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Home Daycare License Requirements in New York (2026)

Opening a home daycare in New York means getting a family child care home license from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), Division of Child Care Services. 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 York

New York's definitional Part is 18 NYCRR Sec. 413.2, and it is the section that decides, for both regimes, what you are, how many children you may hold, and who else must be in the room. The Legislature wrote the same definitions into SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) and (e) almost word for word, so the statute and the regulation agree — which is worth knowing, because when a statute and a regulation agree on a number in New York, the number is unusually hard to move. FAMILY DAY CARE HOME. 18 NYCRR Sec. 413.2(b)(2): "Family day care home shall mean a program caring for children for more than three hours per day per child in which child day care is provided in a family home for three to six children." SSL Sec. 390(1)(e) is identical in substance and adds nothing that narrows it. Four sub-rules ride with the definition and they are where the actual operating law is: - Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(i): "There shall be one caregiver for every two children under two years of age in the family day care home." - Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(ii): "A family day care provider may, however, care for seven or eight children at any one time if no more than six of the children are less than school age and the school-aged children receive care primarily before or after the period such children are ordinarily in school, during school lunch periods, on school holidays, or during those periods of the year in which school is not in session in accordance with the regulations of the Office of Children and Family Services and the office inspects such home to determine whether the program can care adequately for seven or eight children."

Two conditions, both easy to miss: the extra children must be school-aged AND the extra capacity is not self-executing — OCFS must inspect specifically to decide whether you can hold seven or eight. - Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(iii): "Except for children in the legal custody of or boarded out with the provider who are enrolled in school in kindergarten or a grade level higher than kindergarten, all children present must be counted in determining maximum capacity even if they are relatives or are present three hours per day or less." This is the sentence that catches people. Your own toddler counts. Your niece counts. A child who is there for ninety minutes counts. The only exemption is for a child in your legal custody or boarded out with you who is already in kindergarten or above. - Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(iv): ages six weeks through 12 years, plus 13-and-over under court supervision, plus 13-and-over documented by a physician, psychiatrist or psychologist as incapable of self-care, plus under-six-weeks only with prior OCFS approval; and "Children who attain the maximum age allowed during the school year may continue to receive child day care through the following September 1st or until they enter school for the following school year."

GROUP FAMILY DAY CARE HOME. 18 NYCRR Sec. 413.2(b)(3): "Group family day care home shall mean a program caring for children for more than three hours per day per child in which child day care is provided in a family home for seven to twelve children of all ages, except for those programs operating as a family day care home, which care for seven or eight children. A group family day care program may provide child day care services to four additional children if such additional children are of school age and such children receive services only before or after the period such children are ordinarily in school or during school lunch periods, or school holidays, or during those periods of the year in which school is not in session." SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) is the same text. Read the exception clause carefully, because it is what creates New York's genuinely confusing overlap zone at seven and eight children. A programme holding exactly seven or eight children can be EITHER a family day care home operating on the Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(ii) extension OR a group family day care home operating at the bottom of its range.

It is not the headcount alone that decides; it is which instrument OCFS issued and what the paperwork says. A registered family day care home at seven children is lawful; an unlicensed group family day care home at seven children is a $500-a-day exposure under Sec. 413.3(e)(1). The group home carries three sub-rules of its own: - Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(i): "There shall be one caregiver for every two children under two years of age in the group family home." - Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(ii): "A group family day care home must have at least one assistant to the provider present when child day care is being provided to seven or more children when none of the children are school age, or nine or more children when at least two of the children are school age and such children receive services only before or after the period such children are ordinarily in school or during school lunch periods, or school holidays, or during those periods of the year in which school is not in session. This assistant shall be selected by the group family day care licensee and shall meet the qualifications established for such position by the regulations of the Office of Children and Family Services."

SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) carries the same sentence with "operator" in place of "licensee." - Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(iii) repeats the family-home counting rule verbatim: everyone present counts except your own kindergarten-or-above children in legal custody or boarded out. - Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(iv) repeats the age range, six weeks through 12, with the same three extensions. WHAT COUNTS AS A "FAMILY HOME." The regulation does not use the ordinary meaning of the word. Sec. 413.2(d)(12) defines "personal residence" as "a one- or two-family dwelling or a single dwelling unit in a multiple dwelling classified for permanent occupancy under the New York State Building Code, except that a community residence shall not be considered a residence for purposes of the child day care regulations. A one-family residence shall be considered to have one dwelling unit and a two-family residence shall be considered to have two dwelling units. A dwelling unit must be occupied or used as living space to be used for family or group family day care and considered a residence for purposes of the child day care regulations."

Then six lettered sub-rules do the real work: (i) where one unit of a two-family dwelling is occupied and used for day care, "the second dwelling unit may not be used for family day care or group family day care unless the second dwelling unit is also occupied"; (ii) where one unit of a two-family dwelling is occupied and is NOT used for day care, "the second dwelling unit need not be occupied to be used for family day care or group family day care by an occupant of the first dwelling unit"; (iii) and (iv) apply the identical logic to a second dwelling unit contained in a separate building on the same property under the occupant's control; (v) where the occupied dwelling unit IS used for day care and there is a separate building on the property containing no dwelling unit, "neither the separate building nor any portion thereof may be used for family day care or group family day care"; (vi) where the occupied dwelling unit is NOT used for day care and there is such a separate building, "upon inspection and approval by the office, the separate building or a portion thereof may be used by the occupant for family day care or group family day care by an occupant of the dwelling unit."

The practical translation: New York will not let you run the programme in the empty half of your duplex while you live in the occupied half and also run it there, and it will not let you convert a barn or a detached studio into day care space while the house is itself the day care. The residence must be lived in, and the office must see documentation proving it (Sec. 417.2(a)(14) / Sec. 416.2(a)(14)). ONE PROGRAMME PER DWELLING UNIT, AND THE 2002 GRANDFATHER. Sec. 417.15(a)(7) and Sec. 416.15(a)(7): "Under no circumstances may there be more than one licensed or registered child day care program in any one dwelling unit in a personal residence. However, nothing contained herein shall prohibit the continued operation of more than one licensed or registered family or group family day care home in a personal residence where all such homes in the personal residence were licensed or registered prior to March 1, 2002, unless the license or registration of the home is revoked, terminated or suspended." The grandfather has TWO ceilings, and most secondary sources report only the first. Sec. 417.15(a)(8) / Sec. 416.15(a)(8): "the maximum capacity of all licensed and registered family and group family day care homes in the residence shall not under any circumstances exceed 20 children in total, including school-age children who receive care for only part of the day, and no individual group family day care home located in such a residence may have a maximum capacity of more than 10 children, including school-age children who receive care for only part of the day.

Each such licensed and registered family and group family day care home must be operated as a separate facility and must have separate emergency exits sufficient to meet the requirements of section 416.4 of this Title or section 417.4 of this Part, as appropriate." Twenty across the residence, and ten per group home inside it — which is six fewer than a stand-alone group home's sixteen. ONE PERMIT PER PERSON. Sec. 417.15(a)(4) and Sec. 416.15(a)(4): "Under no circumstances will a family day care registrant or group family day care licensee be permitted to hold more than one family day care registration or group family day care license simultaneously." There is a grandfather for programmes already licensed or registered before the effective date of the current regulations, and Sec. 417.14(p) / Sec. 416.14(p) exists precisely to serve those grandfathered operators: "A registrant operating more than one licensed or registered family-based day care program must complete an office approved training in the management and administration of multiple day care sites." Do not read Sec. 417.14(p) as permission to open a second home.

It is a training obligation attached to a status you can no longer newly acquire. WHO THE "PROVIDER" MUST BE. Sec. 413.2(c)(12): "Provider is the person present at the child care program who has responsibility for the supervision of children and staff, is responsible for daily operations and has administrative authority for the family day care, group family day care, or small day care center." Sec. 417.15(a)(5): "When the family child day care registrant is an individual, that person must be the provider." Sec. 417.15(a)(6): when the registrant is an entity, "the person named as the provider ... must be a person with a business interest as defined in section 413.2 of at least 51 percent share of ownership in the entity," with a grandfather for programmes licensed or registered before May 1, 2014. Sec. 413.2(d)(19) defines "business interest" as "a share in the entity or decision rights within the ownership of the entity." You cannot register a New York family day care home as a passive owner and hire someone to run it. ASSISTANTS AND SUBSTITUTES ARE DEFINED ROLES, NOT LABELS. Sec. 413.2(c)(2): "Assistant means any person who has been selected by the licensee to provide child day care to children in a family or group family day care home."

Sec. 413.2(c)(13): "Substitute means any person who has been selected by the licensee to provide child day care to children in a family or group family day care home or small day care center during short-term, non-recurring absences of the day care provider or assistants. Substitutes who are filling in for the family day care provider must be approved by the office." Sec. 413.2(c)(3): "Caregiver means all persons who are providers, assistants, or substitutes in a family or group family day care home or a small day care center." Sec. 413.2(c)(15) draws the volunteer line and draws it hard: a volunteer "is not employed by the program and he or she may not be counted in the supervision ratio. All volunteers have the potential for either unsupervised contact or regular and substantial contact with children in care." A volunteer therefore triggers the full clearance machinery and does nothing at all for your ratio. Be aware that OCFS has proposed to move these definitions. The Child Care Substitute Pools proposal published July 22, 2026 (I.D. No. CFS-29-26-00002-P) would amend Sec. 413.2 to "add 'substitute caregiver' to mean any person who has been placed by a CCSC at a licensed or registered child care program," "add 'Child Care Support Center'," "add 'operating certificate'," "revise existing definitions of 'applicant' and 'safety plan' to add reference to CCSCs," "revise existing definition of 'employee' to include substitute caregivers," and "clarify existing definitions of 'assistant' and 'substitute'."

As of this verification date those amendments are proposed, not adopted. AGE VOCABULARY, because the ratio and group rules use it. Sec. 413.2(d)(4): "Infant means a child up to 18 months of age." Sec. 413.2(d)(18): "Toddler means a child 18 months to 36 months of age." Sec. 413.2(d)(14): "Preschooler means a child who is at least three years of age and who is not yet enrolled in kindergarten or a higher grade." Sec. 413.2(d)(16): "School-aged child means a child under 13 years of age who is enrolled in kindergarten or a higher grade." Note that "school-aged" in New York turns on ENROLMENT, not on birthday — a five-year-old not yet in kindergarten is not school-aged for capacity purposes. Two further definitions that changed the arithmetic during the remote-learning years and were never rolled back. Sec. 413.2(d)(21): "Non-school hours shall mean any time a specific child is not physically required to be present in school as part of the regular school day, including during virtual and/or remote learning." Sec. 413.2(d)(22): "Those periods of the year in which school is not in session shall mean any time a specific child is not physically required to be present in school as part of the regular school day, including during virtual and/or remote learning." A child logging into remote instruction from your living room is in "non-school hours" and may lawfully occupy one of the school-age add-on slots.

Sec. 413.2(d)(17): "Shift means an eight to ten hour period during which care is provided to a group of enrolled children." Sec. 413.2(d)(3) and (9) split "evening care" (from late afternoon until children begin their night's sleep) from "night care" (during the hours when children have begun or will be continuing their night's sleep). Shifts are a licensing variable, not a scheduling preference: Sec. 417.15(b)(2)-(3) requires a written request to OCFS and written approval "before providing an additional shift of care beyond what was specified and approved in the initial application," and Sec. 417.15(b)(1) caps the human side — "No caregiver may work more than two consecutive shifts."

How many children you can care for in New York

FAMILY DAY CARE HOME (registration): six children, extendable to EIGHT children present at one time, but only on conditions. Base: 18 NYCRR Sec. 413.2(b)(2) and SSL Sec. 390(1)(e) — "three to six children." Extension: Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(ii) — "A family day care provider may, however, care for seven or eight children at any one time if no more than six of the children are less than school age and the school-aged children receive care primarily before or after the period such children are ordinarily in school, during school lunch periods, on school holidays, or during those periods of the year in which school is not in session in accordance with the regulations of the Office of Children and Family Services and the office inspects such home to determine whether the program can care adequately for seven or eight children." Three conditions, all of which have to hold at once: (1) at most six of the children are below school age; (2) the additional one or two are school-aged, defined by Sec. 413.2(d)(16) as under 13 and enrolled in kindergarten or higher; and (3) OCFS has inspected the home specifically to determine that you can hold seven or eight.

The third condition is the one most often dropped in secondary summaries. The extension is not a right that attaches to your registration by operation of the definition; the statute conditions it on an office inspection. GROUP FAMILY DAY CARE HOME (licence): twelve children of all ages, extendable to SIXTEEN present at one time. Base: Sec. 413.2(b)(3) and SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) — "seven to twelve children of all ages." Extension: same paragraph — "A group family day care program may provide child day care services to four additional children if such additional children are of school age and such children receive services only before or after the period such children are ordinarily in school or during school lunch periods, or school holidays, or during those periods of the year in which school is not in session." Note the difference in drafting between the two extensions. The family day care extension is conditioned on an OCFS inspection; the group family extension is not. The group extension has its own tighter time qualifier — "only before or after" school, where the family home extension says "primarily before or after."

Twelve plus four is sixteen, and sixteen is the statutory ceiling as SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) reads today, on the Legislature's consolidated text, after the most recent amendment to Sec. 390. There is no pending bill in the enacted-law text raising it, and the 2025-2026 session amendment that DID touch Sec. 390's quality-standards paragraph (Chapter 644 of the Laws of 2025) went to ratios, not to capacity. THE COUNTING RULE IS WHERE PROVIDERS LOSE CAPACITY THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD. Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(iii) for family homes and Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(iii) for group homes, in identical words: "Except for children in the legal custody of or boarded out with the provider who are enrolled in school in kindergarten or a grade level higher than kindergarten, all children present must be counted in determining maximum capacity even if they are relatives or are present three hours per day or less." Parse the exception narrowly, because New York wrote it narrowly. To be excluded, a child must satisfy BOTH limbs: in your legal custody or boarded out with you, AND enrolled in kindergarten or above. Your own four-year-old counts against your capacity.

Your own eight-year-old in your legal custody does not. Your sister's eight-year-old counts, because she is not in your legal custody. A child dropped for two hours counts. There is no de minimis. Contrast that with the pre-registration exemption test in SSL Sec. 390(2)(e), which runs the other way: "where a child is cared for by a parent, guardian or relative within the third degree of consanguinity of the parent of such child and such person simultaneously provides child day care for other children, only the other children shall be considered in determining whether such person must be registered or licensed, provided that such person is not caring, in total, for more than eight children." Relative children are invisible for the purpose of deciding whether you need a permit, and highly visible for the purpose of deciding how many children your permit lets you hold. Both sentences are in force; they answer different questions. THE CERTIFICATE, NOT THE STATUTE, IS YOUR ACTUAL CEILING. Sec. 417.15(a)(9): "The provisions specified on the registration are binding and the family day care home must operate in compliance with the terms of the registration.

The number and age range of children specified thereon are the maximum number and age range of children who may be in the care of the family day care home at any one time." Sec. 416.15(a)(9) says the same for the licence. If OCFS issued you at ten children with an age range of eighteen months and up, then ten and eighteen months are your law; the statutory sixteen is irrelevant to you. Sec. 417.15(a)(12) adds that "A registration is not transferable to any other person, entity or location," so capacity does not travel with you if you move — Sec. 417.15(a)(3) requires "A new application for a registration ... when there is a change in the address." THE GRANDFATHERED MULTI-PROGRAMME RESIDENCE HAS TWO SEPARATE CEILINGS. Sec. 417.15(a)(8) / Sec. 416.15(a)(8): in a personal residence where more than one family or group family day care home was licensed or registered before March 1, 2002, the total "shall not under any circumstances exceed 20 children in total, including school-age children who receive care for only part of the day, and no individual group family day care home located in such a residence may have a maximum capacity of more than 10 children, including school-age children who receive care for only part of the day."

