How to create a written emergency evacuation plan for daycare licensing

Last updated 2026-07-09

Why do licensing agencies require a written evacuation plan?

Licensing agencies require a written plan because an unwritten plan is invisible to an inspector and useless in a real emergency. A fire or gas leak gives staff no time to figure out the exit sequence on the spot. Writing it down forces that thinking to happen months in advance, on a calm Tuesday, instead of during the worst ten minutes of your career.

The federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) sets the baseline health and safety rules states must meet to receive federal childcare money. Under 45 CFR Part 98, states have to make sure providers serving subsidized children meet standards that include emergency preparedness ^[1]. States turn that into their own licensing regulations, and almost all of them demand a written emergency plan as a specific document, not a verbal policy.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia include some form of emergency preparedness requirement in their childcare licensing standards, according to Child Care Aware of America's 2023 report ^[2]. The written plan is your proof you met it. Inspectors ask to see the actual document. If you cannot produce it, you get a deficiency citation that delays or conditions your license.

There is a liability angle too. If a child is hurt during an evacuation and you have no written plan on file, that absence comes up fast. Home daycare insurance and daycare liability insurance policies generally expect you to follow the safety standards your license requires, and a missing evacuation plan is a plain deviation from those standards.

What does a state licensing agency actually want to see in this document?

Requirements vary by state, but a strong common core shows up on nearly every licensing checklist. Here is what inspectors look for across most states.

Identified hazards and emergency types. List the emergencies the plan covers: fire, gas leak, severe weather that requires sheltering in place, structural hazard, and any local risks like flooding or an industrial site near you.

At least two evacuation routes. Most state rules require a minimum of two exit routes from every occupied room. Some states, like California, require exit diagrams posted in each room ^[3]. The written plan should point to those posted diagrams and explain when each route gets used.

A primary and secondary off-site assembly location. Your primary spot might be the sidewalk across the street. Your secondary kicks in when the primary is unreachable, say the parking lot of a nearby church. Both addresses belong in the plan.

Staff roles and assignments. Who grabs the attendance roster? Who sweeps the last room? Who calls 911? Who runs the head count at the assembly point? Assign these by job title, not by name, so the plan does not go stale every time someone quits.

Attendance and accountability procedures. The plan has to explain how you confirm every child is out of the building. Most states require you to carry a current attendance sheet or sign-in log during every drill and every real evacuation.

Notification procedures for parents and guardians. When do you call parents? What do you tell them? Some states set a window, often within 30 minutes of an evacuation where children cannot go back inside.

Procedures for children with disabilities or mobility limitations. The ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act require that children with disabilities get equal access to emergency procedures ^[4]. Your plan should say how you move a child who cannot walk on their own, or one whose sensory needs make a fire alarm especially hard.

Relocation site information. If you cannot return to the building, where do the children go? This is different from the assembly point. A relocation site is somewhere you can shelter children for hours and where parents can pick them up. Include the address, phone number, and a contact person there.

A communication plan for staff. If staff get separated, how do they reach each other? Many programs pick one staff cell phone as the emergency line and keep a laminated card of key numbers with it.

Signatures and a review date. Most states require the director or operator to sign and date the plan. An annual review date shows the plan is alive, not a fossil from the year you opened.

What are the typical drill requirements that go with the plan?

The written plan is half the job. Drills are the other half, and they produce the paperwork that proves the plan gets practiced.

Most states require fire evacuation drills monthly, though frequency varies. The table below shows how six states set their drill rules.

State	Fire drill frequency	Other drill types required	Source
California	Monthly	Earthquake (2x/year)	CA Health & Safety Code §1596.95
Texas	Monthly	Severe weather (2x/year)	TX HHSC Child Care Licensing Minimum Standards
Florida	Monthly	None specified beyond fire	FL Statutes §402.305
New York	Monthly	Lockdown drills vary by county	NY OCFS Regulations 418-1
Illinois	Monthly	Tornado drills required	IL DCFS Licensing Standards
Ohio	Monthly	Tornado drills required	Ohio Admin. Code 5101:2-12

Drill records usually have to include the date and time, the number of children and staff present, how long the evacuation took, any problems, and the name of the person who ran and logged it. Some states hand you a standard form. Others take a log you build yourself.

