How to check a daycare license in Nevada

Short answer: search the provider in Nevada’s licensee search tool, from the Division of Social Services’ Find a Child Care Facility page. A licensed facility has a record there with its inspection information, complaints and investigations.

Nevada licenses child care at the state level. In Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and the rest of Clark County, the license that matters is issued by the Child Care Licensing (CCL) program of the Nevada Division of Social Services, under chapter 432A of Nevada law and its regulations. You may still see the agency’s former name, the Division of Welfare and Supportive Services (DWSS), on older forms and links.

That wasn’t always true everywhere in the state. Nevada law (NRS 432A.131) lets a county or city set up its own child care licensing agency, and Washoe County ran one until it became the last county to join the state program on July 1, 2024. When it did, the state said all child care providers in Nevada would be under the same statewide licensing and regulatory standards. Local governments still have a role, just not this one: a provider may also need a city or county business license, zoning approval or a special use permit, and the state tells providers to check those requirements with their town, city or county.

Step 1: Look the provider up in the state search

The Division of Social Services points parents to its licensee search tool. To use it:

1. Open the Find a Child Care Facility page and click Licensee Search Tool.
2. Pick Child Care Program from the Business Unit menu.
3. Pick Agency from the Entity Type menu to search facilities. (Pick Personnel to look up staff.)
4. To narrow it down, click Address Information and enter a city, ZIP code or county, then search.

Compare the name and address in the record with the place you’re visiting. If you can’t find the provider, ask them for the name the license is under and search again. If it still isn’t there, call Child Care Licensing before you enroll.

Step 2: Read the inspection and complaint history

Each facility record shows inspection information, plus the complaints and investigations associated with that facility. According to the state, every complaint is assessed for whether it could cause substantial, minimal or no harm, and an investigation can start in as little as 48 hours. Each allegation ends up substantiated, which means a citation, or unsubstantiated, which means no citation. A cited facility has to submit a plan of correction and may face fines or other sanctions, depending on severity. The state also publishes the scope, severity and sanction matrix it uses.

Nevada law also requires the state to inspect every licensed child care facility at least once a year (NRS 432A.180), and it calls for a letter grade of A to F after inspections (NRS 432A.184). Under that law, the inspection report and grade go online within 60 days, and the facility has to post its grade near each public entrance and tell anyone who asks. Ask to see it on your visit.

A single old citation that was corrected tells you something different from a pattern of repeat findings. Read the dates and ask the director about anything you don’t understand.

Step 3: Know which kind of license it is

The state licenses several types of care, and the type tells you a lot about the setting:

• Family care: in the provider’s own home, up to six children, with a license and a curriculum.
• Group care: also in the provider’s home, up to 12 children, with one additional caregiver and a curriculum.
• Centers: stand-alone facilities with all-day curriculum care.
• Accommodations: a business open to the public (a gym, for example) that watches customers’ children on site, for up to three hours, while the parent stays on the premises.
• On-site care: care for the children of a business’s own employees only.
• Out of school time: programs for school-age children running 10 or more hours a week, before or after school, on weekends or during breaks.

Family and group care providers must live in the home where they provide care.

Friends, family and neighbors are different. That’s an informal arrangement, and Nevada requires a license for care of more than four children who aren’t related to the caregiver and/or for whom the caregiver is paid.

Questions worth asking on a visit

Licensing rules give you concrete things to ask about. Under the state’s requirements for licensed facilities:

• New hires need a negative TB test before they start and must be fingerprinted within 24 hours of hire.
• Within their first 90 days, new staff complete in-person CPR and first aid training that covers the ages of the children in care.
• Staff complete 24 hours of training a year, including at least 2 hours on health, obesity or wellness.
• Every facility needs an annual fire and life-safety inspection.
• Facilities need 35 square feet of indoor space per child, not counting hallways, bathrooms or kitchens, and 37.5 square feet outdoors, with shade from April to September.

Asking how a provider handles these is a fair way to start a conversation. It isn’t a substitute for the state’s record.

Who to call

• Southern Nevada Child Care Licensing office: (702) 486-3822
• Child Care Licensing email: ChildCareLicensing@dss.nv.gov
• Complaints: the online complaint form

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911 first.