Ten per group home inside such a residence, twenty across it, and each home must be "operated as a separate facility" with "separate emergency exits." CAPACITY IS ALSO CONSTRAINED BY THINGS THAT ARE NOT NUMBERS. Approved space. Sec. 417.3(a)(1) / Sec. 416.3(a)(1): "Child care can only be provided in the areas of the family day care home that have been included in the diagram and approved as child care space." Your capacity is bounded by the rooms OCFS approved on the diagram you filed under Sec. 417.3(a), and Sec. 417.3(a) requires that "An updated diagram must be submitted to the office immediately upon making any change that impacts the child care program." Floors and egress. Sec. 417.4(g): "Children must be located on the same floor of the family day care home as a caregiver at all times, except as specified in section 417.8 of this Part. Children must not be located above the second floor of a single family dwelling." Sec. 417.4(h)(1): "Care can only be provided on floors with two means of egress." Where care is on the first floor and the second floor lacks a second egress, "the second floor may only be used for bathroom purposes provided that there is a window on the second floor that has the minimum net clear opening height dimension of at least 24 inches and a minimum net clear opening width dimension of at least 24 inches, and an adequate size through which all children and adults can be evacuated."

Sec. 417.4(h)(2): where care is primarily on the second floor, BOTH means of egress must be stairways, one of which must be an interior stairway "whose pathway is unobstructed and leads directly to an unobstructed egress that is visible from the landing of the stairway." Sec. 417.4(h)(3): below ground level, one egress must be an interior or exterior stairway, "The vertical travel to ground level may not exceed eight feet," and the second may be a 24-inch-by-24-inch minimum clear opening window. Physical adequacy. Sec. 417.3(j): "The home must have adequate indoor space for the comfort of the children and to accommodate a variety of activities for the number of children in care." New York does not publish a square-feet-per-child figure for home-based care in Part 417 or Part 416 — the standard is qualitative and is applied by the inspector against your approved diagram. Outdoor space. Sec. 417.3(k): "Each home must have access to outdoor space which is adequate for active play. Outdoor space may include public parks, school yards, or public play areas. A written plan or diagram outlining how children will safely travel to and from this location must be developed and approved by the office."

Bathroom. Sec. 417.3(l): "A bathroom not more than one floor level away from the program area must be accessible to children." Sec. 417.3(m): "All toilets and potty chairs must be located in rooms separate from those used for cooking, playing, sleeping or eating." Sleeping surfaces. Sec. 417.3(e): a firm clean crib, cot, bed or washable padded mat "of age-appropriate size and construction must be provided for all children requiring a rest period." Sec. 417.3(f): "All cribs must be in compliance with the safety standards established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Stackable cribs are prohibited." Sec. 417.7(s): "No crib, cot, bed or mat may be occupied by more than one child, nor by a child and any adult." WAIVERS. Capacity itself is generally not waivable because it is statutory, and Sec. 413.6(a) is explicit about the boundary: "A written waiver of one or more NON-STATUTORY requirements of this Part or of Part 414, 416, 417 or 418 may be issued by the office" (emphasis on the word non-statutory, which is in the regulation). A waiver request must be on OCFS forms and must state "the specific regulation for which a waiver is sought," "the reason the waiver is necessary," and "a description of what will be done to achieve or maintain the intended purpose of the regulation and to protect the health, safety and well-being of children" (Sec. 413.6(b)).

Sec. 413.6(a) also forecloses the common assumption that asking is enough: "Licensees or registrants must operate in full compliance with the regulations at all times prior to the issuance of a written waiver." Sec. 417.15(a)(2) requires you to display the registration "and all waivers, limitations and restrictions in the home for which it was issued." Sec. 413.6(e): "Failure to adhere to the terms of the waiver will result in rescission of the waiver and may constitute sufficient cause for the office to deny, revoke, suspend or limit a license or registration."

Adult-to-child ratios

New York's home-based ratio law is short, and it lives in two places that must be read together: the definitional Part, 18 NYCRR Sec. 413.2, and the supervision sections, Sec. 417.8 for the registered home and Sec. 416.8 for the licensed home. THE INFANT RATIO — IDENTICAL IN BOTH REGIMES. Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(i): "There shall be one caregiver for every two children under two years of age in the family day care home." Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(i): "There shall be one caregiver for every two children under two years of age in the group family home." SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) and (e) carry the same sentence, so this is a statutory ratio, not merely a regulatory one — a distinction that matters after Chapter 644 of the Laws of 2025, discussed below. The operating restatement is at Sec. 417.8(j)(2) and Sec. 416.8(j)(3): "When care is provided for children under the age of two years, there must be at least one caregiver present for every two children under the age of two years in attendance." Note "in attendance," not "enrolled." THE PER-CAREGIVER CAP — IDENTICAL IN BOTH REGIMES. Sec. 417.8(j)(1) and Sec. 416.8(j)(1), word for word: "One caregiver may care for a maximum of six children younger than school age, or eight children when at least two of the eight children are school aged."

Read the second limb precisely. It is not "six plus two." It is a cap of eight, available only when at least two of those eight are school-aged. Seven children of whom one is school-aged does not satisfy it — you would have six below school age plus one school-aged, which meets the first limb's six-under-school-age test but not the second limb's two-school-aged test, and so the applicable cap is six under school age, which you have not exceeded. The two limbs are alternatives, and the arithmetic only becomes generous at the eighth child. THE ONE RULE THAT DIFFERS BETWEEN THE TWO REGIMES. Sec. 416.8(j)(2), with no counterpart anywhere in Part 417: "Two caregivers must be present when more than six children, none of whom are school age, are in care." This is the operational face of the statutory assistant mandate, and it is worth stating separately because it is expressed as a presence rule rather than as a ratio. In a licensed group family day care home, the seventh non-school-age child requires a second body in the house. In a registered family day care home there is no such paragraph — the constraint on the registered home comes from the capacity definition instead.

THE ASSISTANT MANDATE. Sec. 413.2(b)(3)(ii) and SSL Sec. 390(1)(d): "A group family day care home must have at least one assistant to the provider present when child day care is being provided to seven or more children when none of the children are school age, or nine or more children when at least two of the children are school age and such children receive services only before or after the period such children are ordinarily in school or during school lunch periods, or school holidays, or during those periods of the year in which school is not in session. This assistant shall be selected by the group family day care licensee and shall meet the qualifications established for such position by the regulations of the Office of Children and Family Services." Two trigger points, then: seven, when nobody is school-aged; nine, when at least two are school-aged and are being served outside school hours. Sec. 416.8(f) makes the assistant's presence an active duty rather than a nominal appointment: "The assistant(s) must also be caring for children whenever the numbers and ages of children in care dictate that an assistant be present."

An assistant who is present but doing laundry is not an assistant for ratio purposes. Sec. 416.8(e) and Sec. 417.8(e): "The provider must be the primary caregiver of children in a [group] family day care home." The assistant supplements the provider; the assistant does not replace her as a routine matter. RATIOS TRAVEL. Sec. 417.8(j)(3) and Sec. 416.8(j)(4): "For the purposes of off-site activities or transportation, if the group of children is divided, the ratio requirements must be maintained." Splitting the group at the park does not average the ratio across the two halves. RATIOS AT THE POOL. Sec. 417.8(n) / Sec. 416.8(n) permit residential-pool activity only with prior written parental permission and only where the programme meets Sec. 417.5(g) / Sec. 416.5(g), and then imposes four conditions: a written plan of supervision ensuring "there is a person supervising the children in the pool at all times children are using the pool"; that "The person supervising the use of the pool must be able to swim"; that where some children are in the pool and others are not, the plan must cover both groups and "the family day care home must continue to meet the supervision requirements of this section for all children in care"; and that "Any person supervising children in pools must possess a current Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Certification (CPR) or equivalent certification, as approved by the office and appropriate to the ages of the children in care."

Note that the pool supervisor's CPR is a SECOND CPR requirement, additional to the always-on-premises requirement in Sec. 417.14(m). WHAT "SUPERVISION" MEANS, BECAUSE THE RATIO IS ONLY THE FLOOR. Sec. 417.8(a) / Sec. 416.8(a): "Children cannot be left without competent supervision at any time. Competent supervision includes awareness of and responsibility for the ongoing activity of each child. It requires that all children be within a caregiver's range of vision except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section and that the caregiver be near enough to respond when redirection or intervention strategies are needed. Competent supervision must take into account the child's age, emotional, physical and cognitive development." The exceptions in subdivision (b) are exhaustive and each is conditioned: (b)(1) napping children may be in a room without an awake approved caregiver only "With the prior written permission of the parent," with "the doors to all rooms must be open," with the caregiver remaining "on the same floor as the children," and with "a functioning electronic monitor" in any such room. (b)(2) where a monitor is in use, "napping and sleeping children must be physically checked every 15 minutes to assess the overall safety and well-being of the children and to make sure infants' faces are uncovered.

The checks must be done in close physical proximity to the child." (b)(3) for evening and night care the caregiver may sleep while children sleep "only if functional electronic monitors are in use in each room where children are sleeping" and written permission has been obtained from a parent of EACH child in evening or night care; "In the event written permission is not obtained from all parents, the caregiver must remain awake at all times and physically check sleeping children every 15 minutes." (b)(4) children who can toilet independently — the regulation spells out what that means: "including fastening and unfastening clothing, wiping themselves, flushing the toilet, and washing their hands" — "may use a bathroom on another floor for a short period of time without direct adult supervision." (b)(5) with written parental permission a programme may allow school-aged children to be outside direct supervision, but "Such activities must occur on the premises of the family day care home. A caregiver must visually check such children every 15 minutes." Sec. 417.8(c): "Any electronic monitor or surveillance equipment used to take images, monitor or record children in day care may not be used as a substitute for competent direct supervision of children."

Sec. 417.8(d): "Only approved caregivers may be left unsupervised with day care children." Sec. 417.15(b)(20): "No person other than a caregiver may have unsupervised contact with a child in care at the program." Sec. 417.8(m): "The use of any type of device for social or entertainment purposes, listening to music on headphones, playing screen games, using the internet, or making personal calls by caregivers while supervising children is prohibited. Use of any devices for brief and necessary communications or purposes directly related to the child care program such as communication with parents or the office and its representatives is allowable." ABSENCE OF THE PROVIDER IS RATIONED, NOT IMPROVISED. Sec. 417.8(g)(1): three or fewer consecutive days — no advance notice to OCFS, "however the program must keep a written record of the caregiver present in place of the absent provider." Sec. 417.8(g)(2): more than three consecutive days, or recurring absences — "the office must be notified in advance and the program must keep a written record of the caregiver present in place of the absent provider."

Sec. 417.8(h): "With written office approval, an approved assistant will be permitted to work in place of the provider for long-term absences for up to a total of 30 cumulative days per year." Sec. 417.8(i): "In other than emergency situations such as illness or accident, parents must be notified in writing two weeks prior to any long-term absence of the provider. This notice must include specific start and end dates of the absence and who will be taking the provider's place in the day care program." Sec. 417.15(c)(12) requires you to keep on file "a list of assistants and substitutes who are available and approved to care for the children in the family day care home when the provider or assistant must be absent," and Sec. 417.15(c)(13) "a daily schedule documenting the arrival and departure times of each caregiver, employees and volunteers." THE RATIO FLOOR IS NO LONGER STATUTORILY LOCKED. This is the most consequential recent change in New York ratio law and it is invisible unless you read the session laws. Until December 19, 2025, SSL Sec. 390(2-a)(a)(iii) required OCFS to promulgate "appropriate staff/child ratios for family day care homes, group family day care homes, school age day care programs and day care centers, provided however that such staff/child ratios shall not be less stringent than applicable staff/child ratios as set forth in part four hundred fourteen, four hundred sixteen, four hundred seventeen or four hundred eighteen of title eighteen of the New York code of rules and regulations as of January first, two thousand."

Chapter 644 of the Laws of 2025 (Assembly Bill A612, Senate Bill S278; passed the Senate June 11, 2025 by 58-1; delivered to the Governor December 8, 2025; "signed chap.644" December 19, 2025) deleted every word from "provided however" to "two thousand," and Section 2 of the act provides "This act shall take effect immediately." What survives and what does not. The 1:2 ratio for children under two survives, because it is written into SSL Sec. 390(1)(d) and (e) themselves — the definitions of the two home types — and Chapter 644 did not touch subdivision 1. What is now unprotected is everything that lives only in regulation: the per-caregiver cap of six/eight in Sec. 417.8(j)(1) and Sec. 416.8(j)(1), and the two-caregiver rule in Sec. 416.8(j)(2). The sponsor's memorandum makes the intent explicit: "This legislation is necessary to allow OCFS to amend the New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations (NYCRR) concerning child-to-staff ratios, ensuring that the 1:5 ratio for toddler classrooms is adjusted to allow for the safe and financially feasible admission of the maximum number of children."

The named target is the centre-based toddler ratio in Subpart 418-1, not home-based care; but the repeal was written generally, and a provider planning a home around Sec. 417.8(j)(1) should know that the statutory ratchet that protected that paragraph for twenty-five years was removed eight months before this verification date. As of 2026-08-25 no rule making touching Sec. 416.8 or Sec. 417.8 appears in the Action Pending Index of the New York State Register.

Training you must complete before licensure

New York gates entry with two distinct pre-service obligations, and the regulation puts them in a specific order. Most secondary sources collapse them into one and get the sequence wrong. STEP ONE — THE PRE-APPLICATION ORIENTATION, WHICH COMES BEFORE YOU EVEN RECEIVE AN APPLICATION. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.14(a): "Before the office issues an application for a family day care registration to a person or entity who has yet to hold an Office of Children and Family Services day care registration, that applicant must complete an office-approved pre-application orientation session." 18 NYCRR Sec. 416.14(a): "Before the office issues an application for a group family day care license to a person or entity who has yet to hold an office of Children and Family Services day care license, that applicant must complete an office-approved pre-application orientation session." Read the trigger. It is not "before you submit" — it is "before the office issues an application." OCFS does not hand you the application form until the orientation is done. The requirement is limited to first-timers: someone who already holds an OCFS day care registration is outside Sec. 417.14(a), and someone who already holds an OCFS day care licence is outside Sec. 416.14(a).

Note the asymmetry: an existing FAMILY day care registrant applying for a GROUP family day care LICENCE has "yet to hold" a licence, and on the plain words of Sec. 416.14(a) must sit the orientation again. The regulation prescribes no duration and no syllabus for the orientation. The commonly circulated figure of roughly ninety minutes online is an agency-programme description, not a regulatory standard, and it is flagged below. STEP TWO — THE HEALTH AND SAFETY COURSE, WHICH GATES ISSUANCE. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.14(b): "Before the office issues an initial registration, the applicant must complete a health and safety training course approved by the office relating to the protection of the health and safety of children and must demonstrate basic competency with regard to health and safety standards. Such training must comply with the Federal minimum health and safety preservice training requirements. Health and safety training received prior to issuance of the registration, may be applied to the initial 15 hours of training required pursuant to section paragraph (c)(1) of this section provided that such training was received within 12 months of registration.

If an applicant does not become licensed or registered within two years of successfully completing the health and safety training, the coursework must be repeated." Sec. 416.14(b) is the same text with "license" and "licensure" substituted. Four operative facts sit in that paragraph, and three of them are usually missing from provider guides: (1) The course is a condition of ISSUANCE, not of application. You may apply before completing it; you may not be issued before completing it. (2) It must "demonstrate basic competency" — the standard is competency-based, not attendance-based. (3) It must "comply with the Federal minimum health and safety preservice training requirements," which is why the New York course is aligned to the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant health-and-safety topics. (4) IT EXPIRES. "If an applicant does not become licensed or registered within two years of successfully completing the health and safety training, the coursework must be repeated." An applicant who takes the course, stalls on the home inspection or on a household member's clearance, and comes back thirty months later has to sit the whole thing again.

