Contains whereas clauses.

Amends GS 110-86 by adding new subdivision (6a) defining a license-exempt family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) child care provider as an individual who (1) provides childcare to one or more children who are not the individual’s own biological, adopted, or step-children, or children the individual is a legal guardian of; (2) operates in a setting, including their home or the child's home, not required to be licensed as a child care facility due to the number of children served, nature of the arrangement, or an applicable exemption; (3) has a preexisting familial, social, or community relationship with the child or child’s family, including but not limited to a grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling over 18 years old, family friend, or neighbor; and (4) is in compliance with all applicable requirements for legally operating a child care arrangement under State law. Provides that the term does not include individuals required to obtain a license under Article 7 – Child Care Facilities. Clarifies that the subdivision must not be construed to require license-exempt FFN providers to obtain a license, register with the State, or comply with any requirement not otherwise applicable to unlicensed child care arrangements.

Appropriates $30,000 for 2025-26 from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Child Development and Early Education (Division) to update public-facing materials to incorporate the definition of license-exempt FFN child care provider and to communicate to the public the legal status of FFN providers and the distinction between license-exempt FFN arrangements and licensed child care facilities, to revise internal legal guidance documents, policy manuals, and staff training materials to reflect the new statutory definition and its application, and to update the Division’s data collection and reporting systems to enable tracking of license-exempt FFN providers as a distinct provider category.

Provides that existing exemptions from child care facility licensing requirements under GS 110-86(2) are retained without modification and that new GS 110-86(6a) must be construed consistently with those exemptions.