Keep drill records on site and easy to grab. Inspectors ask for at least the last 12 months. Miss even one month and you are looking at a deficiency. A three-ring binder labeled "Emergency Drill Records" does the job. The ChildCareComp compliance toolkit includes a drill log template that matches the fields most states want, which saves an afternoon of formatting.

One thing worth doing right. Run your first few drills slow and deliberate. Children, especially infants and toddlers, do not react to alarms the way adults do. Staff need to practice the physical work of moving children in cribs or on cots before they can do it fast and safe under real stress.

How do you write the evacuation routes section of the plan?

Walk every room in your facility and ask one question: if the hallway door is blocked, where does a person in this room go? That second option is your secondary route. Map both routes for every occupied room.

For a home daycare, it is usually simple. The front door is Route 1, and a back door or side gate is Route 2. For a center with multiple classrooms, you need a route diagram for each room. Sketch a basic floor plan (graph paper or a free tool like Floorplanner both work) and draw arrows tracing the path from each room to the outdoors.

Once routes are mapped, test them with your body. Are they clear of stored stuff? Does the secondary door open easily from the inside, even for someone holding an infant? Can a child in a wheelchair or walker get through? Walk the route carrying a 20-pound weight if you want an honest feel for what evacuating an infant room takes.

Post the route diagram in each room at adult eye level, and also at child eye level if your kids are old enough to read basic signage. Many states require exit diagrams posted in each room. Check yours, because some spell out a size or format ^[3].

In the written plan itself, you do not have to reproduce the full diagram. Just reference it: "Exit route diagrams are posted in each room as Appendix A of this plan and on each classroom door."

How do you handle infants, toddlers, and children with disabilities in the evacuation plan?

This is the section most plans botch. A generic "all children will be escorted outside" line fails the inspector and, worse, fails the children.

Infants need a specific method. Common ones include evacuation cribs (wheeled cribs built to move several infants at once), evacuation slings or carriers, or a pre-assigned emergency adult-to-infant ratio that may differ from your normal operating ratio. Some states cap evacuation crib capacity. Document which method you use and confirm it meets any equipment standards in your state's rules.

Toddlers usually walk an evacuation line, a rope children hold onto while moving together. Your plan should describe it and name which staff member leads and which brings up the rear.

Children with individual mobility or sensory needs get an individualized section. You do not need to list children by name in the main plan (privacy), but you do need a process: when a child with a disability enrolls, you fill out a short evacuation accommodation addendum that lives in that child's file and gets reviewed with the assigned staff. The ADA National Network says emergency evacuation plans for facilities serving people with disabilities should address communication, mobility, and sensory needs specifically ^[4].

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has published guidance on including people with disabilities in emergency plans. It is not childcare-specific, but the framework maps straight onto a daycare ^[5].

What should the parent notification section of the plan say?

Parents have a right to know when their child has been evacuated, and most states put a specific window in the rules. Texas requires notification to parents as soon as possible, and within 30 minutes if children cannot return to the facility in that time ^[6]. California requires that parents be notified "as soon as reasonably possible" after an evacuation.

Your plan should spell out the method (phone call, text, app), who makes the calls (usually the director or a designated staff member while others manage children), what to say (where the children are, whether anyone was hurt, where to pick up if pickup is needed), and what to do when a parent cannot be reached.

Put your relocation address front and center in the notification script. The worst outcome of a real evacuation is a panicked parent racing to the daycare building while staff and children are four blocks away at the church. Print the relocation address and phone number in your parent handbook, your enrollment contract, and the evacuation plan.

Many programs run app-based tools for mass notification. If you use one, name it in your plan and make sure every enrolled family is actually registered on it. A notification system only works if the families on the other end are signed up.

Does the plan need to cover shelter-in-place as well as evacuation?

Yes, and many licensing agencies treat shelter-in-place as its own written requirement, separate from fire evacuation. The scenarios that keep you inside include severe weather (tornados, hurricanes), a hazardous materials release nearby, and sometimes lockdowns.

Shelter-in-place is evacuation run backward. Instead of getting out, you identify the safest interior rooms, secure doors and windows, and stay put until authorities give the all-clear. Your plan should name the specific interior room or rooms for severe weather (usually lowest floor, interior, away from windows) and the specific room or rooms for a hazmat or air-quality event (highest floor, seal windows if needed).

