How to Start a Daycare in Arkansas (2026)

Last updated: May 4, 2026

Opening a daycare in Arkansas involves navigating a two-agency structure that surprises many applicants. The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) issues the actual child care license and enforces compliance. A separate agency — Arkansas DESE, Office of Early Childhood (OEC) — administers the Better Beginnings quality rating system, the CCAP child care subsidy program, and professional development resources. These two agencies work together but are distinct, and your license comes from DHS DCCECE, not DESE. The contact for licensing is 501-682-8590 or CCL.Questions@ade.arkansas.gov.

Northwest Arkansas is the strongest growth market for child care in the state. The professional households drawn to Bentonville by Walmart’s supplier ecosystem, and to Fayetteville by the University of Arkansas, are exactly the dual-income families who need licensed child care. Infant care in NW Arkansas commands among the highest rates in the state — and the infant-to-caregiver ratio of 1:5 limits how many infants a program can accept, keeping quality infant spots in high demand relative to supply. Understanding the ratio requirements before you design your classroom space determines whether your program is financially viable at each age group.

Daycare Requirements in Arkansas at a Glance

Requirement	Agency / Detail	Cost / Threshold
Child Care License	AR DHS, Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE)	Call 501-682-8590 for current fees
Licensed Family Home capacity	DHS DCCECE	6-16 children
Licensed Child Care Center capacity	DHS DCCECE	6+ children from multiple families
Infant ratio (birth-18 months)	1 caregiver per 5 children	Max group size: 10
Toddler ratio (18-36 months)	1 caregiver per 8 children	Licensed centers
Preschool ratio (2.5-3 years)	1 caregiver per 12 children	Licensed centers
Preschool ratio (4 years)	1 caregiver per 15 children	Licensed centers
School-age ratio (5+ years)	1 caregiver per 18 children	Max group: 36 for 6+
Indoor space minimum	35 sq ft per child (usable floor space, excluding bathrooms/hallways)	Per child enrolled
Outdoor space minimum	75 sq ft per child on fenced playground	Per child enrolled
Background checks (all staff)	AR State Police + FBI fingerprint + Child Maltreatment Registry + Sex Offender Registry	Before any work begins
Director minimum age	21 years old	All license types
Director education	CDA credential OR 9 college credits in ECE + 2 yrs experience	Minimum requirement
Pre-service training	10 clock hours before opening	All staff
Annual ongoing training	15 clock hours per year	All staff and directors
CPR and First Aid	Pediatric CPR and First Aid required	Must be current certification
Better Beginnings QRIS	3-star voluntary system; Star 2+ required for CCAP participation	DESE Office of Early Childhood

How to Start a Daycare in Arkansas (Step by Step)

Step 1: Choose Your License Type and Capacity

Arkansas licenses three types of child care programs under DHS DCCECE:

License Type	Capacity Range	Notes
Registered Child Care Family Home	Fewer than 5 children	Lightest oversight tier; provider cares for children in their own home
Licensed Child Care Family Home	6-16 children	Health and fire approvals required for 11+ children; stricter physical space requirements
Licensed Child Care Center	6+ children from multiple families	Full center regulations; required for most commercial daycare programs
Out-of-School Time Facility	Center-based; school-age children only	After-school and summer programs

Programs caring for 5 or fewer children from the provider own household are exempt from licensing. Programs operating fewer than 10 hours per week are also exempt from Licensed Child Care Center requirements but must still meet basic safety requirements if they serve children from multiple families. Confirm with DHS DCCECE whether your specific program structure requires a license before investing in your facility.

Step 2: Understand Staff-to-Child Ratios

Arkansas sets minimum staff-to-child ratios for licensed centers. These ratios determine how many staff you must employ for each age group, which directly affects your labor costs and how many children you can enroll at any given time:

Age Group	Staff-to-Child Ratio	Max Group Size
Birth to 18 months (infants)	1:5	10
18 to 36 months (toddlers)	1:8	—
2.5 to 3 years	1:12	—
4 years	1:15	—
5 years	1:18	—
6 and older (school-age)	1:18	36

When 8 or fewer children are in care at a licensed site and age groups are mixed, the ratio must meet the requirement for the youngest child in the group. The infant ratio of 1:5 is the most staff-intensive and limits infant program revenue unless your infant classroom is sized to accommodate at least 10 infants (requiring 2 full-time caregivers). Most new centers start with toddler and preschool rooms where the ratios permit larger groups relative to staffing cost.

