Types of Child Care

Child Care Centers:

Child Care Centers are programs that care for 6 or more children less than 13 years of age for less than 24 hours a day.  Child Care Centers must be licensed unless they are excluded or exempt from licensure by law. Only the following types of programs are excluded or exempt:

• Drop-in programs providing care for no more than 2 hours while the parent is in the same building & accessible at all times
• Programs in a facility that is owned or operated by the federal government
• Registered family child care homes
• Facilities providing live-in care on a 24 hour basis
• Programs operated and funded by a public school district
• Programs operated and funded by a private school that offers kindergarten through 6th grade education
• Programs providing religious instruction to children two years of age or older for no more than two hours a day
• Programs operated by a church to provide care while parents attend religious services
• Special activities programs, such as athletics, hobbies, art, music, dance or craft instruction, that provide a single activity program for no more than two hours a day
• Youth camps licensed by the NJ Department of Health
• Day training programs operated by the Division of Developmental Disabilities

Church operated programs that were operating before May 1984 do not have to be licensed, but must meet all the physical facility and life/safety requirements in the licensing manual.