HOW NEW JERSEY DOES CHILD CARE
New Jersey’s child care system is a complex, patchwork structure shaped by numerous funding streams, regulatory frameworks, and delivery models. Families and child care providers navigate a layered mix of public and private options that vary significantly depending on location, income, and a child’s age.
Categories of Care
In New Jersey, one category of child care — in which a parent stays at home to care for a child — represents a relatively small percentage of families. New Jersey ranks among the highest for the percentage of young children with all available parents in the workforce — unsurprising in a state whose cost of living is among the nation’s highest. And that number is rising, from 66% of children under six with all available parents in the workforce in 2014 to 75% in 2024. For most families, New Jersey’s child care landscape consists of three types of care, described below.
A family child care program serves no more than five children under age 13 in the provider’s home. New Jersey family child care providers can choose to be either registered or unregistered, with registration required for a provider to accept children whose care is subsidized through the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). To register, providers must complete a background check and 18 hours of free preservice training covering such topics as child development, health and safety, discipline, nutrition, programming, and communicating with parents. Providers must also pass a home inspection that reviews safety, supervision, recordkeeping, and quality of care, including the number and ages of children served. Unregistered providers operate without state oversight and are paid entirely through private arrangements between families and providers. For parents who work nonstandard hours, family child care often is the only type of care that offers the schedule and flexibility to meet their needs. The average yearly cost in New Jersey for child care in a full-time family care setting was $12,502 for an infant in 2024 and $11,113 for a toddler.
Center-based child care providers serve six or more children and must be licensed by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. The number of children a center serves ranges from fewer than a dozen to more than 100. Licensing requirements are extensive, covering staff qualifications and ratios, background checks, health and safety standards, facility specifications, and regular inspections. The average yearly cost at a full-time center-based setting in New Jersey was $20,213 in 2024 for an infant and $19,448 for a toddler.
Family, friend, and neighbor care is when a relative or friend provides child care through an informal or formal arrangement. Families eligible for CCAP may use their subsidy to pay a family member, friend, or neighbor to care for their children if the caregiver meets such requirements as completing a background check and taking brief training. This option can be critical for families with nontraditional work hours or cultural preferences for home-based care.
New Jersey, unlike most states, lacks an intermediate licensing category between family child care — five or fewer children — and licensed child care centers. Other states have intermediate or tiered categories for family child care that enable providers to serve higher numbers of children in a homelike setting, often with related regulatory requirements.
In 2024, 76% of children age five and under in New Jersey were enrolled in some form of care — 64% of infants and toddlers and 82% of preschool-aged children. At least 13% of New Jersey children are in some combination of child care types.
Child Care by Age
For children younger than three, families face a maze of private child care options. Since there are only enough licensed child care spots to serve a small fraction of the state’s infants and toddlers, families must hope they’re fortunate enough to find a spot for their child that is affordable and in a convenient location. Early Head Start and CCAP subsidies are the only options for families who can’t afford approximately to pay $20,000 per year. But Early Head Start is available only to families with incomes below the federal poverty level ($33,000 a year for a family of four in 2026) — and it has capacity for fewer than 4,000 children. Because of underfunding, CCAP isn’t accepting applications from most families — even those who are eligible under the state’s rules. So, in reality, low-paid families often have no options.
Some of New Jersey’s child care licensing regulations differ based on the age of children in care, with stricter standards for facilities, staff-to-child ratios, and other requirements for infants (under 18 months of age) and toddlers (18 months to two-and-a-half years).
Some early child care programs in New Jersey are licensed to provide care for children from infancy through age six or older. Others are licensed only to care for children beginning at age two-and-a-half. Child care for three- and four-year-olds is often referred to as preschool or pre-K.
Mixed-Delivery
Over the past three decades, New Jersey has moved toward statewide universal public preschool — an effort that grew out of the Abbott court decisions on school funding, which required universal, high-quality preschool for three- and four-year-olds in the state’s highest-poverty districts. To implement universal public preschool, the state chose what is known as a mixed-delivery approach, in which school districts may offer preschool in their own facilities, partner with community-based child care centers that provide publicly funded preschool classrooms in their facilities, or both.
Public preschool operates on a public school schedule and calendar, meaning approximately six hours per day, Monday through Friday, from September to June, with closures for holidays, staff training, and school vacations. Many community-based child care centers that provide publicly funded preschool classrooms offer care for preschool children before or after school hours and during the summer, which better meets the needs of working families, but families must pay for this wrap-around care.
The Murphy administration started expanding public preschool to more districts, with the goal of eventually offering free, high-quality preschool to families statewide. As of now, just over half of eligible New Jersey school districts offer publicly-funded preschool for three-and four-year-olds. Many of these districts lack capacity to serve all eligible children. As a result, families often face lotteries or other enrollment mechanisms that limit access. Families that don’t get a public preschool spot continue to pay for private preschool if they need or want it.
