Alabama DHR Child Care Services
Alabama has no license-free headcount for home day care: the rule's trigger list starts at providing care for one or more children who are not related to you. Care for related children only does not trigger the license. With a license, a Family Day Care Home takes up to 6 children and a Group Day Care Home takes 7 to 12, with hard caps on children younger than 12 months at both levels.
| Tier | Children | Age limits | Your own kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Day Care Homelicense | up to 6 |
| Count |
| Family Nighttime Homelicense | up to 6 |
| Count |
| Group Day Care Homelicense | 7 to 12 |
| Count |
| Group Nighttime Homelicense | 7 to 12 |
| Count |
Age limits and totals for every tier, with row-level citations, live on the Alabama home daycare ratios page.
Related means parent, grandparent, brother, sister, stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, uncle or aunt, and their spouses, by blood, marriage or adoption. A cousin's child or a friend's child is unrelated, and one such child is enough to require a license.
Your own children younger than lawful school age (5 by September 1) count against the licensed capacity whenever they are in the home. Your school-age children do not. Unaccompanied visiting children under 12 count, related or not.
The rule lists three triggers: care for one or more unrelated children, care away from the child's home, and care for more than 4 hours in a 24 hour period. The rule text joins them loosely, and we print it as written rather than interpreting it.
Preschool programs that are an integral part of a local church ministry or a religious nonprofit elementary school are exempt from licensing under Ala. Code 38-7-3, subject to a notice filing with DHR, annual fire and health reports, background submissions and posted notices.
Care for related children only does not trigger the license, and grandparents are on the related list in rule 660-5-27-.02(20). The license requirement starts with the first unrelated child.
No home may be licensed for more than 3 children younger than 12 months, with exceptions possible for multiple-birth sibling groups. A group day care home is capped at 6 children under 12 months and must have one caregiver for every 3 of them.
Your own children younger than lawful school age count when they are in the home or on the premises. Your school-age children who live in the home do not count.
Yes. Alabama licenses Family Nighttime Homes and Group Nighttime Homes for care after 7 p.m., with the same 6 and 12 child ceilings as the daytime tiers.
The chapter carries penalty provisions restated from Ala. Code 38-7-16, and DHR takes complaints. We print the tiers and thresholds; the enforcement decision is the department's.
DaycareRules is an informational reference about home child care licensing rules in the United States. It reprints thresholds, capacity limits, ratios and citations from state statutes and regulations, together with the date each state was last verified. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and rules change. Confirm with your state licensing agency before acting on any number printed here.