Some states require separate drill documentation for shelter-in-place. Check the exact language. If your state requires tornado drills twice a year, those get their own log entries, separate from fire drills.

Home daycares skip this a lot because the building feels familiar. But a provider running out of a ranch house with no basement needs a clear plan for where children go during a tornado warning. Pick an interior bathroom or closet and practice getting there with the kids.

How do you format and organize the written plan document?

No format is universally required, but a clear structure makes both the inspection and the actual emergency far easier. Here is a layout that holds up in practice.

Cover page: Program name, address, license number, director name, date of last review, next scheduled review date.

Section 1: Emergency types covered. One sentence each for fire, gas leak, severe weather, hazmat, lockdown, and any local hazards.

Section 2: Evacuation procedures. Numbered steps, from alarm to final head count at the assembly point. Active voice, short sentences. "1. Staff in each room stop all activities. 2. The teacher closest to the door checks for smoke before opening it. 3. The lead teacher takes the attendance roster..." Write it so a substitute with zero training could follow it under stress.

Section 3: Shelter-in-place procedures. Same numbered format.

Section 4: Staff assignments. A small table listing the role (Lead Teacher, Aide, Director, Cook) and its specific emergency job.

Section 5: Assembly location and relocation site. Primary and secondary assembly points with addresses. Relocation site address, phone number, contact person.

Section 6: Accountability procedures. How attendance gets taken at the assembly point. What happens if a child is unaccounted for.

Section 7: Parent notification. Timeline, method, script outline, what to do if a parent cannot be reached.

Section 8: Children with disabilities accommodations. The general process for completing individual accommodations at enrollment.

Section 9: Communication devices and supplies. Where the first aid kit is, where the emergency binder lives, which staff member carries the cell phone, where the spare key is.

Section 10: Drill schedule and documentation. How often drills run and where records are kept.

Appendix A: Floor plan diagrams with exit routes marked.

Appendix B: Individual child evacuation accommodation forms, one per child with identified needs.

Signature page: Director signature, date, and a signature line for the next annual review.

Keep the whole thing under 10 pages if you can. A 30-page plan looks thorough, but staff will not read it. A clean, scannable 6 to 8 page document with numbered steps is the one that actually gets used.

What common mistakes cause deficiency citations on inspection?

Read enough licensing inspection reports and the same failures keep showing up.

No secondary exit route identified. Common in converted spaces or older buildings where a second exit takes some creativity. If your only real second exit is a window with a drop, check your state rules on window egress hardware and ground-floor requirements.

Drill records incomplete or missing months. A binder with 10 of 12 months is a deficiency. Set a phone reminder for the same day every month.

The plan names specific staff members instead of roles. When that person quits, the plan is outdated on paper. Use job titles.

No relocation site documented. A sidewalk assembly point is not a relocation site. If the building is uninhabitable for six hours, where do the children go? Name the place.

No plan for infants or children with disabilities. "All children will evacuate" is not enough. Describe the equipment and the method.

The plan has never been reviewed. A 2019 document with no review dates since signals neglect. Date and sign it every year even when nothing changed.

Parent notification missing. Some operators cover everything about getting out of the building and nothing about telling parents. Inspectors want both.

If you are not sure how your state's inspection checklist scores evacuation plans, the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance keeps a searchable database of state licensing standards ^[7]. Your state childcare licensing agency website will also post its inspection tool, often as a downloadable PDF.

How does the evacuation plan connect to other required health and safety policies?

The evacuation plan does not stand alone. Licensing requires a cluster of related policies, and inspectors often review them together. Knowing how they connect helps you avoid gaps.

Your emergency contact and authorization records feed straight into the plan. The attendance roster you carry outside during a drill comes from these records. If a child's file is missing an emergency contact, that is both a records deficiency and a hole in your evacuation system.

Your first aid and injury reporting policy connects at the accountability section. The plan should say where the first aid kit is and who treats a child hurt during the evacuation.

Your staff cell phone policy matters because someone needs a working phone to call 911 and reach parents. Some home daycares restrict cell phone use during care hours, which is reasonable, but those policies need a carve-out for emergencies.