One concern about public preschool expansion is the risk of undermining the stability of community-based child care providers or reducing the availability of infant-toddler programs. The issue is that public preschool can draw three- and four-year-olds away from community child care providers. Because care for this age group is less expensive to provide, community providers often set tuition for them at a level that offsets the higher cost of providing infant-toddler care. So, losing three-and-four-year-olds could make it harder for some community providers to stay in business, which would result in fewer child care spaces available for parents with infants or toddlers. Such destabilization is more of a risk in districts that offer public preschool but opt not to partner with community child care providers in a mixed-delivery approach.
Paying for Child Care
Overlaying and cutting across these different types of child care in New Jersey are various funding mechanisms. While each funding stream serves a purpose, their combined complexity makes the system difficult to navigate, unstable for providers, and often unaffordable for families.
The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), New Jersey’s subsidy vehicle, helps low-paid working parents and parents in school afford child care. It’s funded through a mix of federal funding streams and state dollars. Child care providers may choose whether or not to accept subsidies, which reimburse care up to a maximum amount set by the state. Under state rules, only families in which all parents are working or attending school or job training full-time qualify for a subsidy. Depending on their income, families receiving a subsidy may be required to make a copayment directly to the child care provider. New Jersey’s income cutoff for subsidy eligibility is among the lowest in the nation, limiting CCAP eligibility to families with incomes below twice the federal poverty level — a cutoff of $66,000 for a family of four in 2026. Federal program rules allow New Jersey to provide subsidies for families making up to $134,671 a year for a family of four, which is 85% of the state’s median income for that family size. New Jersey hasn’t allocated state funds that would be required for this to happen.
Funding for preschool-age children adds another layer. New Jersey’s publicly funded preschool system, which is being expanded toward universal preschool, is supported mostly through state education aid and, in some cases, funding from local school districts. Preschool dollars flow directly to public school districts, which then pay private child care centers that offer public preschool through mixed-delivery partnerships. While public preschool funding means parents don’t have to pay for preschool during the school day and year, families still have to pay for care before and after school hours, during school vacations and holidays, and over the summer.
Additional federal funding streams supplement the system: Head Start provides direct funding to certain child care providers to serve preschoolers in families below the federal poverty level. Early Head Start operates similarly and serves infants and toddlers under age three. Head Start and Early Head Start, combined, serve only about 12,000 young children in the state.
Of course, tuition payments from families make up a large share of providers’ incomes. But since most families can’t afford to pay the actual cost of providing child care, individual providers often stay in business by blending funding streams, when possible. Some providers operate as nonprofit or tax-exempt entities and are eligible to receive donations or private grants to supplement tuition and other funding streams.
Most families pay something for child care — with many paying entirely out of pocket, as only 20% of families using child care receive assistance from the state. Families who receive subsidies often have copayments or need to pay the difference between the state reimbursement rate and the provider’s tuition charge. Families with children in public preschool often need to pay for before- or after-school care and care in the summer and on school holidays.
A Complex Regulatory and Governance Structure
Opening and operating a licensed center-based or registered family child care program in New Jersey requires contact with a regulatory and administrative system that involves numerous state and local agencies, each responsible for a defined component of oversight, approval, or program administration. While each entity plays an important role in protecting children’s health and safety and ensuring programs’ quality, the system as a whole is complex and daunting. Providers must devote considerable time and energy to understanding, then complying with, its many requirements.
At the core of the system, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF), through its Office of Licensing, is responsible for issuing child care licenses and enforcing compliance with the Manual of Requirements for Child Care Centers (N.J.A.C. 3A:52). These requirements govern staff qualifications, staff-to-child ratios, background checks, program activities, health and sanitation practices, recordkeeping, and physical plant standards. Compliance is verified through regular inspections and requirements for extensive documentation.
Before a license can be issued, providers must secure a series of facility-related approvals, many of which fall outside DCF’s authority. Municipal zoning and planning offices determine whether child care is a permitted use at a given site and may require variances or special approvals. Municipal construction officials oversee compliance with the State Uniform Construction Code and issue Certificates of Occupancy based on the ages of children served and the building’s use classification.
Additional state agencies are involved in ensuring buildings’ safety and environmental health. The state Department of Community Affairs issues the Life Hazard Use Certificate of Registration. The Department of Health oversees drinking water requirements and, when applicable, Safe Building Interior Certification and Indoor Environmental Health Assessments conducted by licensed consultants. In certain circumstances — particularly for older buildings or sites with prior commercial or industrial use — the Department of Environmental Protection requires a Preliminary Assessment under its Technical Requirements for Site Remediation (N.J.A.C. 7:26E).
Local agencies are also involved. Child care providers must obtain a Fire Safety Inspection Certificate from the local fire department or fire official and, when applicable, a Health Certificate from the local or county health department, particularly for centers that prepare or serve food.
