Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Services Division

Fire and Health Department Approvals (child-care licensing precondition)

A child-care center in Tuscaloosa County is licensed at the state level by the Alabama Department of Human Resources, but DHR's own licensing page makes fire and health department approvals a real, county-level precondition of that license, required to be posted where parents can see them. In Tuscaloosa County, the health department approval routes through the Tuscaloosa County Health Department, the same ADPH West Central District field office that issues food-service permits, and the fire department approval comes from whichever local fire authority serves the facility's location — the City of Tuscaloosa Fire Department, the Northport Fire Department, another municipal fire department, or the applicable fire district serving the unincorporated county. This is a genuine local sign-off baked into the state licensing process, not a separate county-issued license of its own, and no dollar fee specific to this approval step is published online; a center serving meals should also confirm with the Tuscaloosa County Health Department whether that service requires the same food-establishment permit that applies to restaurants, since DHR's page does not specify which permit satisfies the 'health department approval' requirement.