HB4024 • 2026

family child care providers; exemption

HB4024 - family child care providers; exemption

Children Education

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Aaron Márquez, Rachel Keshel, David Marshall, Sr.
Last action: 2026-02-10
Official status: House second read
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is missing from the provided metadata; implementation timing remains unknown until signed or published in official registers.

HB4024: Exemptions for Family Child Care Providers

This bill updates Arizona law to list specific types of child care settings, including military-certified family providers and certain schools or camps, that do not need a state license.

What This Bill Does

Amends section 36-884 of the Arizona Revised Statutes regarding exemptions from child care licensing rules.
Exempts family child care providers certified by U.S. military branches or the Coast Guard if they only serve affiliated families.
Requires certain exempt facilities, such as day camps and short-term preschools, to post notices stating they are not licensed under state law.
Mandates that personnel at specific exempt programs must submit fingerprint cards for background checks.
Clarifies when private schools or public school units providing care outside regular hours become subject to child care standards.

Who It Names or Affects

Family child care providers certified by the U.S. Department of Defense or Coast Guard who only serve affiliated families.
Facilities offering short-term educational instruction for children ages three to six that meet specific time and content limits.
Day camps providing recreational programs to children at least five years old if they are accredited and operate less than ten weeks a year.
Private and public schools that offer child care outside regular school hours or to non-enrolled students.

Terms To Know

Exemption: A rule that allows a specific person or group to be free from a law or requirement, such as needing a license.
Family Child Care Provider: An individual who cares for children in their own home and is certified by the U.S. military or Coast Guard under this bill's specific exemption rules.

Limits and Unknowns

The effective date of this law is not listed in the provided text.
This summary only covers changes to section 36-884 and does not include other parts of child care laws that may exist elsewhere.
Military-certified providers lose their exemption if they also provide care to children who are not affiliated with the military or Coast Guard.

Bill History

2026-02-10 House
House second read
2026-02-09 House
House Rules: None
2026-02-09 House
House Federalism, Military Affairs & Elections: None
2026-02-09 House
House first read

Official Summary Text

HB4024 - family child care providers; exemption

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB4024 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
family child care providers; exemption

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 4024

Introduced by

Representatives
M�rquez: Keshel, Marshall

AN
ACT

Amending section 36-884, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to child care programs.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 36-884, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
36-884.

Exemptions

This article does not apply to the care given to children by or
in:

1. The homes of parents or blood relatives.

2. A religious institution conducting a nursery in
conjunction with its religious services or conducting parent-supervised
occasional drop-in care.

3. A unit of the public school system, including
specialized professional services provided by school districts for the sole
purpose of meeting mandated requirements to address the physical and mental
impairments prescribed in section 15-771. If a public school
provides child care other than during the school's regular hours or for
children who are not regularly enrolled in kindergarten programs or grades one
through twelve, that portion of the school that provides child care is subject
to standards of care prescribed pursuant to section 36-883.04.

4. A regularly organized private school engaged in
an educational program that may be attended in substitution for public school
pursuant to section 15-802. If the school provides child care
beyond regular public school hours or for children who are not regularly
enrolled in kindergarten programs or grades one through twelve, that portion of
the school providing such care shall be considered a child care facility and is
subject to this article.

5. Any facility that provides training only in
specific subjects, including dancing, drama, music, self-defense or
religion and tutoring provided by public schools solely to improve school
performance.

6. Any facility that provides only recreational or
instructional activities to
school age

school-age
children who may enter into and depart from the facility at
their own volition.� The facility may require the children to document their
entrance into and departure from the facility.� This documentation does not
affect the exemption under this paragraph. The facility shall post a
notice stating it is not a licensed child care facility under section 36-882.

7. Any of the Arizona state schools for the deaf and
the blind.

8. A facility that provides only educational
instruction for children who are at least three and not older than six years of
age if all the following are true:

(a) The facility instructs only in the core subjects
of math, reading and science.

(b) The facility does not accept state-subsidized
tuition for the children.

(c) A child is present at the facility for not more
than two and one-quarter hours a day and not more than three days a week.

(d) The instruction is not provided in place of care
ordinarily provided by a parent or guardian.

(e) The facility posts a notice that the facility is
not licensed under this article.

(f) The facility requires fingerprint cards of all
personnel pursuant to section 36-883.02.

9. A facility that operates a day camp that provides
recreational programs to children if all of the following are true:

(a) The day camp is accredited by a nationally
recognized accrediting organization for day camps as approved by the
department.

(b) The day camp operates for less than twenty-four
hours a day and less than ten weeks each calendar year.

(c) The day camp posts a notice at the facility and
on its website that it is not licensed under the laws of this state as a child
care facility.

(d) The day camp provides programs only to children
who are at least five years of age.

(e) The day camp requires fingerprint cards of all
personnel pursuant to section 36-883.02.

10. A program or facility certified
as a family child care provider by a branch of the United States department of
defense or by the United States coast guard. This paragraph does not
apply to family child care providers who also provide child care services to
children who are not affiliated with a branch of the United States department
of defense or the United States coast guard.
END_STATUTE