This sentence is the single most expensive omission in the general run of New York home-child-care guidance. And separately: the same course may be credited against your first cycle of continuing training, but only within a twelve-month window — "provided that such training was received within 12 months of registration." Sec. 417.14(g) repeats the point from the other direction: "Training received before the application has been approved and the registration granted, may be counted towards the initial 15 hours required in paragraph (c)(1) of this section provided that such training was completed within 12 months of registration." So the optimal sequencing is: orientation, then health and safety course, then move briskly, because early training decays out of credit at twelve months and out of validity at twenty-four. The statute behind Sec. 417.14(b) is SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(d): "Family day care home and group family day care home operators shall obtain training pertaining to protection of the health and safety of children, as required by regulation, prior to the issuance of a license or registration by the office of children and family services."

STEP TWO-AND-A-HALF — THE THREE-MONTH RULE FOR EVERYONE ELSE IN THE HOUSE. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.14(b)(1): "Each applicant must complete the office-approved training that complies with the Federal minimum health and safety preservice training requirements or three-month orientation period training requirements. This training must be obtained preservice or within three months of starting such position. Individuals who have completed the office-approved training that complies with Federal health and safety requirements may be left unsupervised with children. Any employee or volunteer who does not complete this training must not be left unsupervised with children in care until such time as the training has been completed." This is the paragraph that governs assistants, substitutes, employees and volunteers. It permits a three-month runway from the start date — but it attaches a hard consequence to using that runway: until the training is done, the person cannot be left alone with a child. Combine it with Sec. 413.4(f)(6), which independently requires that a person pending completion of background clearances "must always be supervised by an individual who received a qualifying result on the background checks described in paragraph (a) of this section within the past five years," and with Sec. 417.15(b)(11)(v), which forbids leaving a proposed caregiver "in sole charge of, or unsupervised with, children until such time as the office approves the caregiver." A new assistant in a New York home is therefore under three overlapping supervision restrictions, and none of them is satisfied merely by the passage of time.

CAREGIVER QUALIFICATIONS THAT SIT ALONGSIDE THE TRAINING. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.13(a) — identical at Sec. 416.13(a) — requires that "The provider, assistant(s), and substitutes must each meet the following qualifications:" (1) "be at least 18 years old"; (2) "have a minimum of either two years of experience caring for children under six years of age, or one year of experience caring for children under six years of age plus six hours of training or education in early childhood development. The phrase experience caring for children can mean child-rearing as well as paid and unpaid experience caring for children. The term training can mean educational workshops and courses in caring for preschool-age children"; (3) "be capable of providing, and agree to provide, safe and suitable care to children which is supportive of the children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social well-being"; (4) "provide to the office the names, addresses and daytime telephone numbers of at least two acceptable references, other than relatives. At least one of the references must be able to attest to the employment history, work record and qualifications, if the person had ever been employed outside the home.

At least one of the references must be able to attest to the character, habits and personal qualifications to be a family day care provider, assistant, or substitute"; and (5) "submit a satisfactory medical statement, as required in section 417.11(b) of this Part." Paragraph (2) is unusually forgiving by national standards and is worth stating plainly: New York accepts UNPAID child-rearing as qualifying experience. A parent who has raised her own children for two years meets the experiential requirement for a family day care provider. There is no education credential requirement — no CDA, no associate degree, no credit hours — for either the family day care provider or the group family day care provider. The six hours of early-childhood training in the alternative branch is the only formal-education element anywhere in Sec. 417.13(a), and it is an alternative, not a floor. Sec. 417.13(e) adds: "A person applying to be the provider must have completed a health and safety training as required in section 417.14(a) of this Part before being approved for that role." Note the cross-reference: Sec. 417.14(a) is the ORIENTATION paragraph; the health-and-safety course is Sec. 417.14(b).

The internal citation in Sec. 417.13(e) does not match the paragraph it describes. Both obligations exist regardless — Sec. 417.14(a) and Sec. 417.14(b) each bind on their own terms — but do not rely on Sec. 417.13(e) to tell you which one is which. Sec. 417.13(f): "A person is not approved to be a caregiver until the child care program receives written approval from the office." CPR AND FIRST AID ARE A PRE-SERVICE AND A CONTINUING CONDITION AT THE SAME TIME. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.14(m): "All child care programs must have at least one caregiver, who holds a valid certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid, on the premises of the child care program during the program's operating hours." Sec. 417.14(n): "CPR and first aid certifications must be appropriate to the ages of the children in care. All certifications in CPR and first aid must contain an in-person competency component." Sec. 417.14(o): "The caregiver(s) who holds the valid certification in CPR and First Aid must have their certification available for review during their working hours at the program on file."

Sec. 417.15(c)(21) requires the programme to hold on file "a current cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid certificate as required in section 417.11 and 417.14 of this Part." The statutory hook is SSL Sec. 390-a(5)(a): "The site provider of a family day care home or group family day care home shall provide that at least one employee who holds a valid certification in a course of study in first aid knowledge and skills and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, with an emphasis on providing that aid to children, as approved by the commissioner of the office of children and family services, be on premises during the operating hours of such family day care home or group family day care home." Two features of the New York rule that differ from the common pattern: the certification must be age-appropriate to the children actually in care, and — since the 2021 amendment — it "must contain an in-person competency component," which forecloses a purely online certification. In a solo-operated family day care home, "at least one caregiver on the premises" means the provider herself, in practice, at all times; there is no second body to hold the card.

MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION TRAINING (MAT), IF YOU WILL GIVE MEDICATION. Sec. 417.14(l): "Caregivers who will be responsible for administering medications must receive training pursuant to section 417.11(e) of this Part." Sec. 417.11(e)(1): "All caregivers ... who have agreed to administer medication must complete the office-approved medication administration training or an office-approved equivalent before administering medications to children in day care. The certification of training in the administration of medications to children in day care shall be effective for a period of three-years from the date of issuance. The caregiver must complete a recertification training approved by the office in order to extend the certification for each additional three year period. Where a certification lapses, the caregiver may not be recertified unless the caregiver completes the initial medication administration training or the recertification training, as required by the office." Sec. 417.11(c)(2)(vii) sets the gate for who may be designated: at least 18 years of age; holding "a current certification in first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) appropriate to the ages of the children in care"; and having completed MAT — except that for "epinephrine auto injectors, diphenhydramine in combination with the auto injector, asthma inhalers and nebulizers," training "from the parent, health care provider or a health care consultant" suffices.

MAT is avoidable. Sec. 417.11(c)(1) and Sec. 417.11(d)(1) between them create a low-medication lane: a programme whose only medications are "over-the-counter topical ointments, lotions and creams, sprays, including sunscreen products and topically applied insect repellant" and/or "epinephrine auto injectors, diphenhydramine in combination with the auto injector, asthma inhalers and nebulizers" does not need its health care plan approved by a health care consultant and does not need to schedule health-care-consultant visits. If you intend to give any other medication, you acquire a health care consultant, a two-yearly consultant visit schedule (Sec. 417.11(c)(2)(ix)), and MAT. Be aware that the epinephrine vocabulary in Sec. 417.11 is on the point of changing. OCFS filed a consensus rule making on July 1, 2026, I.D. No. CFS-26-26-00001-P, to conform Parts 414, 415, 416, 417 and Subparts 418-1 and 418-2 to Chapter 502 of the Laws of 2025, which amended Public Health Law Sec. 3000-c effective November 12, 2025 "to replace the term 'epinephrine auto-injector device' with 'epinephrine device' more generally to capture all forms of epinephrine."

OCFS states it will make the same substitution for patient-specific epinephrine and will replace "diphenhydramine" with "antihistamine," "to encompass all categories of such medications." That proposal was still pending in the Action Pending Index of the New York State Register of August 19, 2026. MULTI-SITE MANAGEMENT TRAINING. Sec. 417.14(p) / Sec. 416.14(p): "A registrant operating more than one licensed or registered family-based day care program must complete an office approved training in the management and administration of multiple day care sites. This training may be counted toward the 30 hours of required training and must be completed within one year of the effective date of these regulations." As noted above, this attaches to grandfathered operators; Sec. 417.15(a)(4) forbids new simultaneous holdings. TRAINING MUST BE OCFS-APPROVED. Sec. 417.14(k): "All training that counts toward the required 30 hours must be approved by the Office of Children and Family Services as per office policies regarding training and trainers." A course that is excellent and not on the approved list buys you nothing.

WHAT THE COURSE IS ACTUALLY CALLED, AND WHY THAT IS FLAGGED RATHER THAN ASSERTED. The regulation says only "a health and safety training course approved by the office." The name in circulation — "Health and Safety: Competencies for Becoming a Family or Group Family Day Care Provider" — and the figure of fifteen hours come from the training market, not from 18 NYCRR: the Aspire Registry (New York's early-childhood workforce registry) lists it as a 15-hour competency-based course "required for all new family or group family day care applicants in New York State prior to licensure or registration, as well as for existing providers who change location or modality," and Cornell Cooperative Extension and the regional Child Care Resource and Referral agencies advertise it under the same hour count. Neither Sec. 417.14 nor Sec. 416.14 nor SSL Sec. 390-a fixes a number of hours for the pre-service course. Treat fifteen as the market's reliable figure and the regulation's silence as the legal position; see verify_flag.

Ongoing (annual) training

Thirty hours every two years, front-loaded at fifteen hours in the first six months, with a five-hour-per-year floor. All three numbers are in both the statute and the regulation. THE STATUTE. SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(a): "The office of children and family services shall promulgate regulations requiring operators, program directors, employees and assistants of family day care homes, group family day care homes, school-age child care programs and child day care centers to receive pre-service and annual training, as applicable. Provided however that such providers shall be required to receive thirty hours of training every two years; provided, however, any individual or provider who is already in compliance with this subdivision, prior to the effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand nineteen that amended this subdivision, shall only be required to complete any additional federal training requirements which they have not already completed in order to be deemed in compliance with this subdivision. Fifteen hours of such training must be received within the first six months of the initial licensure, registration or employment.

Such training requirements shall also apply to any volunteer in such day care homes, programs or centers who has the potential for regular and substantial contact with children. The thirty hours of training required during the first biennial cycle after initial licensure or registration shall include training received while an application for licensure or registration pursuant to section three hundred ninety of this title is pending." Note the last sentence: time spent training while your application is pending counts toward the first cycle. That is a statutory credit, and the regulation implements it with a twelve-month cut-off. THE REGULATION. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.14(c) — Sec. 416.14(c) is identical — "Each employee and volunteer must complete a minimum of 30 hours of training every two years. The required 30 hours of training every two years is subject to the following conditions: (1) 15 of the required 30 hours of training must be obtained during the person's first 6 months at the program. (2) A minimum of five hours of office-approved training must be obtained each year which addresses topics or subject matters set forth in subdivision (f) of this section."

The obligation runs to "each employee and volunteer," not to the provider alone. Read with Sec. 413.2(c)(6), which defines "employee" as "all personnel, including directors, caregivers, and non-caregivers, temporary personnel, teachers, aides, para-professionals, cooks, custodians, administrative staff and any other person(s) employed by a child care program," and with Sec. 413.2(c)(15), under which volunteers "have the potential for either unsupervised contact or regular and substantial contact with children in care," the reach is wide. In a group family day care home, your assistant and your approved substitutes carry the same thirty hours you do. THE REQUIRED TOPICS. Sec. 417.14(f): "Training must address all topics or subject matters required by State and Federal law. The required State topics are: (1) principles of childhood development, focusing on the developmental stages of the age groups for which the program provides care; (2) nutrition and health needs of infants and children; (3) child care program development; (4) safety and security procedures; (5) business record maintenance and management; (6) child abuse and maltreatment identification and prevention; (7) statutes and regulations pertaining to child care; (8) statutes and regulations pertaining to child abuse and maltreatment; (9) education and information on the identification, diagnosis and prevention of shaken baby syndrome; and (10) adverse childhood experiences, focused on understanding trauma and on nurturing resiliency."

SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(b) carries the same ten topics with slightly different wording, prefaced by "topics and subject matters required by federal law and the following topics or subject matters, unless such topics or subject matters are substantially covered in training that is required pursuant to federal law." Item (x) in the statute reads "adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), focused on understanding trauma and on nurturing resiliency." COMPETENCY-BASED SELF-DIRECTION AFTER THE FIRST CYCLE. Sec. 417.14(i): "For the 30 hours of training that must be received every two years after the first period of registration, any provider or assistant who can demonstrate to the office basic competency in a particular topic may determine in which of the specified topics he or she needs further study. The office may also exempt any provider or assistant from participating in training on a particular topic upon demonstration of substantially equivalent knowledge or experience related to that topic. All persons with such exemptions must still complete a minimum of 30 hours of training during each two-year period, and a minimum of five hours of training each year."

The hours never bend; only the topic mix does. SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(c) is the statutory analogue. CARRY-FORWARD AND THE MID-POINT WINDOW. Sec. 417.14(g), second sentence: "When a program has submitted a renewal application, and the provider and assistant(s) have satisfied the 30-hour training requirement for the current registration period, the provider and assistant(s) will be credited with any additional training hours taken during that time that exceed the 30 hours, toward the new registration period." Sec. 417.14(h): "Training received within the 90 day period prior to the two-year mid-point in the four-year registration cycle, may count toward the next two-year period, if the training requirement for the first two years of the registration has been met. Individuals must still obtain a minimum of five hours of training annually pursuant to paragraph (c)(2) of this section." Both of those paragraphs are written on the assumption of a FOUR-YEAR permit containing two two-year training cycles with a mid-point at year two. Hold that thought: SSL Sec. 390(2)(a) and Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(A) each carry a version effective June 5, 2027 substituting "up to six years" for "up to four years."

When that happens, Sec. 417.14(h) and Sec. 417.15(b)(25) — both of which speak of "the two-year mid-point in the four-year registration cycle" — will describe a cycle that no longer exists unless OCFS amends them. No such amendment appears in the Action Pending Index of the New York State Register as of August 19, 2026. PROOF. Sec. 417.14(j): "Each provider or assistant must submit verification of completion of the training requirements to their program's designated registration office." Sec. 417.15(c)(14) requires the programme to keep on file "documentation of training sessions attended in accordance with section 417.14 of this Part." Sec. 417.2(d)(7) makes "proof of compliance with the training requirements of section 417.14 of this Part" a renewal-application document. Sec. 417.15(b)(25)(iii) makes the same proof a MID-POINT requirement, produced on demand at the two-year mark of a four-year registration — a checkpoint that has no application filing attached to it and that providers routinely discover only when an inspector asks. SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(e): "Upon request by the office of children and family services, the child day care applicant or provider shall submit documentation demonstrating compliance with the training requirements of this section."

CONSEQUENCE OF FAILURE. Training compliance is a renewal condition twice over. SSL Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(B)(1) provides that after initial registration OCFS "shall not accept any subsequent registration by such provider, unless ... such provider has met the training requirements set forth in section three hundred ninety-a of this title." And Sec. 413.3(c)(1) makes the general point that "Any violation of applicable statutes or regulations will be a basis to deny, reject, limit, suspend, revoke or terminate a license or registration," with the fine schedule at Sec. 413.3(f)(1) reaching "up to $500 per day." TRAINING FOR OCFS'S OWN STAFF, for completeness, because providers sometimes cite it by mistake. SSL Sec. 390-a(1) requires OCFS and municipal staff who accept registrations, issue licences or conduct inspections to receive training in the Sec. 390 regulations, child abuse prevention and identification, safety and security procedures, childhood development principles and the child-protection laws, plus "guidance on identification of circumstances that may indicate the presence of controlled substances and referrals to law enforcement." That is an obligation on the inspector, not on you.

