Children First
We promote safe, healthy, nurturing, and inclusive environments; developmentally appropriate learning; and positive guidance that respects each child’s dignity, culture, abilities, and individual potential.
NAHCENational Alliance for Home-Based and Center-Based EducatorsApply for MembershipProfessional Standards & Ethics
A shared promise to children, families, and the profession.
Excellence in early childhood education is not only about what we teach—it is also about the ethical foundation we build for children, families, educators, and one another.
Our Public Commitment
Professional conduct grounded in trust, safety, and integrity.
The National Alliance for Home-Based and Center-Based Educators adopts the NAEYC Code of Ethics for Early Childhood Educators by reference as its ethical foundation. Our supplemental commitments connect child well-being, family partnership, professional growth, ethical governance, and safeguards suited to home-based, center-based, and lab-school settings.
Families as Partners
We recognize parents and guardians as children’s primary nurturers and educators. We support respectful collaboration, confidentiality, transparent communication, and responsible protection of sensitive family information.
Professional Integrity
We commit to continuous learning, honest leadership, responsible stewardship, ethical decision-making, and clear accountability in our programs and in the governance of the Alliance.
Respectful Professional Community
We treat educators, colleagues, partners, and communities with dignity. We encourage mentorship, collaboration, informed advocacy, and recognition of home-based and center-based educators as one professional community.
Safeguards in Every Setting
We support strong health, sanitation, supervision, privacy, and environmental safeguards across family child care homes, center-based programs, and lab-school or workforce-training environments.
Equity and Inclusion
We seek equitable access and respectful, individualized support for every child and family, regardless of ability, background, culture, language, or family structure.
Compliance Across States and Regions
Our national code applies across the Alliance. Members must also follow the federal, state, regional, county, local, licensing, health and safety, background-screening, mandated-reporting, nondiscrimination, and recordkeeping requirements that govern their own programs and roles.
Board-Adopted Standards
Read the complete Code of Ethics and Professional Standards.
The complete booklet includes the Alliance’s responsibilities to children, families, colleagues, communities, organizational leadership, and home-based, center-based, and lab learning environments. It was approved and adopted on August 26, 2026.
National-to-Local Framework
One national commitment, supported by state and regional addenda.
The adopted ethics foundation and Alliance supplemental commitments apply to every member and hub.
Each state hub may maintain a reviewed compliance addendum identifying its licensing agency and state-specific requirements.
Local hubs may maintain procedures and resource information that strengthen—but never weaken—the national code or applicable law.