NARA Launches National Effort to Develop Essential Health and Safety Standards for Child Care Licensing

Two-year project will produce plain-language essential standards and an implementation toolkit for regulators and providers

FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) has begun a national project to develop essential health and safety standards for child care licensing. Work started July 1, 2026 and runs through March 31, 2028. NARA expects to publish the standards, along with a companion implementation toolkit, in September 2027.

The project addresses critical gaps and challenges in child care regulation: licensing requirements for child care services vary widely across states and territories, and the terms "health" and "safety" are not defined consistently from one jurisdiction to the next. NARA will bring national and state-based regulators, providers, researchers, and industry experts to a shared definition written in plain language.

Publication is set for fall 2027. Public comment opens in early 2027, and that is the widest door into this work.

This project is generously funded by the Bainum Family Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in recognition of their shared commitment to children and families.

"Strong child care licensing begins with a clear understanding of the essential protections every child should be able to count on. This initiative will bring together expertise from across the country to develop practical, evidence-informed standards that jurisdictions can use to strengthen licensing systems while recognizing their unique needs and circumstances."

— Jim Murphy, Executive Director and CEO, NARA

"Thanks to this investment, we have the opportunity to create a shared foundation instead of fifty different rulebooks. Getting this right allows the real win to include not only cleaner policy language, but also that the most vulnerable population in this country, young children, are safer for it."

— Michelle Hight Thomas, Board President, NARA

About NARA

The National Association for Regulatory Administration is an international non-profit professional association founded in 1976 that represents all human care licensing, including adult residential and assisted living, adult day care, child care, child welfare, and program licensing for services related to mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance use. NARA's mission is to promote the health and safety of children and adults in regulated settings, guided by a vision of consumer protection through prevention. NARA's partners include providers, consumers and their families, regulators, advocates, policymakers, universities, researchers, and allied professionals. Learn more at naralicensing.org.

SOURCE NARA