. It is the statement of findings AND the corrective action plan, as a pair — posting the findings…
• THE EMERGENCY AND INJURY PROCEDURE NOTICE, AND THE SIX LINES IT MUST CONTAIN. He-C 4002.14(a)(3) requires you to post, in a prominent location, "A written procedure for emergencies and managing injuries", and then dictates its contents in six lettered items. Quoted in full: "a. The location of first aid supplies; b. The location of child care registration and emergency information forms; c. The name, address, and telephone number of the hospital to which children will be taken in case of acute emergency when parents or guardians cannot be contacted, or delay of treatment appears dangerous; d. Instructions to dial 911 to access emergency responders; e. The Northern New England Poison Center…
• EVACUATION PROCEDURES GO NEXT TO EACH EXIT, WHICH IS A DIFFERENT PLACE FROM "A PROMINENT LOCATION". He-C 4002.14(a)(4) is one line and it changes the geography of the whole rule: "Emergency and evacuation procedures, posted next to each exit." Not in a prominent location; not near the licence; next to EACH exit. In a family child care home that means every door the children would actually leave through, and in practice a coordinator counts them: the front door, the kitchen or bulkhead door, the door from a finished basement play space, and any exit from an approved second level. If the licence approves child care space on two levels, each level's exits carry their own notice. What must the…
• THE ALLERGY CARE PLAN IS THE ONLY POSTING THAT A PARENT CAN VETO, AND THE RULE TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO WHEN THEY DO. He-C 4002.19(k): "With permission of the parent or guardian, the program shall post each child's allergy care plan and treatment plan in the kitchen or food preparation area, the child's classroom, and wherever the child might have contact with the allergen(s)." Three locations, and the third is open-ended by design — if the allergen is latex or an insect sting, "wherever the child might have contact" reaches the outdoor play area and the diapering surface. In a family child care home the kitchen and the play space are frequently the same room; post it anyway in each place the…
• THE TRIP NOTICE IS A POSTING THAT ONLY EXISTS WHEN YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE. He-C 4002.31(b) creates an event-driven posting most compliance checklists never capture: "Child care staff who take the children off the premises for trips under (a) above shall call parents or guardians or post a notice at the program, informing parents or guardians of the destination and route of any unplanned trips, and the estimated time of return to the program." Read the structure carefully. It is a disjunction — CALL the parents or POST a notice — so you may satisfy it entirely by telephone, and a home provider walking three toddlers to the library at ten in the morning will usually find the notice on the door…
• THE DCYF ABUSE AND NEGLECT NUMBER IS NOT A REQUIRED POSTING IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. State this plainly because most multi-state guides get it wrong: He-C 4002.14 does not list the child protection reporting number among the four things you must post, and no other provision of Part He-C 4002 requires it on a wall. What exists instead is a personal reporting duty. He-C 4002.05(b): "As mandated reporters, the program manager or designee shall report to the division for children, youth, and families (DCYF) at 1-800-894-5533, if the licensee, child care staff, or other person involved with a program suspects that a child is being abused or neglected, in accordance with RSA 169-C:29." The number is…
• THE DISCIPLINE POLICY IS NOT POSTED; IT IS HANDED TO PARENTS AT ENROLMENT AND TO STAFF ON HIRE. New Hampshire does not require a discipline policy on the wall, and it does not, strictly, require a document called a discipline policy at all. He-C 4002.15(a) lists exactly six written policies a licensee must have and implement, and discipline is not among them: "(1) A retention policy to prevent the suspension and expulsion of children ...; (2) Children's access to and use of television, video, and electronic devices; (3) The administration of medication to children; (4) Excluding children when they are ill, including symptoms, and when they might return; (5) The provision of meals and…
