Home daycare licensing · 51 states covered
Get your home daycare licensed — written for your state.
Every state sets a different capacity, different ratios, different training hours and a different application path. Pick your state and get one clear prep packet: the numbers you must meet, the step-by-step application as a checklist, the notices to post on your walls, and the enrollment forms parents fill in.
Build my prep packet — free preview →No account. No download to try it. Every rule sourced and dated to the state's own regulations.
The numbers, state-exact
Your state's capacity limit (and whether your own children count), age-by-age ratios, and maximum group size — pulled from the statute, not a national average.
A checklist you can work through
The application steps, required postings and enrollment forms are interactive checkboxes that save your progress as you go — and print clean.
Honest about the law
Where a figure isn't pinned down in the official text, we flag it to confirm instead of inventing a number. Each state is dated and sourced.
Build your licensing prep packet
Your state changes its rules — we'll tell you
Getting licensed takes months, and states quietly revise the numbers — a new ratio, a new training hour, a new form. Leave your email and we'll write to you when your state's home-daycare requirements change, or when we add a state we don't cover yet. Nothing else, ever, and you can unsubscribe from any message.
Your questions, answered
What do I actually need to get my home daycare licensed?
Most states require a capacity limit and adult-to-child ratios, pre-service and ongoing training, current CPR and first aid, criminal-background and child-abuse-registry checks, an application, a home inspection, certain notices posted on your walls, and specific enrollment forms for each child. The exact numbers, training hours and forms differ by state — your packet shows yours.
How many children can I care for?
It varies by state and by the ages of the children — and most states count your own children in the total. Pennsylvania caps a family child care home at 6, Texas at 12 with age-mix charts, New York allows up to 8 (family) or 16 (group family). Pick your state to see your exact limit and ratios.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information based on each state's published child-care licensing rules, dated to when we last verified them — not a guarantee of licensure. Always confirm with your state's licensing agency before you apply. Where a figure isn't pinned down in the official text, we flag it to confirm instead of inventing a number.
Pricing
Free preview
$0
- Full packet, every state we cover
- Every rule for your state — capacity, ratios, training, background checks
- The full application steps, postings and forms, in plain English
- Interactive checklists, saved on your browser
- Read it all, as long as you like. On screen only.
Your filing packet
$29 one-time, one state
- A clean, print-ready PDF of your state's packet — no watermark
- Formatted to file and to hand to your licensor, not a screenshot of a web page
- Re-print it as often as you need while you work through the months
- Covers the state you buy. Most people only ever need one.
Secure checkout via Stripe. Instant unlock — no account.
DaycareLicensePrep provides general information based on each state's published child-care licensing rules, dated to when we last verified them. It is not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure. Always confirm with your state's licensing agency before applying.