Home daycare licensing / Nevada
Home daycare licensing in Nevada
What it takes to run a licensed home daycare in Nevada — who regulates it, how many children you can care for, and what an inspector checks.
Who regulates home daycare in Nevada
Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Child and Family Services, Child Care Licensing (CCL) Bureau is the state agency responsible for licensing or registering home child care in Nevada.
Nevada keeps its smallest home-based tier deliberately tight: a Family Care Home caps out at just 6 children total — one of the lower flat ceilings among nearby Mountain West and Southwest states — before a provider needs to step up to a large/group license with an assistant. The one built-in stretch is a before/after-school carve-out that lets a small home provider serve nearly triple her base capacity at the edges of the school day.
Visit Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division of Child and Family Services, Child Care Licensing (CCL) Bureau →License types and capacity
Family Care Home
One primary caregiver, capacity limited to no more than 6 children total.
With Child Care Licensing approval, up to 3 additional children ages 6–16 may be added for before/after-school care only.
Large/Group Family Child Care Home
Generally licensed up to roughly 12–14 children total depending on assistant presence and age mix.
An assistant is required once the group exceeds the single-provider (small home) limit.
Background checks
Fingerprint-based criminal background checks for the provider and every adult (18+) residing in the home; provider and any assistant must also hold current CPR and pediatric first-aid certification.
Advantages of running a home daycare in Nevada
- The before/after-school carve-out (+3 children ages 6–16) is a genuine Nevada-specific way to add revenue without upgrading your entire license category.
- Las Vegas and Reno's fast population growth has created real, sustained demand for licensed home-based care.
- A relatively low entry-level capacity (6 children) means lower physical-plant and staffing requirements to get your first license.
Risks and things to watch
- The flat 6-child cap for a Family Care Home is genuinely low — modeling revenue off larger-state numbers will overestimate what a small Nevada license allows.
- The +3 school-age carve-out is explicitly before/after-school only and requires separate CCL approval — not an automatic add-on.
- Nevada's licensing agency branding is genuinely confusing across DHHS, DCFS, and 'dss.nv.gov' — double-check you're on the current CCL page.
Practical tips for Nevada providers
- Apply for the before/after-school +3 carve-out from day one rather than waiting until you're at your base 6-child cap.
- Confirm your specific licensing contact and current URL directly with CCL by phone before relying on any given page.
- Line up your assistant provider's fingerprinting and CPR/first-aid certification in advance if targeting the large/group tier.
See the full record set every inspector checks for what to have ready regardless of state.
Curious about licensing in other states?
Home daycare rules — capacity limits, ratios, background checks — vary a lot from state to state. You might want to check how Nevada compares:
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