• SAFE SLEEP IS A PRACTICE AND A TRAINING REQUIREMENT, NOT A POSTING. Many states require a safe sleep policy posted in the sleeping area. New Hampshire does not. He-C 4002.25, "Rest and Sleep", runs to twenty-two lettered paragraphs and contains no posting requirement of any kind; the word "post" does not appear in it. What it contains are direct commands. He-C 4002.25(c): "Each infant 12 months of age and younger shall be placed on their back to sleep in an individual crib or play pen, unless they have demonstrated the ability to climb out." He-C 4002.25(f)(5): cribs and play pens shall "Not have bumper pads, blankets, flat sheets, pillows, quilts, comforters, sleep positioners, or any…
• MENUS ARE NOT REQUIRED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AT ALL, POSTED OR OTHERWISE. This is the flattest negative in the field and it is worth being unambiguous about, because the posted weekly menu is close to universal elsewhere and providers arriving from Massachusetts, Vermont or Maine assume it. He-C 4002.30, "Nutrition, Food Service, and Food Safety", is the food rule, and it contains no requirement to write a menu, to plan a menu in advance, to keep menus on file, or to display one. Across the whole of Part He-C 4002 the word "menu" appears exactly once, and it appears in the allergy rule: He-C 4002.19(j), "The program manager or their designee shall notify a child's parent or guardian when the…
• THE DAILY SCHEDULE MUST EXIST AND BE AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW; IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE POSTED. He-C 4002.18(a) is the operative sentence and the word to fix on is "available": "Programs shall provide and implement a written schedule of typical daily activities offered to the children, which shall include opportunities for individual and group activities for each child, time for meals, snacks, sleep, or rest, and indoor and outdoor activities, and which shall be available for review by the department and parents or guardians." Written, implemented, and available. Not posted. A schedule kept in a binder on your kitchen counter and produced when asked satisfies He-C 4002.18(a) completely; a…
• PARENTS' RIGHT OF UNANNOUNCED ACCESS IS A SUBSTANTIVE RIGHT, NOT A SIGN ON THE DOOR. New Hampshire grants the right in strong terms and requires no notice of it. He-C 4002.17(k): "The program shall ensure that parents or guardians have access to the program and to their children, at any time children are in attendance and without prior notification. This requirement shall not prohibit the program from locking the doors for security purposes or checking parent's or guardian's identification." He-C 4002.17(l): "The only exceptions to (k) above shall be if there is a court order or other legal documentation limiting parental or guardian access." Nothing in He-C 4002.14 requires you to post…
• THE "KEPT AVAILABLE" LIST: EVERYTHING AN INSPECTOR WILL ASK FOR THAT MUST NOT BE ON A WALL. Conflating posted with available is the classic New Hampshire error, so here is the second list in one place, each item with the phrase the rule actually uses. Fire drills: He-C 4002.16(c), a written record "available for review during visits by the fire inspector and the department" — two audiences, and the fire inspector's visit is separate from the licensing visit. Emergency operations plan drills: He-C 4002.16(m), a log the program manager or designee shall "record and maintain on file for review". Attendance: He-C 4002.08(a) and (c) require the child and staff records to exist in real time;…
• WHAT THE INSPECTOR ACTUALLY DOES WITH YOUR POSTINGS, AND HOW OFTEN THEY MUST CHANGE. The cadence is written into the rule you are compelled to reprint for parents. He-C 4002.10(c)(1): "A licensing coordinator conducts a yearly, unannounced monitoring visit at every program, as well as an unannounced visit prior to the expiration of a license every three years." The statutory floor is looser — RSA 170-E:8, III requires "monitoring visits a minimum of once yearly during each licensing period" with "At least one such visit during the licensing period" unannounced — so the compelled parent notice binds the department to more than the statute does, and it is the one a home provider will…
• FOUR MORE THINGS NEW HAMPSHIRE DOES NOT MAKE YOU POST, AND THE ONE DISCLOSURE THAT LOOKS LIKE A POSTING BUT IS NOT. First, insurance. RSA 170-E:6-b provides that "Every person required to be licensed as a child day care agency under RSA 170-E:4 and every child day care provider required to be registered under RSA 170-E:6-a shall either maintain liability insurance or provide a disclosure to parents that the facility is uninsured", and He-C 4002.05(j) restates it: "each licensee shall either maintain liability insurance or provide disclosure to parents or guardians at enrollment of their child that the program is uninsured." Disclosure to parents at ENROLMENT — an individual communication…