Your daycare cleaning and facilities maintenance schedule affects evacuation safety too. Exit routes blocked by stored cleaning supplies or broken door hardware are the most common physical citation inspectors write alongside a missing plan.

The pattern is simple: an inspector who finds a problem with your evacuation plan usually finds related problems in the adjacent policies. Fixing the plan alone while the neighbors stay broken is a short-term patch. Tools like the ChildCareComp compliance toolkit pull these policies into one review checklist so you close all the gaps in a single pass.

How do you update and maintain the plan over time?

A plan reviewed once at licensing and never touched again is a liability. Staff turn over. Buildings change. Children with new needs enroll. The relocation site closes. Any of these can make the plan flat wrong.

Build an annual review into your calendar, ideally near your license renewal date so it rides a deadline you already track. During the review, ask:

1. Have any exit routes changed from construction or renovation? 2. Are the staff assignments still right for current job titles and team structure? 3. Is the relocation site still available and still the right pick? 4. Do any currently enrolled children have accommodation needs that are not yet documented? 5. Have local emergency management contacts or procedures changed? 6. Did any drill this year expose a gap that never got fixed?

Document the review even when nothing changes. A signed line reading "Plan reviewed [date] by [name], no changes required" beats a plan with no review trail at all.

Some states make you submit the updated plan to the licensing agency at renewal. Others want it on-site but not submitted. Know which camp you are in. The National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations, maintained by Child Trends, offers state-by-state summaries that cover emergency plan submission requirements ^[8].

Frequently asked questions

Does a home daycare need the same written evacuation plan as a childcare center?

Most states require both home daycares and centers to have a written evacuation plan, but the complexity differs. A licensed family home daycare usually needs a simpler document: two exit routes, an assembly location, a relocation site, staff-to-child roles, and drill records. Centers with multiple rooms need room-by-room exit diagrams and more detailed staff assignments. Check your state's family home daycare standards specifically, since they often differ from center standards.

How often do I need to run fire drills at my daycare?

Monthly fire drills are the standard in most states. A few allow quarterly drills for certain program types, but monthly is the most common expectation and the safer habit. Beyond fire drills, many states require two severe weather or tornado drills per year. Each drill needs documentation: date, time, number of children present, evacuation time, and any issues. Missing even one month of documentation is a common inspection deficiency.

What counts as an acceptable secondary evacuation route for a home daycare?

A secondary route is a physically usable path out of the building that does not share the primary exit. For most homes that means a back door, side door, or ground-floor window with proper egress hardware. A window on an upper floor generally does not count unless specific egress equipment is installed. The path has to be clear of obstruction, quick to unlock, and passable while carrying a child or infant.

Can I use a template for my evacuation plan, or does it need to be custom?

Templates are fine as a starting point, but the plan must reflect your specific facility. A template with a generic address, generic roles, or placeholder assembly locations fails an inspection. Fill every blank with real information: your building's actual exits, your actual relocation site address, your actual staff role titles. Your state licensing agency may also have its own required format or form, so always check before using a third-party template.

What should I do if a child in my care has a physical disability that affects evacuation?

Your plan should include a process for creating individual evacuation accommodations for children with mobility, sensory, or communication disabilities. At enrollment, review the child's needs with the family and document specifics: what equipment moves the child, which staff member is assigned, and how the child is alerted to the emergency. The ADA requires equal access to emergency procedures. Keep individual accommodation forms in the child's file and update them when needs change.

Do I need to post the evacuation plan on the wall, or can I keep it in a binder?

Most states require exit route diagrams posted in each room, but the full written plan can live in a binder. Post the floor plan diagram showing exit routes in a visible spot in each room, and keep the full plan document somewhere accessible that staff know about, often near the sign-in area or director's office. Some states also require the plan to be available to parents on request. Check your state's specific posting requirements.

What is a relocation site, and how is it different from an assembly point?

An assembly point is the immediate outdoor spot where children gather right after leaving the building, usually the sidewalk or a nearby open area away from the structure. A relocation site is a separate indoor location where children can shelter if you cannot return to the building for an extended period. Common relocation sites include a neighboring church, community center, or library. Your relocation site should have a pre-arranged agreement with the host and a working phone number in your plan.