Beyond licensing and facility approvals, providers participating in public funding streams must engage with additional agencies and systems. Providers interested in accepting child care subsidies or participating in New Jersey’s Quality Rating Improvement System — designed to raise the quality of child care throughout the state — must work with the state Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development. Participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requires engagement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, administered at the state level by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Providers seeking to offer publicly funded preschool must comply with state Department of Education regulations and work directly with their local school districts, which control participation, funding, and contracts under mixed-delivery arrangements.
In summary, licensed child care centers in New Jersey must coordinate across numerous state departments, local governments, and program systems — each with distinct rules, timelines, data systems, and points of contact. Approvals are often sequential rather than obtained all at once — with participation in one program frequently triggering more rounds of compliance and reporting obligations. As each agency oversees a defined component, there’s no single point of accountability for aligning processes or monitoring the overall health of the child care system. This makes it difficult to assess systemwide capacity, track delays in adding capacity, or analyze the impact of regulatory and funding decisions on provider sustainability and family access.
Family child care (FCC) in New Jersey operates under a regulatory framework distinct from licensed child care centers and governed by the Manual of Requirements for Family Child Care Registration (N.J.A.C. 3A:54). While FCC registration is technically voluntary, participation is required for providers that want to receive child care subsidies, participate in quality initiatives, or be connected to state and local referral systems. As a result, many FCC providers navigate a multilayered system of oversight, approvals, and compliance.
Unlike center-based providers, FCC providers don’t register directly with the state. Instead, they must work through a state Department of Children and Families-approved sponsoring organization that serves as intermediary between the provider and the Department’s Office of Licensing. Sponsoring organizations process applications, conduct inspections, issue Certificates of Registration, provide required training and technical assistance, monitor compliance, and investigate complaints. DCF, in turn, oversees and monitors sponsoring organizations, in what amounts to a two-tier oversight structure rather than a single point of accountability.
To become and remain registered, FCC providers must meet extensive requirements related not only to caregiving practices, but also to their homes and household members. These include criminal history and Child Abuse Record Information background checks; health examinations and tuberculosis testing; CPR, first aid, and preservice training; letters of reference; and documentation related to substitute and alternate caregivers. Any change in household composition or caregiving staff can trigger additional reporting and approval requirements.
FCC providers are also subject to detailed health, safety, and environmental standards that can be complex to implement in a private residence. Requirements govern allowable space, supervision, fire safety and emergency egress, storage of hazardous materials, sanitation, outdoor play areas, and emergency preparedness. Providers must maintain written emergency plans and conduct and document regular evacuation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown drills — requirements that mirror institutional expectations but are applied within a family home.
Environmental and interior health requirements add another layer to the process. FCC providers may be required to submit documentation that no further environmental remediation is needed for the site, consistent with requirements overseen by the state Department of Environmental Protection. In addition, the Office of Licensing may, on a case-by-case basis, require a Safe Building Interior Certification or other interior environmental approval issued by the Department of Health, particularly when interior environmental conditions warrant review.
Ongoing compliance requires additional administrative demands. Sponsoring organizations conduct announced and unannounced inspections, including pre-renewal inspections, biennial monitoring visits, and random annual monitoring of registered providers. FCC providers are subject to complaint investigations and must maintain detailed records related to children’s enrollment and attendance, health and safety, injuries, training, and program operations.
FCC providers who want to accept child care subsidies must also engage with the state Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development (DFD). FCC providers receiving subsidies are included in a state-recognized collective bargaining unit for subsidy-related matters. A portion of subsidy payments may be withheld to cover union dues or representation fees, reducing net operating revenue.
FCC providers who want to participate in the state Quality Rating Improvement System, also administered through DFD, must meet additional quality standards, documentation, training, and monitoring requirements that operate independently of FCC registration and subsidy administration. Participation is voluntary, but closely tied to opportunities for professional development, coaching, and quality-related financial support.
Participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) introduces another administrative structure. CACFP is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and overseen at the state level by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, typically through separate sponsoring organizations. FCC providers participating in CACFP must comply with nutrition standards, maintain daily meal and attendance records, undergo monitoring visits, and meet civil rights and training requirements that aren’t integrated with FCC registration, subsidy participation, or Quality Rating Improvement System processes.
In summary, FCC providers who seek to operate legally and obtain public supports must navigate parallel systems: registration through a sponsoring organization; environmental and interior health approvals; subsidies and collective representation; quality improvement initiatives; and nutrition program requirements — each with distinct rules, timelines, documentation, and oversight entities. As with center-based providers, there’s no single point of accountability for aligning these processes or monitoring their combined impact on providers’ participation, administrative burden, or financial sustainability. As a result, FCC providers — many of whom operate alone in their homes — must deal with a fragmented system influencing decisions about whether to register, accept subsidies, participate in quality initiatives, or even remain in the child care field.