Enrollment forms for each child

• THE LICENCE APPLICATION ITSELF IS ONE FORM FOR BOTH HOME TYPES, AND ITS CERTIFICATION BLOCK IS RULE TEXT. You do not choose between a "family child care home" application and a "family group child care home" application: He-C 4002.02(b)(1) names a single document, the "Application for Family Child Care Program" (August 2025), and both home types are checked off inside it. The rule does not merely require the form; it dictates the words you sign under.
• THE ATTACHMENTS THAT MAKE THE APPLICATION "COMPLETE", SEVERAL OF WHICH ARE SIGNED BY SOMEONE OTHER THAN YOU.
• THE BACKGROUND RECORD CHECK IS A PORTAL SUBMISSION, NOT A PAPER RELEASE, AND EACH PERSON CERTIFIES IN THE FIRST PERSON. He-C 4002.40(b) is explicit about the instrument and the channel: "The following individuals shall complete and submit for a background record check using the NHCIS portal, 'New Background Record Check' (August 2025) prior to employment or residency, as applicable, and every 5 years thereafter: (1) Child care staff; (2) Substitutes; (3) Other employees; (4) Volunteers who might be alone with children or are included in staff to child ratios; and (5) Household members 18 years of age and older, or when turning 18 years of age." In a family child care home that sweep is…
• THE NOTARISED FORM FOR TEENAGE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS, AND THE AGE GAP NOBODY WARNS YOU ABOUT. Adults in the household submit a background record check; the teenagers in your house submit something else. He-C 4002.40(f) provides: "For all household members between 13 through 17 years of age, the program shall submit to the unit a completed and notarized 'Staff and Household Member Form' (August 2025), certifying the following: 'a) All information provided above is accurate. b) I have not been charged pending disposition or convicted of a felony consisting of murder, child abuse or neglect, crimes against children (including pornography and trafficking), spousal abuse, rape or sexual assault,…
• THE ADULT HEALTH FORM: SIXTY DAYS, TWELVE MONTHS, AND NO TUBERCULOSIS TEST REQUIRED BY RULE. He-C 4002.09(b) states the duty: "A written record of a health screening for all child care staff, household members, and other individuals who work with children in the classroom and who have 5 or more hours per week of contact with children shall: (1) Be on file at the program and available for review by the department within 60 days of the date of hire or the date the household member or individual begins working with children in the classroom for 5 or more hours per week; and (2) Include, at a minimum, the information on the 'Child Care Personnel Health Form' (August 2025) provided by the…
• THE CHILD'S HEALTH RECORD IS A TWO-PART FORM WITH A COMPELLED RELEASE PARAGRAPH, AND A RELIGIOUS OPT-OUT THAT VOIDS IT ENTIRELY. He-C 4002.10(g) requires the program to "obtain and maintain on file a child health screening form 'New Hampshire Early Childhood Health Assessment Record' (August 2025), the first part completed and signed by the child's parent or guardian, and the second part completed and signed by the child's licensed practitioner, or an equivalent record of physical examination, providing the following permission to exchange information: 'I_______________________, authorize and request my child's primary car provider to exchange information about my child's health and…
• THE IMMUNISATION RECORD AND THE EXEMPTION: ONE NAMED FORM, ONE PLAIN LETTER, AND NO PHILOSOPHICAL EXEMPTION. He-C 4002.10(d) sends you out of the licensing rule and into public-health law: "The program shall request and maintain on file for each child documentation of immunizations in accordance with RSA 141-C:20-a, RSA 141-C:20-b, and He-P 301.14." RSA 141-C:20-a, I lists the diseases — "diphtheria, mumps, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rubella, rubeola, tetanus, varicella, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)" — and paragraph II bars admission or enrolment in "any school or child care agency, public or private" unless immunisation, age-appropriate partial immunisation, or an…
• THE ANNUAL IMMUNISATION AUDIT REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER, DUE 15 NOVEMBER, THAT ALMOST NO PROVIDER FILES. This obligation sits outside He-C 4002, is never mentioned on the Child Care Licensing page, and binds you anyway. RSA 141-C:20-e provides: "Schools and child care agencies, whether public or private, shall make an annual report to the commissioner relative to the status of immunization of all enrolled children." A licensed family child care home is a "child care agency" for this purpose — RSA 141-C:20-a, II and RSA 141-C:20-b, II both use the phrase "school or child care agency, public or private", and He-P 301.13(a) applies to "any New Hampshire public or non-public school,…
• THE ENROLMENT AND EMERGENCY FORM IS THE ONE DOCUMENT THE RULE WRITES FOR YOU, WORD FOR WORD. He-C 4002.10(a): "Program managers shall ensure that for each child there is a 'Child Care Registration and Emergency Information' (August 2025) form, completed by the parent or guardian, or an equivalent form on file on the child's first day in attendance". You may substitute your own document, but He-C 4002.10(b) fixes thirteen mandatory data fields: the child's full legal name; date of birth; physical and mailing address; home telephone number; date of enrolment; the name and addresses of the responsible parents or guardians if different; telephone numbers and how the parents can be reached…