Background checks

New York's clearance machinery lives in 18 NYCRR Sec. 413.4, "Criminal history review and background clearances," which applies to Parts 416 and 417 through Sec. 413.1 and Sec. 417.1/416.1. It is the longest single obstacle in the New York application, and it reaches further than the provider. WHO IS COVERED. Sec. 413.4(a): the clearances "shall be conducted pursuant to and consistent with the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act for any prospective operator, director, employee or volunteer at a child day care center, small day care center, school-age child care program, group family day care home or family day care home, as defined in section 413.2 of this Part, and any person age 18 or older living in a prospective, or who begins to live, in a group family day care home or family day care home." Two things to underline. First, VOLUNTEERS are inside the net, and Sec. 413.2(c)(15) tells you why: "All volunteers have the potential for either unsupervised contact or regular and substantial contact with children in care." Second, the household clause is written in the present continuous — "or who begins to live" — so it captures the adult son who moves back in eighteen months after you were registered, not merely the household as it stood on application day.

Sec. 417.13(b) and Sec. 416.13(b) repeat the duty from the operating Parts. WHAT IS RUN, ON A PROSPECTIVE PERSON. Sec. 413.4(a)(1)-(4): (1) "a criminal history record check with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services"; (2) "a national criminal record check with the Federal Bureau of Investigation"; (3) "a search of the New York State Sex Offender Registry"; and (4) "a database check of the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment in accordance with section 424-a of the Social Services Law." WHAT IS ADDITIONALLY RUN, ON AN EXISTING PERSON. Sec. 413.4(b): all of the above, "and (2) a search of the National Sex Offender Registry using the National Crime and Information Center," conducted "in accordance with a schedule developed by the office." THE OUT-OF-STATE LAYER. Sec. 413.4(c) applies to anyone in the covered classes "living or who lived in any state other than New York during the preceding 5 years," and requires: (1) "a search of the criminal history repository in each state other than New York where such person lives or lived during the preceding five years, unless such state's criminal history record information will be provided as part of the clearance conducted pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of this section"; (2) "a search of any state sex offender registry or repository in each state other than New York where such person lives or lived during the preceding five years, unless such state's sex offender registry information will be provided as part of the clearance conducted pursuant to paragraph (b)(2) of this section"; and (3) "a search of the state-based child abuse or neglect repository of any state other than New York where such person lives or lived during the preceding five years."

Paragraph (c)(3) has no "unless" clause. A child-abuse-and-neglect repository search in every prior state of residence within five years is unconditional, and it is the component that most often stalls a New York application, because turnaround is set by the other state, not by OCFS. THE JUSTICE CENTER LAYER, WHICH SITS OUTSIDE SEC. 413.4. Sec. 417.13(c) and Sec. 416.13(c): "All providers, employees, volunteers and any person age 18 or older living or who begins to live in a family day care home hired after June 30, 2013 must comply with the background check requirements for the register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect maintained by the Justice Center for the Protection of Persons with Special Needs pursuant to section 495 of the Social Services Law." Sec. 417.2(a)(8)(ii) makes the corresponding form part of the initial application packet, and Sec. 417.15(b)(11)(ii)(b) makes it part of the packet for every later hire. This is the "Staff Exclusion List" (SEL) that OCFS refers to by name in its 2026 rule making documents. Sec. 417.13(d) / Sec. 416.13(d) add a standalone SCR duty: "All providers, employees, volunteers and any person age 18 or older living or who begins to live in a family day care home are required to complete a State Central Register database check."

MECHANICS. Sec. 413.4(d)(1): "Any initial application for a child care license or registration shall include the submission of fingerprint images for any operator, director, employee, or volunteer, and any person age 18 or older living in a group family day care home or family day care home." Sec. 413.4(d)(2) puts the same duty on the licensee or registrant for each later addition. Sec. 413.4(d)(3): "The licensee or registrant shall furnish to each prospective director, employee, or volunteer, and any person age 18 or older prospectively living in a group family day care home or family day care home a fingerprint imaging application form and a description of how the completed fingerprint images will be used." Sec. 417.2(a)(5) is the application-side statement of the same thing: "sworn statements by the provider, assistant(s), substitutes and any person 18 years of age or older who resides in the proposed family day care home indicating whether, to the best of their knowledge, they have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony in New York State or any other jurisdiction, and fingerprint images as required pursuant to section 413.4 of this Article."

RECURRENCE. Sec. 413.4(d)(4): the clearances "other than those for which ongoing criminal history results are provided, shall be conducted for any existing operator, director, employee or volunteer ... and any person age 18 or older living in a group family day care home or family day care home AT LEAST ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS in accordance with a schedule developed by the office." Note that a four-year permit term and a five-year re-clearance cycle do not align; re-clearance is not a renewal event. Sec. 413.4(d)(8): "A person who has separated from their role in a child care program within New York State for a period of more than 180 consecutive days is required to submit the clearances pursuant to this section when applying for a role in any child care program." A substitute who worked for you last spring, took eight months off, and returns is a new clearance. THE PROVISIONAL WINDOW, AND ITS PRICE. Sec. 413.4(d)(5): "A prospective director, employee or volunteer may begin to work or volunteer at a child day care center, small day care center, school-age child care program, group family day care home or family day care home after completing either the check described in paragraphs (a)(1) or (2) of this section."

Sec. 413.4(d)(6): "Pending notification of completion of all required background check components in subdivision (a) of this section, a prospective director, employee or volunteer must always be supervised by an individual who received a qualifying result on the background checks described in paragraph (a) of this section within the past five years. A provisional director, employee or volunteer shall not have unsupervised contact with children in care." THE HARD GATE ON ISSUANCE. Sec. 413.4(d)(7): "A license or registration cannot be issued until the office notifies the program that the operator and director, and every employee, volunteer and person age 18 or older who lives in the home has completed all clearance requirements in this section." No provisional path exists for the initial permit itself. One unresolved household adult stops the whole application. MANDATORY DISQUALIFIERS. Sec. 413.4(e)(1) deems a person "ineligible" if such person: (i) "refuses to consent to such clearances"; (ii) "knowingly makes a materially false statement in connection with such clearances"; (iii) "is registered, or is required to be registered, on a state sex offender registry or repository or the national sex offender registry"; (iv) "has been convicted of a felony consisting of: (a) murder, as described in section 1111 of title 18, United States Code; (b) child abuse or neglect; (c) a crime against children, including child pornography; (d) spousal abuse; (e) a crime involving rape or sexual assault; (f) kidnapping; (g) arson; (h) physical assault or battery"; or (v) "has been convicted of a violent misdemeanor committed as an adult against a child, including child abuse, child endangerment and sexual assault, or of a misdemeanor involving child pornography."

And Sec. 413.4(e)(2) defines what "ineligible" costs you, in two limbs that are quite different in severity: (i) the person "shall not be permitted to be an operator, director, employee or volunteer at a child day care program subject to the criminal history review and background clearance process"; and (ii) "A family day care home or group family day care home shall not be permitted to operate if a person age 18 or older lives in the residence and engaged in conduct listed in paragraph (1) of this subdivision." Limb (ii) is a programme-killer, and it is the reason the household clause matters so much. A disqualifying conviction in a co-resident adult does not merely exclude that adult from the child care role; it forecloses operation of the home. Note also that limb (i) reaches refusal to consent and material false statements, not just convictions — a household member who simply will not be fingerprinted produces the same result as a conviction. NON-MANDATORY CONVICTIONS: SAFETY ASSESSMENT AND ARTICLE 23-A. Sec. 413.4(f)(2)(i), for a PROSPECTIVE person: where the clearance reveals a conviction not on the mandatory list, "the office MAY conduct a safety assessment and take one or more of the following actions: (a) deny the application, consistent with article 23-A of the Correction Law; (b) direct that such person not be hired, consistent with article 23-A of the Correction Law; (c) take any other appropriate steps to protect the health and safety of the children in care."

Sec. 413.4(f)(2)(ii), for an EXISTING person: "the office SHALL conduct a safety assessment and take one or more of the following actions: (a) deny, limit, suspend, revoke or reject such program's license or registration unless the office determines, in its discretion, that continued operation will not in any way jeopardize the health and safety of the children in care; (b) direct that such person be terminated, consistent with article 23-A of the Correction Law; (c) take any other appropriate steps to protect the health and safety of the children in care." The shift from "may" to "shall" between prospective and existing persons is deliberate and is easy to miss. Sec. 413.4(g) defines the safety assessment: "(1) a review of the duties of the person with the criminal conviction or charge; (2) the extent to which such person may have contact with children in the day care facility or program; and (3) the status and nature of the criminal conviction or charge." PENDING CHARGES. Sec. 413.4(f)(3)(i): where a clearance reveals that a PROSPECTIVE covered person "has been charged with a crime, the office shall hold the application in abeyance until the charge is finally resolved."

Not denied — held, indefinitely, until disposition. Sec. 413.4(f)(3)(ii): for an existing person, OCFS "shall conduct a safety assessment and take all appropriate steps to protect the health and safety of the children in care. The office may suspend such program's license or registration based on such a charge when necessary to protect the health and safety of children in care." The statute is broader still. SSL Sec. 390(10): "if the office of children and family services is made aware of the existence of a criminal conviction or pending criminal charge concerning an operator of a family day care home, group family day care home, school-age child care program, or child day care center or concerning any assistant, employee or volunteer in such homes, programs or centers, or any persons age eighteen or over who reside in such homes, such conviction or charge may be a basis to deny, limit, suspend, revoke, reject, or terminate a license or registration." Sec. 413.3(c)(2) is the regulatory mirror. DUE PROCESS. Sec. 413.4(h) creates a de novo review for Article 23-A cases: any person OCFS determines should be denied employment or a volunteer position "based on an offense not listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of this section and to which Article 23-A of the Correction Law is applicable, shall have the ability to request a de novo review of the determination, TO BE HELD AND COMPLETED BEFORE THE EMPLOYER IS NOTIFIED of such determination."

The person "may choose whether the review will be conducted either through submission of written materials to a hearing officer, or to be heard in person in an administrative hearing before a hearing officer, or by video conference in an administrative hearing before a hearing officer if reasonably available." The timing rule — resolved before the employer learns of it — is a real protection and is rarely reported. Sec. 413.4(j) governs notification: where OCFS denies or directs denial based on a criminal history record, "the licensee or registrant must notify the applicant that such criminal history record is the basis of the denial," and OCFS must provide "a copy of the results of the national criminal record check upon which such action was based, a written statement setting forth the reasons for the denial and a copy of article 23-A of the Correction Law, and inform such person of his or her right to seek correction of any incorrect information contained in such national record check provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The office shall not release the content of such results to any non-public entity."

Sec. 413.4(i) lets OCFS go behind the rap sheet: "Upon receipt of a criminal history record, the office may request, and is entitled to receive, information pertaining to any crime contained in such criminal history record from any state or local law enforcement agency, district attorney, parole officer, probation officer or court." YOUR REPORTING DUTIES. Sec. 413.4(k): a licensee or registrant "must inform the office when: (1) any applicant who is subject to criminal history record review in accordance with this section has withdrawn the application or is no longer being considered for the position for which the person applied; (2) any employee or volunteer who is subject to criminal history record review is no longer employed by or volunteering at the program; and (3) any person age 18 or older living in a family or group family day care home who is subject to criminal history record review is no longer living in the residence." The corresponding onboarding clock is in Sec. 417.15(b)(19) / Sec. 416.15(b)(19): "Within five days of a household member turning 18 years of age or a person 18 years of age or older beginning to live in the residence," the programme must submit the SCR database check forms, the Justice Center SEL forms, and "the necessary fingerprint image necessary to complete the criminal history review required pursuant to section 413.4 of this Article."

Five days. A birthday in the house starts a five-day clock. Sec. 417.15(b)(11) governs hiring after issuance: the programme "must notify the office immediately in writing when there is any change of caregivers"; "must submit to the office prior to the start date the name of any new caregiver and the supporting documentation needed to complete the approval process," namely the SCR forms, the Justice Center forms, "fingerprint images necessary for the office to conduct a criminal history review," a sworn conviction statement, and "two acceptable references"; "must ensure that a medical statement has been submitted before the person has any involvement with children in care"; and "may not leave the proposed caregiver in sole charge of, or unsupervised with, children until such time as the office approves the caregiver." ONE NARROW EXCLUSION. Sec. 413.4(l): "For the purposes of this section, individuals providing services pursuant to the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) part B, IDEA part C, section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or article 89 of the New York Education Law, may be considered volunteers." A visiting early-intervention therapist is treated as a volunteer rather than as an outside professional — which means the clearance duty attaches rather than being waived.

STATUTORY BACKDROP. SSL Sec. 390-a(2)(a) conditions issuance and renewal on the existence of a procedure to "review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a provider of family day care or group family day care," including that the applicant "set forth his or her employment history, provide personal and employment references; submit such information as is required for screening with the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance with the provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article; sign a sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, he or she has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other jurisdiction; and provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions of section three hundred ninety-b of this title." SSL Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(B)(2)-(3) make Sec. 390-b compliance and Sec. 424-a compliance conditions of accepting a subsequent registration. A CHANGE IS PROPOSED.

On July 22, 2026 OCFS proposed (I.D. No. CFS-29-26-00002-P) to amend Sec. 417.2, Sec. 417.13, Sec. 417.15, Sec. 416.2, Sec. 416.13 and Sec. 416.15, among others, to "remove the requirement for additional checks of the SCR and the SEL when CBC-approved individuals join a new program," noting that "Such individuals continue to be subject to SCR and SEL checks as required in sections 413.4 and 415.15." The same proposal would amend Sec. 416.2, Sec. 416.11, Sec. 416.15, Sec. 417.2, Sec. 417.11 and Sec. 417.15 to clarify medical statements: "Initial medical statements are required before a person's first involvement in child care work. An updated medical statement is required when an event or condition reasonably calls into question a person's ability to provide safe and suitable child care, a person has separated from their role in a child care program within New York State for more than 180 consecutive days, or if there is reasonable cause to suspect the information provided is inaccurate. All medical statements must be dated within 12 months of submission for all modalities of care. Additionally, all medical statements for required individuals at licensed and registered programs must include a Mantoux or other federally approved tuberculin test performed within 12 months of submission."

The public comment period runs "60 days after publication of this notice," and as of the August 19, 2026 Register the item remained in the Action Pending Index. Until adoption, the existing text of Sec. 417.11(b)(6) governs: the initial medical statement "must include the results of a Mantoux tuberculin test or other Federally approved tuberculin test performed within the 12 months preceding the date of the application. Thereafter, tuberculin tests are only required at the discretion of the employee's health care provider or at the start of new employment in a different child care program."

