Alabama

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

Child care workers/teachers: at least 12 clock hours of training each year; directors: 24 clock hours. CPR and first aid training does not count toward the annual hours. At least one staff person with current pediatric CPR and first aid certification must be present during all hours of operation.

Lead teacher

A child care worker/teacher with primary responsibility for a group must be at least 19 years old and hold a high school diploma or GED, and complete at least 12 clock hours of child care training within 30 days of employment.

Director

Directors must be at least 19, have 20 clock hours of training in administration/management plus 4 in quality child care, and meet one pathway: 120 clock hours of child care training + high school diploma/GED + 12 months experience; or CDA/CCP credential + diploma + 12 months; or an associate degree in child development/ECE + 9 months; or a bachelor's degree in those fields + 6 months.

Worth knowing

Alabama sets no fixed numeric group-size caps for centers; group size is governed by room capacity, staffing and equipment. Additional ratio rows: 24-36 months grouped separately 1:8; 4 years up to school age 1:18; 8 years and older 1:22. Mixed-age groups follow the youngest child's ratio when >20% of the group is in the youngest category.

Compliance

Background checks

All child care staff (directors, teachers, aides, drivers, kitchen/administrative staff), adults 18+ in family homes, and volunteers with unsupervised access must clear fingerprint-based state (ALEA) and FBI criminal checks via Fieldprint, plus a DHR State Central Registry child abuse/neglect clearance (Form 1598) and out-of-state registry checks for anyone who lived elsewhere in the prior 5 years. Checks are required before hire and at least every 5 years, tracking the CCDBG comprehensive-check model; the Minimum Standards also require a DHR suitability determination letter and reference checks in each staff file.

Mandated reporting

The standards incorporate Alabama's mandatory child abuse reporting law (Ala. Code Title 26, Ch. 14, §26-14-1 et seq.), under which child care workers must report suspected abuse or neglect; centers must also report to DHR any incident placing a child's health, welfare, or safety at risk.

First aid & CPR

At least one staff person with a current Infant-Child (Pediatric) CPR certification and a current First Aid certificate must be in the center during all hours of operation, with copies of certificates on file; water activities trigger additional CPR/lifeguard requirements. Certifications must be kept current per the issuing organization.

Health & safety training

The Minimum Standards for Day Care Centers require documented initial orientation/training for new staff before or shortly after starting, plus ongoing in-service: directors at least 24 clock hours per year and child care workers/teachers at least 12 clock hours per year in specified child care areas, all documented in center files.

Operations

Supervision rule

All children must have staff supervision at all times; during napping/resting at least one qualified staff person must be present in each room and able to see all the children, with adjusted nap-time ratios, and enrollment on field trips or center activities may not exceed licensed limits with supervision maintained throughout.

Record-keeping

Centers must keep per-child records including a valid Alabama Certificate of Immunization (or medical/religious exemption) from the first day of attendance, daily attendance records for children and staff, and child records retained at least two years after the child leaves; staff files must document background clearances, references, education, and training, and incidents must be reported/documented.

Inspections

DHR may inspect any facility seeking or holding a license 'at any reasonable time, without prior notice,' covering the entire facility and grounds; licensing includes fire and health department approvals, deficiency reports for violations, and refusal to permit inspection is itself a violation. Licenses are renewed on a two-year cycle.

Worth knowing: Center requirements are from the Minimum Standards for Day Care Centers and Nighttime Centers effective Nov. 30, 2018 (hosted on children.alabama.gov, an official Alabama state site); DHR has published only PROPOSED revised standards for family/group homes, so home rules may change. Alabama's licensing statute exempts many church-affiliated centers, which operate license-exempt unless they opt in.

Family & home child care

Minimum Standards for Family Day Care Homes, Family Nighttime Homes, Group Day Care Homes and Group Nighttime Homes (effective Sept. 30, 2019), under the Child Care Act of 1971, Code of Alabama Title 38, Chapter 7

Family Day Care Home

A family home that receives not more than 6 children for daytime care. A license is required to care for even one unrelated child for more than 4 hours a day. The provider's own children younger than lawful school age (under about age 5) count toward the license number whenever they are on the premises; the provider's school-age children do not count. Visiting children under 12 who are present unsupervised during care hours also count.No home may be licensed for more than 3 children younger than 12 months; the Department may grant exceptions for multiple-birth sibling groups (e.g., triplets).

Group Day Care Home

A child care facility in a family home that receives at least 7 but no more than 12 children for part-of-day care, with at least 2 adults present and supervising the activities.Same rule as family day care homes: no home may be licensed for more than 3 children younger than 12 months (multiple-birth sibling exceptions possible).

Provider training

24 clock hours of child care training before initial licensure (at least 4 hours in each of 6 topic areas), then at least 20 clock hours of child-care-related training each year (CPR/first aid do not count toward the hours). Current pediatric CPR and first aid certificates are required. Providers in the Child Care Subsidy Program also need 1 hour of annual training in each of 11 CCDF health-and-safety topics.

Worth knowing

Alabama licenses home care from the first unrelated child (care over 4 hours/day) — there is no small-numbers exemption for unrelated children; care by close relatives is outside the 'unrelated' trigger. Nighttime counterparts (Family Nighttime Home, up to 6 after 7 p.m.; Group Nighttime Home, 7–12) exist as separate categories. A proposed revision of the standards was published in 2026; the 2019 standards were the ones verified.