Miss. Code Ann. § 43-20-3

The purpose of this chapter is to protect and promote the health and safety of the children of this state by providing for the licensing of child care facilities as defined herein so as to assure that certain minimum standards are maintained in such facilities. This policy is predicated upon the fact that a child is not capable of protecting himself, and when his parents for any reason have relinquished his care to others, there arises the probability of exposure of that child to certain risks to his health and safety which require the offsetting statutory protection of licensing.