The application, step by step

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

1. STEP 1 — Decide which regime you are entering, because it fixes everything downstream. Three to six children in your own occupied residence, more than three hours per day per child: family day care home, REGISTRATION, 18 NYCRR Part 417 (SSL Sec. 390(2)(b); Sec. 413.2(b)(2)). Seven to twelve children of all ages: group family day care home, LICENCE, Part 416 (SSL Sec. 390(2)(a); Sec. 413.2(b)(3)). Seven or eight children where at most six are below school age can be either — the registered home on the Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(ii) extension, or the licensed group home at the bottom of its range. Three to six children in premises that are NOT a residence: you are a small day care center under Subpart 418-2, not a home (Sec. 413.2(b)(5)). Before committing, test your site against the "personal residence" definition in Sec. 413.2(d)(12) and its six lettered sub-rules, because a detached building on your lot is usually NOT eligible where the house itself is the day care (Sec. 413.2(d)(12)(v)).
2. STEP 2 — Complete the OCFS-approved pre-application orientation session. This is a regulatory requirement and it precedes the application itself: Sec. 417.14(a) — "Before the office issues an application for a family day care registration to a person or entity who has yet to hold an Office of Children and Family Services day care registration, that applicant must complete an office-approved pre-application orientation session." Sec. 416.14(a) is the same for the group family day care licence. It binds only first-time applicants for that instrument, but note that an existing family day care REGISTRANT applying for a group family day care LICENCE has "yet to hold" a licence and, on the plain words, must sit it again. The regulation prescribes no duration; the roughly ninety-minute online figure in circulation is an agency programme description, not a rule.
3. STEP 3 — Complete the OCFS-approved health and safety training course, and start the clock consciously. Sec. 417.14(b) / Sec. 416.14(b): "Before the office issues an initial registration, the applicant must complete a health and safety training course approved by the office relating to the protection of the health and safety of children and must demonstrate basic competency with regard to health and safety standards. Such training must comply with the Federal minimum health and safety preservice training requirements." Two clocks start here and they run at different speeds. Credit clock: hours count toward your first 15-in-6-months obligation only "provided that such training was received within 12 months of registration" (Sec. 417.14(b) and Sec. 417.14(g)). Validity clock: "If an applicant does not become licensed or registered within two years of successfully completing the health and safety training, the coursework must be repeated." Statutory basis: SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(d). The 15-hour course commonly sold under the title "Health and Safety: Competencies for Becoming a Family or Group Family Day Care Provider" is the market's implementation; the regulation fixes no hour count.
4. STEP 4 — Confirm every caregiver meets Sec. 417.13(a) / Sec. 416.13(a) before you build a packet around them: at least 18 years old; either two years of experience caring for children under six, or one year plus six hours of training or education in early childhood development, where "experience caring for children can mean child-rearing as well as paid and unpaid experience caring for children"; capable of and agreeing to provide safe and suitable care; two acceptable non-relative references each, one able to speak to employment history and one to "the character, habits and personal qualifications"; and a satisfactory medical statement. New York imposes NO degree or credential requirement on a family or group family day care provider. Sec. 417.13(f): "A person is not approved to be a caregiver until the child care program receives written approval from the office."
5. STEP 5 — Obtain and file the application, with attestations, through the OCFS Facility Application and Management System (FAMS). Sec. 417.2(a)(1) / Sec. 416.2(a)(1): "a completed application, including required attestations, on forms furnished by the office or approved equivalents. Such application and attestations must include an agreement by the applicant to operate the family day care home in conformity with applicable laws and regulations." FAMS is confirmed as the operative system by OCFS's own filing with the Department of State: the Regulatory Impact Statement published in the New York State Register of July 22, 2026 states that "CCSCs will utilize OCFS's Facility Application and Management System (FAMS) to determine status of the comprehensive background check training and document other eligibility requirements." Two procedural traps sit in Sec. 417.2(b): "An application will only be accepted by the office when the applicant submits the minimum threshold of information as required by office policy. An application sent to the office that does not meet the minimum threshold will not be accepted and will be returned to the applicant. Once an application has been accepted, all additional required information must be submitted within no later than 90 days. Failure to submit all required information within the required timeframes shall be considered a withdrawal of the application." The 90-day clock runs from acceptance, not from submission — and the minimum-threshold rule is set by OCFS POLICY, not by the regulation, so it is not knowable from the rulebook alone.
6. STEP 6 — Give OCFS an e-mail address, or an explicit fallback. Sec. 417.2(a)(16) / Sec. 416.2(a)(16): "an email address for the provider or other person designated to receive communications from the office. If the applicant is unable to provide at least one valid email address, the applicant must provide a valid mailing address for the provider or other person designated to receive written communications from the office." Sec. 417.15(b)(11)(vi)-(vii) then require you to report "any change in email address for the provider or other designee when such change becomes effective" and "any change to contact information when such changes become effective." Because compliance-history and enforcement notices arrive on this channel, a stale address is a compliance problem, not an inconvenience.
7. STEP 7 — Assemble the medical evidence, for three separate populations. (a) Caregivers: Sec. 417.2(a)(2) — "medical statements for the provider, assistant(s), and substitute(s) completed within the 12 months preceding the date of application, as required in section 417.11 of this Part." Sec. 417.11(b)(1) requires each statement to be furnished "at the time of initial family day care application" AND "before such person has any involvement in child care work"; Sec. 417.11(b)(4) requires it to give "satisfactory evidence that the individual is physically fit to provide child day care and has no diagnosed psychiatric or emotional disorder which would preclude such individual from providing child day care"; Sec. 417.11(b)(6) requires the initial statement to include "the results of a Mantoux tuberculin test or other Federally approved tuberculin test performed within the 12 months preceding the date of the application." (b) Everyone living in the home: Sec. 417.2(a)(9) — "a medical statement on forms furnished by the office or approved equivalents regarding the health of all persons residing in the family day care home completed within the 12 months preceding the date of application"; Sec. 417.11(b)(7)(i) requires it to be completed "before the person begins to reside in the child care home" and to state "that the person has no health conditions which would endanger the health of children receiving day care in the home." (c) Each enrolled child, at enrolment rather than at application: Sec. 417.11(a)(1) — "a written statement signed by a health care provider verifying that the child is able to participate in child care and currently appears to be free from contagious or communicable diseases," completed within the preceding 12 months.
8. STEP 8 — Submit references and a training/experience summary. Sec. 417.2(a)(3): "a summary of the training and experience of the provider and assistant(s) as described in section 417.13 of this Part." Sec. 417.2(a)(4): "the names, addresses and day time telephone numbers of at least two acceptable references each for the provider, assistant(s), and any substitute(s)." Substitutes are inside this requirement at the application stage, which surprises applicants who plan to identify substitutes later.
9. STEP 9 — Run the comprehensive background clearances for every covered person, and expect this to be the long pole. Sec. 417.2(a)(5) requires "sworn statements by the provider, assistant(s), substitutes and any person 18 years of age or older who resides in the proposed family day care home indicating whether, to the best of their knowledge, they have ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony in New York State or any other jurisdiction, and fingerprint images as required pursuant to section 413.4 of this Article." Sec. 417.2(a)(8) adds the Statewide Central Register database check forms and the Justice Center Staff Exclusion List forms under SSL Sec. 495. The substantive clearances are in Sec. 413.4(a): DCJS criminal history; FBI national criminal record check; New York State Sex Offender Registry; and SCR database check under SSL Sec. 424-a. If any covered person lived outside New York in the preceding five years, Sec. 413.4(c) adds that state's criminal history repository, that state's sex offender registry, and — unconditionally, with no "unless" clause — "a search of the state-based child abuse or neglect repository of any state other than New York where such person lives or lived during the preceding five years." Sec. 413.4(d)(7) is the gate: "A license or registration cannot be issued until the office notifies the program that the operator and director, and every employee, volunteer and person age 18 or older who lives in the home has completed all clearance requirements in this section." One unresolved household adult stops the entire application, and under Sec. 413.4(e)(1)(i) a household adult who simply refuses to consent produces the same result as a disqualifying conviction: under Sec. 413.4(e)(2)(ii) the home "shall not be permitted to operate."
10. STEP 10 — File the three certifications OCFS requires on its own forms. Sec. 417.2(a)(6): "certification, on forms provided by the office, of the status of the individual applicant's child support obligations or payments, in accordance with the requirements of section 3-503 of the General Obligations Law." Sec. 417.2(a)(7): "certification, on forms provided by the office, that the applicant is in compliance with workers compensation requirements of New York State law." Sec. 417.2(a)(13): "certification, on forms provided by the office, that the dwelling, its property and premises, and the surrounding neighborhood and environment are free from environmental hazards." The environmental certification is not a box-tick where history suggests otherwise: "Where the historical or current use of the dwelling, its property and premises, or the surrounding neighborhood indicate that an environmental hazard may be present, inspection or testing must be completed by the appropriate local official or authority to determine if such hazard exists," and the documentation must be appended together with a statement from that official that the dwelling and neighbourhood "meet applicable standards for sanitation and safety." The regulation names examples: "dry cleaners, gas stations, nuclear laboratories or power plants, property designated as a Federal super fund clean-up site, and any property with known contaminated ground or water supplies." All three certifications recur at renewal under Sec. 417.2(d)(2)-(4).
11. STEP 11 — Handle water and fuel-burning systems if they apply. Sec. 417.2(a)(11): where the home uses a private water supply, "a report from a state licensed laboratory or individual, based on tests performed within the 12 months preceding the date of application, showing that the water meets standards for drinking water established by the New York State Department of Health"; or, if it does not meet them, "a description of how water for all purposes will be provided by another method acceptable to the Department of Health." Sec. 417.2(a)(12): "a report of inspection performed within the 12 months preceding the date of application, by local authorities or an inspector qualified to approve fuel burning systems which documents approval of any wood or coal burning stove, fireplace, pellet stoves or permanently installed gas space heater in use at the home." Both recur at renewal (Sec. 417.2(d)(5)-(6)), both recur at the two-year mid-point (Sec. 417.15(b)(25)(i)-(ii)), and the private-water report must in addition be kept on file and repeated "every two years thereafter" under Sec. 417.15(c)(11)(i).
12. STEP 12 — Prove the site is a residence, and file the diagram that will define your approved child care space. Sec. 417.2(a)(14): "the site to be used for child care must meet the definition and requirements of a personal residence as outlined in Part 413 of this Title. The registrant must submit documentation, acceptable to the office, to prove that the family day care site is being used as a residence." Sec. 417.3(a): "Each applicant must submit to the office at the time of application for registration, a diagram of the proposed family day care home showing: all rooms in the home, including the rooms which will be used for day care and the purposes for which such rooms will be used; the number and location of exits and alternate means of egress; and the outdoor play areas available to the children in care. An updated diagram must be submitted to the office immediately upon making any change that impacts the child care program." Sec. 417.3(a)(1) is the consequence: "Child care can only be provided in the areas of the family day care home that have been included in the diagram and approved as child care space."
13. STEP 13 — Develop the health care plan, on OCFS's form, whether or not you will give medication. Sec. 417.2(a)(15) makes "a health care plan developed in accordance with requirements of section 417.11(c) of this Part" part of the application packet, and Sec. 417.15(c)(2) requires "an approved health care plan on forms furnished by the office" to be kept on site. Sec. 417.11(c)(1): "The registrant must prepare a health care plan on forms furnished by the office. Such plan must protect and promote the health of children. The health care plan must be on site, followed by all caregivers and available upon demand by a parent or the office." Health-care-consultant APPROVAL of the plan is what is conditional — it is required only where the programme administers medications other than over-the-counter topicals and the listed emergency medications. Sec. 417.11(c)(2) fixes the contents: how the daily health check "for any indication of illness, injury, abuse or maltreatment will be conducted and documented"; how the record of illnesses, injuries and signs of suspected abuse will be kept; "how professional assistance will be obtained in emergencies"; advance arrangements for a child who becomes ill or is injured, including parental notification; which designated caregivers will administer medication; "the contents of the first aid kit"; the qualification rule for medication administrants; the designation of the health care consultant of record; and the consultant's visit schedule, which "must occur at least once every two years."
14. STEP 14 — Write the emergency plan and evacuation diagram, and post the diagram. Sec. 417.5(b): "The registrant must submit a written emergency plan and emergency evacuation diagram using the forms furnished by the office or an approved equivalent form. Primary emphasis must be placed on the safe and timely evacuation and relocation of all children. The plan must account for the variety of needs of children, including those with disabilities." Sec. 417.5(b)(1): it "must be reviewed with the parents of the children in the program and all caregivers that work in the program." Sec. 417.5(b)(2): "The emergency evacuation diagram must be posted in a visible location." Sec. 417.5(b)(3) fixes nine mandatory contents, including primary and secondary evacuation routes, "where children and adults will meet after evacuating the home, and how attendance will be taken," a plan "for each shift of care provided (day, evening, night)," primary and secondary relocation sites, "a strategy for sheltering in place," notification of authorities and parents, staff roles, and "procedures related to the reunification of children and caretakers." Sec. 417.5(b)(7) requires on-site supplies: "food, water, first aid and other safety equipment ... The plan must take into account a child's needs for an overnight stay. Food supplies must be non-perishable and of sufficient quantity for all children for an overnight stay."
15. STEP 15 — Bring the physical home up to the Part 417 (or Part 416) standard before the inspection, not after it. Fire: an operational smoke detector on each floor (Sec. 417.4(c)); a smoke detector "located either within rooms where children nap, or in adjoining rooms," and where a napping room has doors, "a smoke detector is required inside that room" (Sec. 417.4(d)); battery back-up for hard-wired detectors (Sec. 417.4(e)); residence-approved multi-purpose fire extinguishers "placed in the kitchen and outside the furnace room," with the furnace-room extinguisher excused in a multiple family dwelling, gauges showing full charge and seals unbroken, and caregivers who "must know how to use" them (Sec. 417.4(f)). Egress: children on the same floor as a caregiver at all times and never "above the second floor of a single family dwelling" (Sec. 417.4(g)); care only on floors with two remote means of egress, with the 24-inch-by-24-inch minimum clear-opening window rule, the both-stairways rule for second-floor care, and the eight-foot vertical-travel limit below ground level (Sec. 417.4(h)(1)-(3)); and "All paths of egress on the interior and exterior of the home, including corridors, aisles and approaches must be kept free of obstructions, impediments and debris at all times" (Sec. 417.4(h)(4)). Storage: no trash, garbage or combustibles in the furnace room or within four feet of an unenclosed furnace (Sec. 417.4(i)); no kerosene or gasoline "in the habitable areas of the home, child care areas, or path of egress" (Sec. 417.4(k)). Building: rooms well lighted and well ventilated (Sec. 417.3(b)); enough light where children sleep "to allow supervision of and the safe movement and egress for the children" (Sec. 417.3(c)); "A temperature of at least 68 degrees must be maintained in all rooms to be occupied by children" (Sec. 417.3(d)); CPSC-compliant cribs and "Stackable cribs are prohibited" (Sec. 417.3(f)); no toxic paints or finishes within reach (Sec. 417.3(g)); peeling or damaged paint or plaster repaired (Sec. 417.3(h)); concrete floors in programme space covered (Sec. 417.3(i)); a bathroom "not more than one floor level away from the program area" (Sec. 417.3(l)); toilets and potty chairs in rooms separate from cooking, playing, sleeping or eating (Sec. 417.3(m)); hot and cold running water available and accessible at all times (Sec. 417.3(n)); continuing compliance with the Fire and Building Code of New York State (Sec. 417.3(o)); and "The house or building number of the day care program shall be conspicuously displayed and visible from the street" (Sec. 417.3(p)).