• PERMISSION SLIPS FOR TRIPS AND WATER: TWO INSTRUMENTS, TWO RETENTION PERIODS THAT CONTRADICT EACH OTHER. New Hampshire splits off-premises activity into routine and non-routine, each with its own paper. He-C 4002.31(a): "Programs that opt to allow child care staff to take children on routine or unplanned local trips, such as walks in the neighborhood, trips to the local library, or other routine errands, shall obtain a signed and dated general permission slip from each child's parent or guardian, which specifies all approved destinations and activities." A "we sometimes go for walks" note fails: the slip must SPECIFY destinations and activities. For a home provider this is the slip that…
• MEDICATION: AN ORDER, A PARENT AUTHORISATION, AND A DOSE-BY-DOSE LOG SIGNED AT THE MOMENT OF ADMINISTRATION. He-C 4002.20(b)(2) sets the two-key rule: authorised staff "shall administer only those medications for which there is a medication order provided by a licensed practitioner, and written permission from the parent or guardian". Both are required for prescription and for over-the-counter medication alike; a parent note alone is not enough for a prescription, and He-C 4002.20(b)(3) forbids you to accept "any prescription medications that do not include a prescription label or medication order from a licensed practitioner". He-C 4002.20(c) prescribes what the order must legibly…
• THE INDIVIDUAL CARE PLAN NEW HAMPSHIRE ACTUALLY REQUIRES IS AN ALLERGY PLAN, AND IT COMES IN TWO PARTS. Providers arriving from another state look for a general "individual health care plan" for a child with asthma, diabetes or seizures. He-C 4002 has none. What it contains is He-C 4002.19(h), which is mandatory and narrow: "The program shall obtain the following documents from the parents or guardians of each child with a food allergy or other allergy, which results in a serious reaction: (1) A written care plan that includes instructions regarding food(s) or other allergens to which the child is allergic and steps for child care staff to take to avoid the allergens; and (2) A written…
• INJURY, SERIOUS OCCURRENCE AND ABUSE REPORTING: FIVE CLOCKS, TWO AUDIENCES, AND NO PRESCRIBED FORM. New Hampshire does not give you a serious-incident form. It gives you deadlines, and it tells you what must be in the writing. Serious injury first. He-C 4002.12(a): if a child in care "sustains a serious injury, as defined in He-C 4002.01(bk), or otherwise requires emergency services as prescribed in first aid and CPR training, the program manager or designee shall: (1) Immediately notify emergency personnel and the child's parents or guardians; and (2) Notify the department within 48 hours via NHCIS." Forty-eight hours, through the portal, not by telephone to your coordinator. He-C…
• ATTENDANCE AND DAILY LOGS: "IN REAL TIME", "ALL IN ONE PLACE", AND A DATE OF BIRTH WITHIN REACH. He-C 4002.08(a) requires a record of each child's attendance "in each room" that "(1) Documents each child's daily arrival at and departure from the program, in real time; and (2) Is recorded all in one place, in a manner that reflects the number of children present in each room throughout the day." The phrase "in real time" is the whole of the enforcement problem. Signing children in at 4 p.m. from memory is a citation even where the times are accurate, and a licensing coordinator arriving unannounced at 10.15 a.m. will compare the sheet against the children in front of her. In a family child…
• THE FIRE DRILL LOG, AND THE SECOND DRILL LOG NOBODY KEEPS. Two distinct logs live in He-C 4002.16, and providers routinely keep the first and forget the second. Fire drills. He-C 4002.16(a)(1) requires a year-round program to "conduct at least one drill each month of operation"; (a)(4) requires drills "at varying times during operating hours, including night time hours, if applicable, to ensure that each child attending the program experiences fire drills"; (a)(5) requires staff to "activate the actual fire alarm system for the building for at least 2 of the required monthly fire drills required each year and use a fire alarm or smoke detector to signal all other fire drills"; (a)(6)…
• SUBSTITUTE, VOLUNTEER AND JUNIOR-HELPER RECORDS, AND THE FIVE-DAY ROSTER DUTY. Every adult who is not you generates a file, and He-C 4002.09(a) says what is in it: for each staff member, whether paper or electronic, "(1) Documentation of the staff's qualifications, including required work experience and education, which demonstrates that they meet the qualifications for their position; (2) Documentation of a completed background check in accordance with He-C 4002.40; (3) A record of initial health screening upon hire, in accordance with (b) below; (4) Documentation of orientation, certifications, training, and professional development, as applicable; and (5) Documentation of supervision…
• WHAT IS OWED ONLY AT RENEWAL, AND THE THREE-MONTH DEADLINE THAT IS NOT A SUGGESTION. He-C 4002.02(h) opens with the date: "No less than 3 months prior to the expiration date of the current license, applicants for license renewal shall submit to the department the following through the 'NHCIS' portal ... or by using the forms below". RSA 170-E:9, I says the same in statute. The renewal package is a shorter list than the original: "(1) A signed and completed application 'Application for Family Child Care Program' (August 2025) or 'Application for Child Care Center' (August 2025) for license renewal, in accordance with He-C 4002.02; (2) Written approval from the local health officer…