Step 3: Meet Director Qualifications

The director of a Licensed Child Care Center must meet all of the following minimum qualifications:

• Age: At least 21 years old
• Education: High school diploma or equivalent (GED)
• Experience/credentials (choose one):
  • Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, OR
  • 9 college credits in Early Childhood Education or Child Development plus 2 years of work experience in a licensed child care setting

Directors of Licensed Family Child Care Homes have lighter credential requirements, but all directors must complete the same background check process as other staff. The CDA credential from the Council for Professional Recognition typically takes 6-12 months to complete if you are starting from scratch.

Step 4: Complete Background Checks for All Staff

All prospective employees, volunteers, and household members (for home-based programs) must pass a multi-agency background check before beginning work with children. The Arkansas process involves:

• Arkansas State Police criminal background check
• Child Maltreatment Registry (CMR) check through DHS
• Sex offender registry check
• FBI fingerprint-based federal criminal background check

Background checks take time to process. Build 2-4 weeks of lead time into your staffing timeline. No person with a disqualifying offense can work in a licensed child care setting, and DHS DCCECE maintains a registry of individuals who are barred from working in Arkansas child care. Confirm current disqualifying offenses and the waiver process with DHS DCCECE before hiring anyone with any criminal history.

Step 5: Complete Pre-Service Training

All staff and directors must complete at least 10 hours of pre-service training before your program opens. This training covers child development, health and safety, nutrition, and Arkansas child care rules. After opening, all staff must complete 15 clock hours of ongoing training per year. CPR and pediatric First Aid certification must be current for the director and at least one staff member on-site at all times during program hours. First Aid kits must be readily accessible at all times.

Step 6: Prepare Your Physical Facility

Indoor Space

Licensed Child Care Centers must provide at least 35 square feet of usable indoor floor space per child, exclusive of bathrooms, hallways, kitchens, and storage areas. A program licensed for 40 children needs at least 1,400 square feet of classroom space. The space calculation is based on your licensed capacity, not actual daily enrollment.

Outdoor Space

Programs must provide at least 75 square feet of outdoor play space per child on a fenced, enclosed playground. For 40 children, that is 3,000 square feet of fenced outdoor space. The playground must have both sun and shade. Equipment must meet safety standards and be maintained free of hazards. Home-based programs serving 11 or more children require health and fire inspections of the outdoor area.

Health and Fire Inspections

Before DHS DCCECE issues a license, your facility must pass inspections from the local fire marshal and county or city health department. Schedule these inspections early in your process — scheduling delays can push your opening date significantly. For home-based programs with 11 or more children, health and fire approvals are required even though you are operating in a residence.

Step 7: Submit Your License Application

Contact DHS DCCECE directly to obtain the current application packet and fee schedule:

• Phone: 501-682-8590
• Email: CCL.Questions@ade.arkansas.gov
• Website: dese.ade.arkansas.gov (Office of Early Childhood — child care licensing)

The application covers: your legal entity and ownership information, facility address and physical layout, staff roster with qualifications, background check authorization for all staff, proof of CPR and First Aid training, and your operational policies (hours, discipline policy, sick child policy, transportation if applicable). A licensing specialist will conduct a pre-licensing inspection to verify compliance before issuing your initial license. Licenses are renewed annually.

Step 8: Enroll in Better Beginnings to Access CCAP

Better Beginnings is Arkansas’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system, operated by DESE OEC. Programs are rated from Star 1 to Star 3, with Star 3 representing the highest quality level. Better Beginnings matters financially because the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) — Arkansas’s child care subsidy for low- and moderate-income families — requires provider programs to achieve at least Star 2 to accept CCAP vouchers. Infant and toddler care in many Arkansas counties has more CCAP-eligible families than licensed Star 2 spots, so achieving Star 2 status can be a material driver of occupancy.

Star 2 and Star 3 programs also receive one-time incentive grants upon certification at each star level, subject to funding availability. Contact Better Beginnings at BetterBeginnings@dhs.arkansas.gov for current grant amounts and application process. The star-rating assessment includes curriculum review, environment observation, and staff qualification documentation.

Step 9: Form Your LLC and Register for Employer Taxes

Business Formation

File your LLC with the Arkansas Secretary of State online for $45. Child care centers operating as nonprofit corporations (a common structure for CCAP and grant-eligibility purposes) file Articles of Incorporation instead. Consult a nonprofit attorney if you are considering nonprofit status — the grant funding and CCAP participation advantages are real, but the governance requirements are more burdensome than a standard LLC.