16. STEP 16 — Close out the Sec. 417.5 safety list, which is longer than most applicants expect and contains several items that require paperwork rather than hardware. No portable heaters in rooms accessible to children (Sec. 417.5(c)); radiators and pipes covered (Sec. 417.5(d)); railings with a barrier to the floor on porches, decks or stairs with more than two steps (Sec. 417.5(e)); barriers preventing access to "any swimming pool, drainage ditches, wells, ponds or other bodies of open water located on or adjacent to the property," and to "holes, pits, wood, pellet and coal burning stoves, fireplaces and permanently installed gas space heaters" (Sec. 417.5(f)); outlet caps (Sec. 417.5(i)); poisons, medicines, detergents and aerosols stored in original containers and inaccessible (Sec. 417.5(j)-(k)); a working telephone in "a designated visible location" with an audible ringtone that all caregivers can operate, 911 and poison control posted "conspicuously on or next to the telephone," and no call-blocking devices that would block parents or the office (Sec. 417.5(m)); cushioned surfacing under outdoor play equipment that "may not include concrete, asphalt, grass or hard compacted dirt" (Sec. 417.5(n)(5)); clear glass doors marked (Sec. 417.5(o)); safety glazing or barriers for window glass below 32 inches (Sec. 417.5(p)); fall-protection on accessible upper-floor windows other than designated emergency-egress windows (Sec. 417.5(q)); a working flashlight or battery lantern in the child care area (Sec. 417.5(r)); closet latches openable from inside, bathroom locks openable from outside in an emergency, and egress doors openable from the inside without a key, with child-proof doorknob covers prohibited on egress doors (Sec. 417.5(s)); handbags, plastic bags and small swallowable objects stored inaccessibly (Sec. 417.5(t)); high chairs used only by children who can sit up independently, with a safety strap (Sec. 417.5(u)); carbon monoxide detectors where required by law (Sec. 417.5(v)); trampolines prohibited except small one-person exercise trampolines (Sec. 417.5(w)); firearms, shotguns, rifles and ammunition securely stored, unloaded, trigger-locked or in a safe storage depository, with the depository defined as "a safe or other secure container which, when locked, is incapable of being opened without the key, combination or other unlocking mechanism," and — this is the paperwork part — "Child care programs shall give written notice to parents and the office, on forms furnished by the office or an approved equivalent, that a firearm, shotgun, rifle or ammunition is on the premises" (Sec. 417.5(x)); blind cords and other strangulation hazards secured and inaccessible (Sec. 417.5(y)); and precautions against burns from hot liquids (Sec. 417.5(z)). Pools and spas are separately governed by Sec. 417.5(g): spa pools, hot tubs and fill-and-drain wading pools are prohibited outright, and a non-public or residential pool may be used only where the programme files a supervision plan, water-quality documentation and "a written pool safety plan acceptable to the office," obtains a parental permission note containing the child's name and age, the pool's address, "the depth of the pool at its deepest point," the permitted dates or months and the parent's dated signature, and maintains "a current and accurate record detailing the pool maintenance." SSL Sec. 390-a(4) independently bars issuance or renewal of a family or group family day care permit "if barriers, as defined in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of section three hundred ninety-d of this title, are not present around any swimming pool or body of water ... located on its grounds."
17. STEP 17 — Know the new prohibitions that post-date most published guidance. INFANT WALKERS ARE NOW BANNED BY REGULATION AS WELL AS BY STATUTE. SSL Sec. 390-o(2)(a): "On or after the effective date of this section, no child care facility shall use or have on the premises any infant walker," with "child care facility" defined at Sec. 390-o(1)(b) to include any Sec. 390 child day care provider and any New York City Health Code Article 47 programme. OCFS codified it: I.D. No. CFS-19-26-00001-A, Filing No. 684, Filing Date 2026-07-14, EFFECTIVE DATE 2026-07-29, "Amendment of sections 416.7, 417.7, 418-1.7 and 418-2.7 of Title 18 NYCRR," adopting without change the text proposed on May 13, 2026: a new Sec. 417.7(z) and Sec. 416.7(z) reading "A child care program shall not use or have on the premises any infant walker. The term 'infant walker' means a mobile unit that enables a child to move on a horizontal surface when propelled by the child sitting or standing within the walker." OCFS filed the rule as a consensus rule making "because it merely conforms to Chapter 629 of the Laws of 2025, as amended by Chapter 13 of the Laws of 2026." Note the words "or have on the premises" — removal from the child care space is not enough. SSL Sec. 390-o(2)(b) also obliges OCFS, in consultation with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, to notify "each applicant for license or registration" of the ban in plain language.
18. STEP 18 — Write the written policy statement you must hand every parent at admission, because several of its fifteen required contents are themselves separate compliance artefacts. Sec. 417.15(b)(22): "The program must give the parent, at the time of admission of the child, a written policy statement including but not limited to: (i) the responsibilities of the program; (ii) the responsibilities of the parent; (iii) the policies of the program regarding admission and disenrollment policies; (iv) how parents will be notified of accidents, serious incidents and injuries; (v) the plan for behavior management; (vi) the evacuation plan; (vii) the program activities; (viii) a summary of the program's health policies, to include the level of illnesses the program will accommodate; (ix) actions the program will take in the event a child is not picked up as scheduled; (x) meal arrangements; (xi) instructional materials on the available procedures if they suspect their child has been abused or maltreated; (xii) how to access the regulations; (xiii) contact information for the office including the Child Care Complaint Line; (xiv) transportation policy; and (xv) as applicable, written notification that there is a firearm, shotgun, rifle or ammunition on the premises." Item (ix) has been overtaken and enlarged by statute — see the next step. Item (v) requires the separate written behaviour-management plan mandated by Sec. 417.9(a): "The family day care registrant must establish and follow a written plan for behavior management that is acceptable to the office. This plan must include how the program will approach challenging behaviors, help children solve problems, and encourage acceptable behaviors," with copies to "all caregivers and parents" (Sec. 417.9(c)).
19. STEP 19 — Establish the new statutory pick-up procedures under SSL Sec. 390(15), a 2026 addition that is not yet reflected in Parts 416 or 417. Sec. 390(15)(a): "Each child day care provider, enrolled legally-exempt provider, enrolled legally-exempt group provider, and child care program permitted under the New York City health code shall establish written procedures that identify the actions the provider or program shall take if the provider or program becomes aware that the parent or guardian shall be unavailable to retrieve the child at the conclusion of the child care program hours or the child is not picked up as scheduled, and such child is in need of an alternate plan for pickup for any reason, including that the parent or guardian has been detained by federal immigration authorities." Sec. 390(15)(b): "Such procedures shall be established and implemented no later than ninety days after the effective date of this subdivision, and shall be provided to families upon implementation, admission, and revision." Sec. 390(15)(c) constrains the content in two specific ways: "the provider shall not contact the statewide central register for child abuse and maltreatment unless the provider has made reasonable efforts to contact all known individuals authorized by the parent or guardian to retrieve the child," and "the provider shall retain the child on the premises until such child is picked up by an individual authorized by the parent or guardian or by law." This subdivision is one of the very few parts of Sec. 390 that applies inside New York City to Health Code-permitted programmes, by the express carve-out in Sec. 390(13).
20. STEP 20 — Prepare the record set you must hold on site from day one. Sec. 417.15(c) requires the programme to "maintain on file at the family day care home, available for inspection by the office or its designees at any time, the following records in a current and accurate manner": the evacuation plan and the records of evacuation and shelter-in-place drills on OCFS forms; the approved health care plan; each child's identifying and emergency-contact information; "the names and addresses of persons authorized to take the child(ren) from the family day care home"; "daily attendance records that are filled out at the time a child arrives and departs, and must include arrival and departure times"; the children's health file (individual health care plans, emergency-treatment consents, medical statements, immunisations, available lead-screening results for children not yet in kindergarten, medication names, dosages, frequency and administration records, daily health check documentation, illness and injury records, "and any indicators of child abuse or maltreatment"); caregiver medical statements; household-member medical statements; "a plan of program activities"; the fuel-burning-system inspection report; the private-water test with its two-yearly repeat; the list of approved assistants and substitutes; "a daily schedule documenting the arrival and departure times of each caregiver, employees and volunteers"; training documentation; entity documents where the registrant is not a sole proprietor (certificate of incorporation or partnership agreement or articles of organisation, verification of filing with the Secretary of State, and "a current list of the names of the board of directors, partners, or members and their addresses, telephone numbers of the current principal officers and members, and the business and civic qualifications of all such individuals"); a copy of the police and fire notification form; the completed environmental hazards form; "the napping agreement for each child in care"; the transportation policy and each child's written transportation permission; "a pool maintenance safety plan"; the current CPR and first aid certificate; written parental permission for any school-age child allowed outside direct supervision with 15-minute visual checks; "all records relevant to the current registration period, and the immediately preceding registration period"; and a copy of the firearm notification form required by Sec. 417.5(x).
21. STEP 21 — Pass the OCFS inspection. Sec. 417.2(c): "Applicants for a registration may not be issued a registration until an inspection of the family day care home has been conducted showing compliance with the requirements of this Part and the relevant provisions of the Social Services Law." Sec. 416.2(c) is identical for the licence. The statute makes the same demand at SSL Sec. 390(2)(d)(i): "Procedures for obtaining a license or registration or renewing a license shall include a satisfactory inspection of the facility by the office of children and family services prior to issuance of the license or registration or renewal of the license." Where the applicant is relying on the seven-or-eight-child extension in Sec. 413.2(b)(2)(ii), the inspection has a second, specific purpose written into the definition itself: OCFS "inspects such home to determine whether the program can care adequately for seven or eight children." Sec. 417.2(a)(10) reserves a further gate: "a statement from the appropriate local official or authority that the dwelling meets standards for sanitation and safety, WHERE THE OFFICE NOTIFIES THE APPLICANT that such a statement is required" — it is discretionary, triggered by OCFS, and it recurs at renewal under Sec. 417.2(d)(8).
22. STEP 22 — Within five days of receiving the registration or licence, and BEFORE opening, notify the local police and fire departments. Sec. 417.15(b)(18)(i) / Sec. 416.15(b)(18)(i): "Within five days after receiving the initial registration and before actually commencing operation, the program must, using a form specified by the office or an approved equivalent for that purpose, notify the local police and fire departments of the municipality within which the family day care home is located of the following: (a) the address of the family day care home; (b) the maximum capacity of the family day care home; (c) the age range of children that will be in care; and (d) the hours during which children will be in care." Sec. 417.15(b)(18)(ii): "If the local municipality does not have a police or fire department, the sheriff of the county within which the family day care home is located must be notified instead," and any later change to the notified information must be re-notified. Keep the copy on file under Sec. 417.15(c)(16). This step is routinely omitted from provider checklists and it is a discrete, dated, provable obligation.
23. STEP 23 — Open, and immediately begin the drill cycle. Evacuation drills: Sec. 417.4(b)(1) — "Evacuation drills must be conducted at least monthly during the hours of operation of the family day care home"; Sec. 417.4(b)(2) — "the exit route must be varied to ensure that all approved means of egress are practiced. If one of the exit routes leads to a window or fire escape, the drill must include taking the children to the window or fire escape and explaining what would be expected of them should an actual fire occur that requires they use this exit route. Exiting through the window or on to the fire escape during a drill is not required"; Sec. 417.4(b)(3) — where multiple shifts are provided, "such drills must be conducted monthly during each shift of care"; Sec. 417.4(b)(4) — "The registrant must maintain on file a record of each evacuation drill conducted, using forms provided by the office or approved equivalents." Shelter-in-place drills are separate and are ANNUAL, not monthly: Sec. 417.5(b)(4) — "Each program must hold two shelter-in-place drills annually during which procedures and supplies are reviewed. Parents must be made aware of this drill in advance" — with the record kept under Sec. 417.5(b)(5).
24. STEP 24 — Operate inside the term, and calendar the mid-point. Sec. 417.15(a)(11): "The effective period of the registration for a family day care home will be up to four years so long as the registrant remains in compliance with applicable laws and regulations during such periods." Sec. 417.15(b)(25) creates a checkpoint with no filing attached to it: "Mid-point requirements for four-year registration. At the two-year calendar date in a four year registration cycle, a program must be in compliance with the following mid-point requirements and be able to show proof of compliance to the office when requested" — the private-water test dated within the preceding 12 months, the fuel-burning-system inspection dated within the preceding 12 months, and "proof of compliance with the training requirements of section 417.14 of this Part." Nothing prompts you; you are simply expected to be able to produce it. Note also that SSL Sec. 390(4)(a) obliges OCFS to inspect "on an annual basis" — "The office of children and family services on an annual basis shall inspect all child day care programs and all enrolled legally-exempt providers." An annual inspection is not a renewal; it is a routine event inside your term.
25. STEP 25 — Renew at least 60 days before expiry, and re-file the recurring documents. Sec. 417.2(d): "Applicants for renewal of a registration must submit to the office at least 60 days in advance of the expiration date of the registration the following" — the renewal application with attestations including "an agreement by the applicant to operate the family day care home in conformity with applicable laws and regulations"; the child-support certification; the workers' compensation certification; the environmental-hazards certification with any required local inspection documentation; the private-water report where applicable; the fuel-burning-system inspection report where applicable; "proof of compliance with the training requirements of section 417.14 of this Part"; the local sanitation-and-safety statement where OCFS requires it; and the e-mail (or fallback mailing) address. Sec. 417.2(e): "Applicants for renewal of a registration may not be issued a registration until an inspection of the family day care home has been conducted showing compliance." SSL Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(B) adds four statutory renewal conditions: training compliance under Sec. 390-a; criminal-history compliance under Sec. 390-b; Sec. 424-a compliance; and that OCFS "has received no complaints about the home, center, or program alleging statutory or regulatory violations, or, having received such complaints, [has] determined, after inspection ... that the home, center, or program is operated in compliance." Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(C) provides that where the conditions are unmet OCFS "may terminate the registration," and that if it does not, "the office of children and family services shall inspect the home or program before acknowledging any subsequent registration."
26. STEP 26 — Know the term change that lands mid-cycle. SSL Sec. 390(2)(a) exists in two versions on the Legislature's consolidated text: the version "Effective until June 5, 2027" provides that "Initial licenses and subsequent licenses shall be valid for a period of up to four years so long as the provider remains substantially in compliance with applicable law and regulations during such period," and the version "Effective June 5, 2027" substitutes "up to six years." Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(A) carries the identical pair for registrations. Two practical consequences. First, if your application or renewal falls near that date, ask OCFS which term you are being issued under; the transition sits inside the life of a currently issued permit. Second, the REGULATION has not been conformed: Sec. 417.15(a)(11) still says "up to four years," Sec. 417.14(h) and Sec. 417.15(b)(25) are both built on "the two-year mid-point in the four-year registration cycle," and no rule making addressing any of them appears in the Action Pending Index of the New York State Register through August 19, 2026. On June 5, 2027 the regulation and the statute will disagree on the face of the text unless OCFS amends first.
27. STEP 27 — Understand the enforcement ladder you are now inside, because it changes what "a violation" costs. Sec. 413.3(a) lists twelve enforcement actions, from "issuance of written inspection reports which include corrective action plans" through "temporary suspension or limitation of a license or registration upon finding that the public health or child's safety or welfare are in imminent danger," "publication in local newspapers of the names and addresses of child day care licensees or registrants whose licenses, registrations or applications ... have been rejected, denied, limited, suspended, terminated or revoked, or against whom a fine has been assessed after an administrative hearing," and referrals to the Attorney General and to district attorneys. Sec. 413.3(e)(1): "A fine of up to $500 per day may be assessed against any person for the provision of child day care without a license or registration," and Sec. 413.3(e)(3): "Rectification of operation without a license or registration, either by becoming licensed or registered or by ceasing operation, will not preclude the assessment of a fine for the period of operation without a license or registration." Sec. 413.3(f)(1): for a permitted programme, "a fine of up to $500 per day may be assessed ... for any violation of office regulations," with Class I violations at the $500 maximum, defined at Sec. 413.3(f)(3)(i) as any violation "which harms a child or places a child at risk of death, serious or protracted disfigurement, or protracted impairment of physical or emotional health," expressly including "a substantial failure of the facility's fire detection or prevention system or conditions which would prevent or impede emergency evacuation procedures," "the use of corporal punishment or of frightening or humiliating methods of control or discipline," and "inadequate or incompetent supervision." Hearing rights: Sec. 413.3(c)(3)-(5) — a hearing before revocation, termination, denial or rejection, requested in writing "within 30 days of the receipt of written notice," failing which "The revocation, termination, denial or rejection will become final." Suspension for imminent danger runs without a prior hearing under Sec. 413.3(d)(1), with a 10-day written request window under Sec. 413.3(d)(2) and the warning at Sec. 413.3(d)(3) that "Failure to make such a request will be prima facie evidence that the finding of imminent danger is valid." SSL Sec. 390(11)(c) offers a rectification defence — a provider avoids the penalty by rectifying "within thirty days of notification" — but Sec. 390(11)(c)(ii) lists nine situations where rectification does NOT save you, including operating without a permit, "total or substantial failure of the facility's fire detection or prevention systems or emergency evacuation procedures," failure "to provide adequate and competent supervision," injuring a child or using corporal punishment, violating "the same statutory or regulatory standard more than once within a six month period," failing to report suspected abuse under SSL Sec. 413, and submitting "a forged document as defined in section 170.00 of the penal law." Finally, SSL Sec. 390(11)(e)(i) imposes a two-year bar on re-application after revocation or termination, and Sec. 390(11)(e)(iii) extends it to surrender: a provider who surrenders "while such office is engaged in enforcement seeking suspension, revocation or termination ... shall be deemed to have had their license or registration revoked or terminated."