How quickly do I need to notify parents after an evacuation?

Notification timelines vary by state. Texas requires notification within 30 minutes if children cannot return to the facility. California requires notification "as soon as reasonably possible." A safe practice anywhere is to notify parents within 30 minutes of any evacuation where return is delayed, and within 15 minutes if any child was injured. Put the timeline in your written plan so staff know the expectation without guessing during a real emergency.

What happens if an inspector finds my evacuation plan is missing or incomplete?

A missing or materially incomplete plan is typically cited as a deficiency or violation. Depending on your state's system, that could mean a corrective action plan with a deadline, a condition on your license, or in repeat or serious cases, an adverse licensing action. Most first-time deficiencies bring a written correction order with a 10 to 30 day window to submit the completed plan. The deficiency stays on your inspection record and may affect subsidy contracts or QRIS ratings.

Does a written evacuation plan satisfy CCDF health and safety requirements?

CCDF rules under 45 CFR Part 98 require states to ensure providers meet health and safety standards that include emergency preparedness. A written evacuation plan is a core piece of that, but CCDF compliance also covers first aid training, background checks, and other safety elements. States set the specific documentation standards to meet the federal baseline. A complete plan positions you to meet the CCDF-driven requirements your state adopted, but it is one part of a bigger picture.

How do I write the staff assignments section if I run a solo home daycare with no employees?

If you operate alone, document that you are the sole responsible adult and describe exactly how you move all children out without help. Cover your method for evacuating infants at the same time as mobile toddlers, usually an evacuation crib or sling for infants while toddlers hold an evacuation rope. Also document who you call first (911, then parents), how you confirm every child is accounted for, and at what point you call for backup if a child is missing.

Is a digital version of the evacuation plan acceptable for licensing?

Most states accept digital records, but the plan has to be immediately accessible during an inspection and during a real emergency. A PDF on a password-locked phone that needs WiFi is not practically accessible. The safest approach is a printed copy in a labeled binder on-site plus a digital version for easy updating and sharing. If your state requires a signature, the printed version needs an original wet signature. Verify your state's rules on electronic records for licensing documents.

How do I find my specific state's evacuation plan requirements?

Go straight to your state childcare licensing agency's website and find the current licensing standards or minimum standards document for your program type (family home or center). These are usually downloadable PDFs. Search inside for terms like "emergency," "evacuation," "fire drill," or "disaster plan." The National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations at Child Trends also provides state-by-state summaries with citations to the actual regulation text, which is a useful cross-reference.

Sources

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care, Child Care and Development Fund regulations (45 CFR Part 98): CCDF rules require states to ensure that child care providers serving subsidized children meet health and safety standards including emergency preparedness
2. Child Care Aware of America, Demanding Change: Repairing Our Child Care System, 2023: All 50 states and the District of Columbia include some form of emergency preparedness requirement in their childcare licensing standards
3. California Department of Social Services, Child Care Licensing Program (Health and Safety Code Section 1596.95): California requires exit diagrams to be posted in each room and fire evacuation drills to be conducted monthly
4. ADA National Network, ADA and Emergency Preparedness guidance: Emergency evacuation plans for facilities serving people with disabilities must address communication, mobility, and sensory needs; federal ADA and Section 504 require equal access to emergency procedures
5. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), guidance on including people with disabilities in emergency planning: FEMA guidance addresses inclusion of people with disabilities in emergency plans, covering communication, mobility, and sensory needs
6. Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Licensing Minimum Standards for Child Care Centers: Texas requires notification to parents as soon as possible but within 30 minutes if children cannot return to the facility following an evacuation
7. National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, Child Care Licensing Standards Database (childcareta.acf.hhs.gov): NCECQA maintains a searchable database of state licensing standards, including emergency plan requirements and inspection tools
8. Child Trends, National Database of Child Care Licensing Regulations: State-by-state summaries of childcare licensing regulations, including emergency plan submission requirements
9. Florida Statutes Section 402.305, Minimum Standards for Child Care Facilities: Florida requires monthly fire drills at licensed childcare facilities
10. Ohio Administrative Code 5101:2-12, Child Care Center Licensing Requirements: Ohio requires monthly fire drills and tornado drills at licensed child care centers