What's specific about getting licensed in New Hampshire

New Hampshire's home-based license is driven purely by a headcount threshold in RSA 170-E:2 — and the count that matters includes the provider's OWN, foster, and resident children up to age 10 (the statute counts related and foster children except those 10 or older; He-C 4002.34(l)). That is the trap most applicants miss: a provider with two of her own young kids at home has already 'spent' two of her six slots before enrolling a single paying child. The second trap is the 6-to-7 cliff — the moment the total in care hits 7, you are no longer a 'family day care home' but a 'family group day care home,' a different license with a required second adult and stricter space/fire requirements. NH also does not publish a single flat annual-training number: 18 hours for the provider or a 25+ hrs/week staffer vs 12 for a part-time assistant, so budgeting one figure is a compliance error. Everything now routes through the NHCIS online portal rather than paper.

How long it takes and what it costs in New Hampshire

Timeline: Realistically about 8-16 weeks from starting the NHCIS application to holding a license, gated mainly by fingerprint background-check turnaround, scheduling the fire-code and on-site inspections, and completing the 6-hour pre-service health-and-safety training and CPR/first aid certification. The current license term is 3 years.

Cost: License fee is set under RSA 170-E:5 for a multi-year (3-year) term — confirm the current amount with the DHHS Child Care Licensing Unit, as fees are not published in the rule text. Add separate out-of-pocket costs: fingerprint-based state/FBI background checks (a per-person state-police/FBI processing fee, roughly $48-$50 each — confirm with NH State Police), and a CPR/first-aid course (typically ~$60-$120). Treat all dollar figures as estimates to confirm with the agency.

Source: Sources officielles consultées pour New Hampshire :

https://gc.nh.gov/rules/state_agencies/he-c.html

https://gc.nh.gov/rules/Filing_history/sourcehe-c.html

https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt476/files/documents2/he-c-4002-formatted.pdf

https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt476/files/documents2/he-c4002.pdf

https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XII/170-E/170-E-mrg.htm

https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XII/170-E/170-E-11.htm

https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt476/files/inline-documents/sonh/emergency-rule-he-c-6914-6920.pdf

https://gc.nh.gov/rules/jlcar/packets/Files/21Aug2025/2025-132_FP%20Meeting%20Packet%20(Consent

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