Workers Compensation

Arkansas requires workers comp at 3 or more employees. Child care staff are classified under NCCI class code 9059. Daycare workers have physical exposure from lifting children and working in a high-illness environment, but the class rate is more moderate than trades with equipment hazards. Quote from multiple carriers for the best rate.

UI Tax and New Hire Reporting

Register with the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services for UI tax (2.1% new employer rate on the first $7,000 per employee). Report all new hires within 20 days. Child care programs often have significant staff turnover — keep your new hire reporting current to avoid DWS audit triggers.

Arkansas Child Care Market: Where the Demand Is

Northwest Arkansas (Benton and Washington counties) has the highest concentration of child care demand in the state. The dual-income professional households drawn by Walmart, Tyson, and J.B. Hunt generate sustained demand for infant and toddler care — the most expensive and most difficult to find slots. Bentonville and Rogers have seen significant new development with limited child care capacity growth, creating real market opportunity for new licensed programs.

Little Rock metro (Pulaski, Saline, and Faulkner counties) has the highest volume of CCAP-eligible families in the state, given the concentration of government, healthcare, and service-sector employment. Programs achieving Star 2 status and accepting CCAP vouchers in Little Rock can maintain strong occupancy. UAMS nursing staff and hospital shift workers generate demand for early-morning and evening care options that few licensed programs offer.

Jonesboro and Fort Smith have active child care markets supported by Arkansas State University and manufacturing employment respectively. Both communities have lower per-capita incomes than NW Arkansas, making CCAP participation more important for occupancy. Programs serving both CCAP families and private-pay families — through tiered fee structures — can achieve more stable financial footing than programs serving exclusively one population.

Cost to Start a Daycare in Arkansas

Expense	Small Home Program (6-12 children)	Licensed Center (30-40 children)
LLC or nonprofit formation	$45	$45-$200 (nonprofit)
DHS DCCECE license application fee	Call for current fee	Call for current fee
Background checks (per person)	$25-$50	$25-$50 per staff member
CPR and First Aid training	$40-$80 per person	$40-$80 per person
Pre-service training (10 hours)	$100-$300	$100-$300 per person
Facility renovation / classroom setup	$2,000-$10,000	$20,000-$100,000+
Playground equipment and fencing	$1,000-$5,000	$10,000-$30,000
Furniture, toys, learning materials	$1,500-$5,000	$8,000-$25,000
General liability insurance (annual)	$500-$1,200	$2,000-$5,000
Total startup estimate	$5,000-$22,000	$40,000-$160,000+

Related Arkansas Business Guides

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who licenses daycares in Arkansas?

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) issues child care licenses and enforces compliance. A separate agency — DESE Office of Early Childhood — administers the Better Beginnings quality rating system and CCAP subsidy. Your license application goes to DHS DCCECE: call 501-682-8590 or email CCL.Questions@ade.arkansas.gov.

What is the staff-to-child ratio for infants in Arkansas daycares?

Licensed Child Care Centers must maintain a 1:5 ratio (one caregiver for every 5 infants) for children from birth to 18 months. The maximum group size for infants is 10. This ratio is more restrictive than the toddler ratio (1:8) and directly affects how many infants your program can serve relative to staffing costs.

Do I need a license to watch 4 children in my home in Arkansas?

Programs caring for 5 or fewer children from the provider own household are exempt from licensing. However, if you are caring for children from multiple unrelated families and your capacity is 5 or fewer children from outside your household, contact DHS DCCECE to confirm whether registration or licensing applies to your specific situation.

What is Better Beginnings and why does it matter?

Better Beginnings is Arkansas’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system for child care programs, rated from Star 1 to Star 3. It matters because the state Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) — which provides subsidies to low- and moderate-income families — requires provider programs to achieve at least Star 2 to accept CCAP vouchers. Programs that cannot accept CCAP effectively exclude a large portion of potential families in most Arkansas markets.

What background checks are required for Arkansas daycare staff?

All staff must pass four checks before working with children: (1) Arkansas State Police criminal background check, (2) Child Maltreatment Registry check through DHS, (3) sex offender registry check, and (4) FBI fingerprint-based federal criminal background check. All checks must be completed and cleared before any staff member begins work. No person with a disqualifying offense can work in a licensed program.

How many hours of training do Arkansas daycare staff need?

All staff must complete 10 hours of pre-service training before your program opens, plus 15 clock hours of ongoing training per year after opening. CPR and pediatric First Aid certification must be current for the director and at least one staff member on-site at all times during program hours.