What you must post on your walls

• THE REGISTRATION OR LICENCE ITSELF, PLUS EVERY WAIVER, LIMITATION AND RESTRICTION. 18 NYCRR Sec. 417.15(a)(2): "Each family day care home which has been issued a registration by the office must openly display such registration and all waivers, limitations and restrictions in the home for which it was issued." Sec. 416.15(a)(2) is identical for the licence. Note the divergence from the statute, which is lighter: SSL Sec. 390(2)(d)(iv) says "Child day care providers who have been issued a license shall openly display such license in the facility or home for which the license is issued. Child day care providers who have registered with the department shall provide proof of registration upon request." The statute would let a registrant merely produce proof on demand; the regulation requires open display from both. Follow the regulation. And display the restrictions with it — a waiver or a limitation displayed separately from the certificate, or not at all, is itself a violation of Sec. 417.15(a)(2). Remember that the numbers on that certificate are your operating ceiling under Sec. 417.15(a)(9): "The number and age range of children specified thereon are the maximum number and age range of children who may be in the care of the family day care home at any one time."
• THE MOST RECENT COMPLIANCE HISTORY REPORT, POSTED IMMEDIATELY ON RECEIPT. Two independent sources impose this. Sec. 417.15(a)(2)(i) / Sec. 416.15(a)(2)(i): "The program must post or display conspicuously in a place to which parents have free and daily access, a copy of the most recent compliance history report immediately after it is issued to the program by the office." And Sec. 413.3(g)(3)(i), in the enforcement Part: "The office shall require the child day care program to immediately post upon receipt in a prominent place at the program that is visible to parents, a copy of the most recent compliance history report issued to the program by the office." Sec. 413.3(g)(3)(iii) adds a web duty: "Any notice required to be posted pursuant to subparagraph (i) or (ii) of this paragraph must also be posted on the child day care program's website, if possible." There is no grace period in either text — "immediately upon receipt."
• THE NOTICE OF SUSPENSION OR LIMITATION, IF ONE IS ISSUED, FOR AT LEAST 30 DAYS. Sec. 413.3(g)(3)(ii): "In the event that a child day care program is suspended or limited, the office shall require the child day care program to immediately post the notice of suspension or limitation immediately upon receipt. Such notice shall be posted in a prominent place at the program that is visible to parents. A notice of suspension or limitation required by the office to be posted by a child day care program must remain posted for a period of at least 30 days or at least until such time as the condition requiring suspension or limitation has been deemed by the office to have been corrected or in the event that the condition is not deemed corrected by the office, until the program's license, registration or permit has been revoked." Sec. 413.3(c)(6) and Sec. 413.3(d)(5) separately authorise OCFS to "require the program to post the revocation or termination" and "the notice of suspension or limitation of licensure or registration on the premises of the facility." And where a programme is closed for operating without a permit, Sec. 413.3(g)(4) requires a notice advising "parents that the program is closed for failure to comply with the applicable licensing or registration requirements," "immediately posted in a prominent place at the program that is visible to parents and on the provider's website, if possible."
• THE STATUTORY INSPECTION NOTICE AND COMPLIANCE HISTORY UNDER SSL SEC. 390-i. This is a statutory posting duty that has no counterpart in Parts 416 or 417 and is therefore missing from most regulation-only checklists. Sec. 390-i: "In every child day care program that is licensed or registered pursuant to section three hundred ninety of this title, the child day care provider shall post and maintain in a prominent place, a notice, to be provided by the office of children and family services, that shall state the date the most recent child care inspection occurred and provide information for parents and caregivers regarding how to obtain information from such office regarding the results of the inspection. If possible, the child day care provider shall also post such information on the child day care program's website. Such child day care programs shall post and maintain, in a prominent place, such program's most recent compliance history as shown on the office of children and family services website." Note three obligations packed into one section: a dated inspection notice on an OCFS-supplied form; instructions to parents on obtaining the inspection results; and the compliance history as shown on the OCFS website — which is a web-sourced document, distinct from the compliance history report OCFS mails you.
• THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION DIAGRAM. Sec. 417.5(b)(2) / Sec. 416.5(b)(2): "The emergency evacuation diagram must be posted in a visible location." The diagram is the one artefact from the emergency plan that must be on the wall; the plan itself is a file document under Sec. 417.15(c)(1) that must additionally be "reviewed with the parents of the children in the program and all caregivers that work in the program" (Sec. 417.5(b)(1)).
• 911 AND THE POISON CONTROL NUMBER, AT THE TELEPHONE. Sec. 417.5(m)(5): "911 and the poison control phone number must be posted conspicuously on or next to the telephone." The surrounding paragraphs make the telephone itself a posted fixture: Sec. 417.5(m)(2) — "The phone used at the family day care must remain in a designated visible location during all hours that children are in care"; Sec. 417.5(m)(3) — it "must have a ringtone that remains audible throughout day care hours of operation"; Sec. 417.5(m)(6) — call-blocking devices "shall not be used to block in-coming calls from parents of children in care, representatives of the office or agents of the State or local government during the hours of operation."
• DAILY TRANSPORTATION SCHEDULES, IF YOU TRANSPORT. Sec. 417.6(l) / Sec. 416.6(l): "The program must openly display daily transportation schedules." This is a display obligation, phrased in the same "openly display" language the regulation uses for the certificate itself.
• THE RELOCATION NOTICE, POSTED AT THE ENTRY, IF YOU EVACUATE. Sec. 417.5(b)(6): "In the event that relocation is required, a written notice must be placed on the main entry to the child care space unless an immediate threat precludes the program from doing so." Same paragraph: "Parents must be made aware of the primary and secondary relocation sites and any changes to the plan in advance. In the case that a program is directed to a different location by emergency services, the program must notify parents and OCFS as soon as possible."
• THE FIREARM NOTICE — GIVEN, NOT POSTED, BUT MANDATORY AND WRITTEN. Sec. 417.5(x)(5): "Child care programs shall give written notice to parents and the office, on forms furnished by the office or an approved equivalent, that a firearm, shotgun, rifle or ammunition is on the premises." Sec. 417.15(b)(22)(xv) puts the same disclosure inside the admission policy statement. Sec. 417.15(c)(24) requires a copy to be kept on file.
• THE WRITTEN POLICY STATEMENT AT ADMISSION — fifteen mandatory contents. Sec. 417.15(b)(22), reproduced in the prelicensing steps above. Not a wall posting, but a written instrument that must be handed to every parent "at the time of admission of the child," and whose contents are individually enforceable.
• THE ANIMAL DISCLOSURE. Sec. 417.5(l)(7): "The program must provide parents with a written description of all animals kept on the premises prior to a child's enrollment in the program." Sec. 417.5(l)(8): "Within 24 hours that an animal is first kept on the premises of a child care program, the program must provide written notice to the office and parents of children in care that such animal is being kept on the premises." Sec. 417.5(l)(5) adds an incident duty: "The program must immediately notify the parents of children in care and the office when an animal kept on the premises harms any person, including a child in care."
• SURVEILLANCE DISCLOSURE. Sec. 417.15(b)(9)(i)-(ii) and (vii): parents of all children, and all assistants and employees, "must be informed that cameras will be used for this purpose" and "must be made aware of the locations of all electronic monitoring devices or surveillance cameras used at the family day care home"; and "Parents of children, caregivers, employees and volunteers must be notified when electronic monitoring devices or surveillance cameras are used." Sec. 417.15(b)(9)(v) restricts where they may be: "Electronic monitoring devices or surveillance cameras are permitted to transmit images of children in common rooms, hallways and play areas only. Bathrooms and changing areas must remain private and free of all electronic monitoring devices and surveillance cameras."
• THE REGULATIONS THEMSELVES, ACCESSIBLE ON DEMAND. Sec. 417.15(b)(13): "The caregivers, employees and volunteers must be familiar with the regulations governing family day care. Such regulations must be readily accessible to the caregivers for reference purposes and must be made available for review to a parent of a child in care upon request by a parent." A copy of Parts 413 and 417 (or 416) has to be in the house, in a form a parent can be handed.
• PARENTAL ACCESS RIGHTS ARE A STANDING, UNPOSTED ENTITLEMENT — treat them as if they were posted. Sec. 417.15(b)(8): "The parent of any child receiving family day care must have: (i) unlimited and on demand access to such child; (ii) the right to inspect all parts of the home used for child day care or which could present a hazard to the health or safety of the child whenever the parent requests at any time during the hours of operation of the home; (iii) unlimited and on demand access to the caregivers whenever such child is in care or during the normal hours of operation; and (iv) unlimited and on demand access to written records concerning such child except where access to such records is otherwise restricted by law." The statutory source is SSL Sec. 390(6): "a parent with legal custody or a legal guardian of any child in a child day care program shall have unlimited and on demand access to such child or ward," together with "the right to inspect on demand during its hours of operation any area of a child day care center, group family day care home, school-age child care program, or family day care home to which the child or ward of such parent or guardian has access or which could present a hazard to the health and safety of the child or ward."
• OCFS ACCESS IS EQUALLY STANDING. Sec. 417.15(b)(10)(i): "A family day care home must admit inspectors and other representatives of the office onto the grounds and premises at any time during the hours of operation as documented with the office on the application for family day care. Such inspectors and representatives must be given free access to the building, the caregivers, employees and volunteers, the children and any program records." Sec. 417.15(b)(10)(iv)-(vi) make it a violation to place an office representative "in reasonable fear of physical injury," to make "Any intentional display of physical or verbal force," or to engage in "Intentional and wrongful physical contact with an office representative." SSL Sec. 390(3)(a) is the statutory power: OCFS "may make announced or unannounced inspections of the records and premises of any child care provider," must make an unannounced inspection "within fifteen days" of a complaint that would indicate non-compliance, and where the complaint indicates imminent danger "shall investigate the complaint no later than the next day of operation of the provider."

Enrollment forms for each child

• Application for FAMILY DAY CARE HOME REGISTRATION, or for GROUP FAMILY DAY CARE HOME LICENCE, on OCFS forms with the required attestations, filed through the OCFS Facility Application and Management System (FAMS). Sec. 417.2(a)(1) / Sec. 416.2(a)(1): "a completed application, including required attestations, on forms furnished by the office or approved equivalents. Such application and attestations must include an agreement by the applicant to operate the family day care home in conformity with applicable laws and regulations." FAMS is confirmed by OCFS's own Regulatory Impact Statement in the New York State Register of July 22, 2026 ("OCFS's Facility Application and Management System (FAMS)"). Remember Sec. 417.2(b): OCFS will not ACCEPT the application until it meets "the minimum threshold of information as required by office policy," and once accepted "all additional required information must be submitted within no later than 90 days" on pain of deemed withdrawal.
• RENEWAL APPLICATION with attestations, on OCFS forms, filed "at least 60 days in advance of the expiration date" (Sec. 417.2(d) / Sec. 416.2(d)).
• PRE-APPLICATION ORIENTATION completion — the antecedent to receiving an application at all (Sec. 417.14(a) / Sec. 416.14(a)).
• HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING completion record. Required before issuance (Sec. 417.14(b) / Sec. 416.14(b); SSL Sec. 390-a(3)(d)). Keep the date: it decays out of first-cycle credit at 12 months (Sec. 417.14(g)) and out of validity at 24 months (Sec. 417.14(b)).
• SWORN CRIMINAL HISTORY STATEMENTS AND FINGERPRINT IMAGES for the provider, each assistant, each substitute and every person aged 18 or older residing in the proposed home (Sec. 417.2(a)(5); Sec. 413.4(d)(1)-(3)). Sec. 413.4(d)(3) requires the registrant to furnish each such person "a fingerprint imaging application form and a description of how the completed fingerprint images will be used."
• STATEWIDE CENTRAL REGISTER (SCR) DATABASE CHECK FORMS for the provider, employees, volunteers and every household member 18 or older (Sec. 417.2(a)(8)(i); Sec. 417.13(d); Sec. 413.4(a)(4), under SSL Sec. 424-a).
• JUSTICE CENTER STAFF EXCLUSION LIST (SEL) FORMS — the check of "the register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect maintained by the Justice Center for the Protection of Persons with Special Needs pursuant to section 495 of the Social Services Law" (Sec. 417.2(a)(8)(ii); Sec. 417.13(c)).
• OUT-OF-STATE CLEARANCE REQUESTS for any covered person who lived outside New York in the preceding five years: that state's criminal history repository, that state's sex offender registry or repository, and — unconditionally — "the state-based child abuse or neglect repository of any state other than New York where such person lives or lived during the preceding five years" (Sec. 413.4(c)(1)-(3)).
• MEDICAL STATEMENT for the provider, each assistant and each substitute, on OCFS forms or approved equivalents, dated within the 12 months preceding application, including a Mantoux or other federally approved tuberculin test performed within the same 12 months (Sec. 417.2(a)(2); Sec. 417.11(b)(1), (3), (6)).
• MEDICAL STATEMENT FOR EVERY PERSON RESIDING IN THE HOME, on OCFS forms, dated within the preceding 12 months, stating "that the person has no health conditions which would endanger the health of children receiving day care in the home" (Sec. 417.2(a)(9); Sec. 417.11(b)(7)).
• CHILD SUPPORT COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATION, "on forms provided by the office," under Sec. 3-503 of the General Obligations Law (Sec. 417.2(a)(6); renewal at Sec. 417.2(d)(2)).
• WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATION, "on forms provided by the office" (Sec. 417.2(a)(7); renewal at Sec. 417.2(d)(3)).
• ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS CERTIFICATION, "on forms provided by the office," with any locally required inspection or testing documentation appended plus the local official's statement that the dwelling and neighbourhood "meet applicable standards for sanitation and safety" (Sec. 417.2(a)(13); renewal at Sec. 417.2(d)(4); file copy at Sec. 417.15(c)(17)).
• PRIVATE WATER SUPPLY TEST REPORT from a State-licensed laboratory or individual, based on tests within the preceding 12 months (Sec. 417.2(a)(11)), repeated at renewal (Sec. 417.2(d)(5)), at the two-year mid-point (Sec. 417.15(b)(25)(i)) and "every two years thereafter" on file (Sec. 417.15(c)(11)(i)).
• FUEL-BURNING SYSTEM INSPECTION AND APPROVAL REPORT for any wood or coal burning stove, fireplace, pellet stove or permanently installed gas space heater, dated within the preceding 12 months, by local authorities or a qualified inspector (Sec. 417.2(a)(12); renewal at Sec. 417.2(d)(6); mid-point at Sec. 417.15(b)(25)(ii); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(10); underlying duty at Sec. 417.4(j)).
• LOCAL SANITATION AND SAFETY STATEMENT from the appropriate local official or authority — required only "where the office notifies the applicant that such a statement is required" (Sec. 417.2(a)(10); renewal at Sec. 417.2(d)(8)).
• PROOF THE SITE IS A RESIDENCE — "documentation, acceptable to the office, to prove that the family day care site is being used as a residence" (Sec. 417.2(a)(14), read with the "personal residence" definition at Sec. 413.2(d)(12)).
• DIAGRAM OF THE HOME showing all rooms, the rooms to be used for day care and their purposes, "the number and location of exits and alternate means of egress," and the outdoor play areas — with an updated diagram due "immediately upon making any change that impacts the child care program" (Sec. 417.3(a)).
• WRITTEN PLAN OR DIAGRAM FOR TRAVEL TO OFF-SITE OUTDOOR SPACE, where outdoor play uses a park, school yard or public play area — it "must be developed and approved by the office" (Sec. 417.3(k)).
• HEALTH CARE PLAN on forms furnished by the office, with the nine contents fixed by Sec. 417.11(c)(2) (Sec. 417.2(a)(15); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(2)). Health-care-consultant approval is required only where medications beyond over-the-counter topicals and the listed emergency medications are administered (Sec. 417.11(c)(1), Sec. 417.11(d)(1)).
• WRITTEN EMERGENCY PLAN AND EMERGENCY EVACUATION DIAGRAM, "using the forms furnished by the office or an approved equivalent form" (Sec. 417.5(b)), the diagram posted (Sec. 417.5(b)(2)), the plan on file (Sec. 417.15(c)(1)).
• EVACUATION DRILL RECORDS, "using forms provided by the office or approved equivalents," for monthly drills during hours of operation and monthly during each shift where multiple shifts are provided (Sec. 417.4(b)(1)-(4); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(1)).
• SHELTER-IN-PLACE DRILL RECORDS, "using forms provided by the office or approved equivalents," for two drills annually (Sec. 417.5(b)(4)-(5); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(1)).
• POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT NOTIFICATION FORM, "using a form specified by the office or an approved equivalent," filed within five days after receiving the initial registration or licence and before commencing operation, stating the address, maximum capacity, age range and hours; re-filed on any change; copy kept on file (Sec. 417.15(b)(18); file copy at Sec. 417.15(c)(16)).
• FIREARM / AMMUNITION NOTICE to parents and to OCFS, "on forms furnished by the office or an approved equivalent" (Sec. 417.5(x)(5); file copy at Sec. 417.15(c)(24), which cross-refers to Sec. 417.5(x)).
• WRITTEN BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT PLAN, "acceptable to the office," with copies to all caregivers and parents (Sec. 417.9(a), (c)).
• WRITTEN POLICY STATEMENT GIVEN TO EACH PARENT AT ADMISSION, with the fifteen contents listed at Sec. 417.15(b)(22).
• WRITTEN PICK-UP PROCEDURES under SSL Sec. 390(15), "provided to families upon implementation, admission, and revision," and constrained by Sec. 390(15)(c) as to contacting the Statewide Central Register and retaining the child on the premises.
• NAPPING AGREEMENT for each child other than school-age children, made in writing between the parent and the programme and stating "the area of the home where the child will nap; whether the child will nap on a cot, mat, bed or a crib; and how the napping child will be supervised" (Sec. 417.7(l); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(18)).
• WRITTEN PARENTAL PERMISSION FOR NAPPING OUT OF SIGHT with an electronic monitor (Sec. 417.8(b)(1)), and for a caregiver to sleep during evening or night care (Sec. 417.8(b)(3)).
• WRITTEN PARENTAL PERMISSION FOR SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN to be outside direct supervision on the premises, with 15-minute visual checks (Sec. 417.8(b)(5); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(22)).
• TRANSPORTATION CONSENT on OCFS forms or approved equivalents from the parent of each child transported, plus the transportation plan given to parents at enrolment and re-issued on amendment (Sec. 417.6(a), (j); on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(19)).
• POOL DOCUMENTS, where a non-public or residential pool is used: the supervision documentation, the water-quality documentation, "a written pool safety plan acceptable to the office," the dated parental permission note containing the child's name and age, the pool's address, "the depth of the pool at its deepest point" and the permitted dates or months, and "a current and accurate record detailing the pool maintenance" (Sec. 417.5(g)(3)-(6); pool maintenance safety plan on file at Sec. 417.15(c)(20)).
• PER-CHILD HEALTH DOCUMENTS: a health care provider's written statement dated within the preceding 12 months verifying the child can participate in child care and appears free of contagious or communicable disease, and stating whether the child is a child with special health care needs (Sec. 417.11(a)(1)-(2)); immunisation documentation under the Public Health Law, with the admission-in-process rule at Sec. 417.11(a)(4) and the annually reissued medical exemption at Sec. 417.11(a)(6); and a lead screening certificate for each child under six where the parent has one, with the non-exclusion rule and referral duty at Sec. 417.11(a)(9).
• DAILY ATTENDANCE RECORDS "filled out at the time a child arrives and departs," including arrival and departure times (Sec. 417.15(c)(5)), and a daily caregiver schedule recording arrival and departure times of each caregiver, employee and volunteer (Sec. 417.15(c)(13)).
• TRAINING DOCUMENTATION, submitted to the designated registration or licensing office (Sec. 417.14(j)) and kept on file (Sec. 417.15(c)(14)); produced at renewal (Sec. 417.2(d)(7)) and at the two-year mid-point (Sec. 417.15(b)(25)(iii)).
• CPR AND FIRST AID CERTIFICATE, current, available for review during working hours and kept on file (Sec. 417.14(o); Sec. 417.15(c)(21)).
• ENTITY DOCUMENTS, where the registrant is not a sole proprietorship: certificate of incorporation, partnership agreement or articles of organisation with amendments; verification of filing with the Secretary of State; and "a current list of the names of the board of directors, partners, or members and their addresses, telephone numbers of the current principal officers and members, and the business and civic qualifications of all such individuals" (Sec. 417.15(c)(15)).
• WAIVER REQUEST, on OCFS forms or approved equivalents, stating the specific regulation, the reason and "a description of what will be done to achieve or maintain the intended purpose of the regulation" — available only for NON-STATUTORY requirements (Sec. 413.6(a)-(b)).
• ONLINE ADDRESS OPT-OUT FORM, if you do not want your home street address or a map of it published on the OCFS website — "The office shall provide a written form informing a provider of their right to opt out of providing information online, and shall also permit a provider to request to opt out through the office's website" (SSL Sec. 390(8-a)).
• A NOTE ON OCFS FORM NUMBERS. Numbers such as OCFS-6000, OCFS-6007 and OCFS-6011 circulate widely in third-party guidance for the required-forms checklist, the drill record and the emergency plan respectively. None of those numbers appears in 18 NYCRR Parts 413, 416 or 417, which describe every one of these instruments only as being "on forms furnished by the office or approved equivalents." Direct retrieval of OCFS form documents failed throughout this verification (see verify_flag). Ask OCFS or your Child Care Resource and Referral agency for the current revision of each form rather than relying on a number printed in a guide.

