Licensing
Child Care Licensing
Child Care Licensing ensures the health, safety, and well-being of children in licensed child care facilities. To achieve these goals, Child Care Licensing staff monitors facility compliance with state laws and regulations, offers technical assistance and training to caregivers, and provides consumer education.
Child care providers in Washoe County are licensed by Washoe County Human Services Agency. All other counties are licensed by the State of Nevada Child Care Licensing.
Licensing Monitoring & Compliance
Licensed child care providers receive annual visits from child care licensing. To check for substantiated complaint history in Washoe County, visit Washoe County Human Services Agency’s Inspection Portal.
For all other counties in Nevada, visit the State of Nevada’s Child Care Licensing Program Search page. Make sure you select “agency” for the entity type. Once your search results display, click on View Detail in the far right-hand column in the row for your provider
FFN, OSR & OST Providers
Providers that care for children on the Child Care Subsidy Program but are not required to be licensed, must still follow Child Care and Development Program (CCDF) requirements. This includes a comprehensive background check, initial and annual training, and an annual onsite health & safety validation visit. These providers include Out-of-School Time (OST) providers such as Boys & Girls Clubs, Out-of-School Recreation (OSR) providers including City and County Parks & Recreation programs, and Family, Friend & Neighbor Providers (FFN). Find these visit reports here.
Child Care Regulations
Although Nevada has two licensing entities, both must comply with Chapter 432A of both Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) and Nevada Administrative Code (NAC), which govern and regulate child care facilities in Nevada.
Washoe County has separate child care licensing regulations, but as required by law, these requirements cannot be less restrictive than the state.
Background Check Requirements
Child care providers must have a comprehensive background check every five years and cannot have any disqualifying criminal charges on their record. See the Persons Unqualified for Licensure document below as well as a document outlining the instructions for obtaining a criminal background check.