What's specific about getting licensed in New York

New York splits home-based child care into two OCFS categories with a hard break at six children: a Family Day Care home (a registration, up to 6 non-school-age plus 2 school-age) versus a Group Family Day Care home (a license, 7 to 12 children plus up to 4 school-age, with an assistant legally required whenever more than 6 children are present). Two things make NY distinct from most states: OCFS regulates these home programs statewide, INCLUDING inside all five boroughs of New York City (the NYC Health Department only handles centers), and New York layers on a Staff Exclusion List check through the Justice Center on top of the usual criminal and child-abuse-registry clearances. You also literally cannot obtain an application until you complete the OCFS-approved Child Day Care Orientation, which then unlocks your FAMS application link.

How long it takes and what it costs in New York

Timeline: Realistically plan on about 2 to 4 months from finishing the mandatory Child Day Care Orientation to receiving your registration or license, and up to 6 months if anything stalls. The orientation itself is only a few hours online, but the two slow steps are background clearances (fingerprint results and the SCR/Staff Exclusion List checks for you and every adult in your home) and getting your regulator out for the required home inspection. This is a realistic estimate, not an OCFS guarantee.

Cost: New York does not charge an OCFS application fee to register a Family Day Care home or to license a Group Family Day Care home, and fingerprinting is free for applicants and household members 18+. Your real out-of-pocket costs are the $25 Statewide Central Register (child-abuse registry) check per adult (you plus each household member 18 and older), CPR/First Aid certification (market rate, typically roughly $75 to $150 at a private provider, approximate), a physical/medical statement for you and household members if not covered by insurance, and home-safety items such as smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors, a fire extinguisher, and a first-aid kit. Much of the required OCFS training, including the health and safety courses, is offered free through the University at Albany's PDP/ECETP.

Source: STATUTE — New York Social Services Law, Article 6, Title 1, as published in the Legislature's own consolidated-law text at NYSenate.gov Open Legislation (read in full 2026-08-25): Sec. 390, Child day care; license or registration required — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390 (subdivisions 1 through 15 read verbatim end to end; page states last amended June 12, 2026; carries dual "Effective until June 5, 2027" / "Effective June 5, 2027" versions of Sec. 390(2)(a) and Sec. 390(2)(d)(ii)(A)). Sec. 390-a, Standards and training for child day care — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-A (read in full). Sec. 390-b, Criminal history review and background clearances of child care providers — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-B (retrieved in full). Sec. 390-d, Requiring barriers around swimming pools — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-D Sec. 390-h, Notice requirement before closing certain day care centers — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-H (read in full; applies to centres only). Sec. 390-i, Notice of inspection report — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-I (read in full).

Sec. 390-l, Securing of furniture — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-L (read in full; applies to centres and authorised agencies only). Sec. 390-m, Window coverings — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-M (read in full; applies to centres only). Sec. 390-n, Child care support center; operating certificate required — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-N (read in full). Sec. 390-o, Prohibit the use of infant walkers in child care facilities — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/390-O (read in full). Title 1 section index (to enumerate the Sec. 390-series) — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/SOS/A6T1 SESSION LAWS — read on the Legislature's bill pages: Chapter 644 of the Laws of 2025 — Senate Bill S278 / Assembly Bill A612, "Relates to the appropriate staff/child ratios for family day care homes, group family day care homes, school age day care programs and day care centers." Bill page, actions table, sponsor memorandum and enacted bill text read at https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S278 — actions: "Jun 11, 2025 returned to assembly passed senate 3rd reading cal.1794 substituted for s278"; "Dec 08, 2025 delivered to governor"; "Dec 19, 2025 signed chap.644." Bill text shows the bracketed deletion of the January 1, 2000 ratio floor from SSL Sec. 390(2-a)(a)(iii) and "Sec. 2. This act shall take effect immediately."

Senate Bill S7971 / Assembly Bill A6982 (outdoor nature-based child care programs, amending Sec. 390, 390-a, 390-b and others) — https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S7971 — status read 2026-08-25: "Jan 07, 2026 referred to children and families." STILL IN COMMITTEE, NOT LAW. Chapter 629 of the Laws of 2025 as amended by Chapter 13 of the Laws of 2026 (infant walkers) and Chapter 502 of the Laws of 2025 (Public Health Law Sec. 3000-c, epinephrine devices, effective November 12, 2025) — identified from OCFS's own consensus-rule-making determinations published in the New York State Register (below); the chapter texts themselves were not opened.

REGULATION — Title 18 NYCRR Parts 413, 416 and 417. Every section listed below was retrieved and read in full on 2026-08-25 from the Legal Information Institute's New York regulations collection, which reproduces the NYCRR text with the New York State Register amendment notes: Part 413 index — https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-york/title-18/chapter-II/subchapter-C/article-2/part-413 ; Sec. 413.1 Scope; Sec. 413.2 Definitions (notes: amended eff. 6/3/2020, 12/30/2020, 9/7/2022); Sec. 413.3 Enforcement of regulations (eff. 9/28/2016, 6/3/2020); Sec. 413.4 Criminal history review and background clearances (eff. 12/3/2014, 6/3/2020, 4/21/2021); Sec. 413.5 Enforcement hearings (eff. 9/28/2016, 6/3/2020, 4/21/2021); Sec. 413.6 Waivers (eff. 6/3/2020); Sec. 413.7 Criminal History Disqualification Review Process (eff. 4/21/2021). Individual URLs follow the pattern https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-york/18-NYCRR-413.2 etc. Part 416 index — .../part-416 ; Sec. 416.1 through Sec. 416.15 all retrieved (416.1 Definitions, enforcement and hearings; 416.2 Procedures for applying for and renewing a license; 416.3 Building and equipment; 416.4 Fire protection; 416.5 Safety; 416.6 Transportation; 416.7 Program requirements; 416.8 Supervision of children; 416.9 Behavior management; 416.10 Child abuse and maltreatment; 416.11 Health and infection control; 416.12 Nutrition; 416.13 Caregiver qualifications; 416.14 Training; 416.15 Management and administration; 416.16 to 416.20 repealed).

Part 417 index — .../part-417 ; Sec. 417.1 through Sec. 417.15 all retrieved, same section titles as Part 416 with "registration" for "license" (417.16 through 417.21 repealed). Part-level note on all three Parts: "Amended New York State Register June 3, 2020/Volume XLII, Issue 22, eff. 6/3/2020." REGULATORY CURRENCY — the New York State Register, published weekly by the New York State Department of State, Division of Administrative Rules. Full issues retrieved and searched on 2026-08-25: May 13, 2026, Vol. XLVIII — https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2026/05/051326.pdf — OCFS PROPOSED RULE MAKING, "Infant Walkers," I.D. No. CFS-19-26-00001-P, consensus rule making to amend Sec. 416.7, 417.7, 418-1.7 and 418-2.7, with the full text of the new subdivision (z) and the determination that it "merely conforms to Chapter 629 of the Laws of 2025, as amended by Chapter 13 of the Laws of 2026." Also CFS-19-26-00002-P, kinship foster boarding home standards. July 1, 2026, Vol. XLVIII, Issue 26 — https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2026/07/070126.pdf — OCFS PROPOSED RULE MAKING, "Epinephrine Devices," I.D. No. CFS-26-26-00001-P, consensus rule making to amend Parts 414, 415, 416, 417 and Subparts 418-1 and 418-2 in accordance with Chapter 502 of the Laws of 2025 (PHL Sec. 3000-c amended effective November 12, 2025). July 22, 2026, Vol.

XLVIII — https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2026/07/072226.pdf — OCFS PROPOSED RULE MAKING, "Child Care Substitute Pools," I.D. No. CFS-29-26-00002-P, amending Parts 413, 414, 415, 416, 417, Subparts 418-1 and 418-2, with the Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis and Job Impact Statement read in full (source of the "Effective May 9, 2026" date for SSL Sec. 390-n, of the FAMS confirmation, of the 16,557 licensed/registered programme count and of the medical-statement and SCR/SEL proposals). July 29, 2026, Vol. XLVIII, Issue 30 — https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2026/07/072926.pdf — OCFS NOTICE OF ADOPTION, "Infant Walkers," I.D. No. CFS-19-26-00001-A, Filing No. 684, Filing Date 2026-07-14, EFFECTIVE DATE 2026-07-29, "Amendment of sections 416.7, 417.7, 418-1.7 and 418-2.7 of Title 18 NYCRR," "Final rule as compared with last published rule: No changes," "The agency received no public comment." August 5, 2026 — https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2026/08/080526.pdf ; August 12, 2026 — .../081226.pdf ; August 19, 2026 — .../081926.pdf — all three retrieved and searched; no further OCFS child-day-care rule making, and the Action Pending Index of the August 19, 2026 issue lists only CFS-46-25-00014-P (foster care permanency), CFS-19-26-00002-P (kinship foster homes), CFS-26-26-00001-P (epinephrine devices) and CFS-29-26-00002-P (child care substitute pools).

AGENCY MATERIAL, used only where noted and treated as secondary: OCFS Division of Child Care Services regulations index — https://ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/regulations/ (retrieved 2026-08-25; still headed "New Emergency Regulations Took Effect February 7, 2020" with a comment window that closed April 7, 2020; links to Part 413 as 413-Definitions.pdf, Part 416 as 416-GFDC.pdf, Part 417 as 417-FDC.pdf and to 390-SSL-Child-Day-Care.pdf, plus Spanish, Pashto, Somali and Swahili translations of Part 417). The Aspire Registry (New York's early-childhood workforce registry) course listings for "Health & Safety Training: Competencies for Becoming a Family or Group Family Day Care Provider" — https://nyworksforchildren.org/aspire/ — and Cornell Cooperative Extension course listings, used ONLY for the 15-hour figure, which is not in the regulation. NEGATIVE RESULT WORTH RECORDING: the official electronic NYCRR published by the New York Department of State is hosted at govt.westlaw.com/nycrr and was unreachable throughout this verification. The New York State Department of Health's NYCRR mirror at regs.health.ny.gov DOES serve pages for Parts 416 and 417, but they carry the express disclaimer "This part is NOT maintained by the Department of Health. The following table of contents may not be current" — and, as documented in verify_flag, the table of contents it serves is the PRE-2020 numbering.

Verified 2026-08-25. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state’s licensing agency before applying.