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Home Daycare License Requirements in Florida (2026)

Opening a home daycare in Florida means getting a family child care home license from the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), Office of Child Care Regulation / Child Care Licensure. Here is exactly what that takes in 2026 — your capacity limit and ratios, the training and background checks, the application steps, and the postings and enrollment forms you need — sourced to the state’s own rules and dated.

Who needs a license — home types in Florida

Florida does not automatically license home child care. It sorts you into one of three regimes before it applies a single standard to you, and the sorting is done by your county, not by you. REGIME 1 — LICENSED FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME. Section 402.313(1), F.S. provides: “Family child care homes shall be licensed under this act if they are presently being licensed under an existing county licensing ordinance or if the board of county commissioners passes a resolution that family child care homes be licensed.” Two triggers, both county-level: a pre-existing licensing ordinance, or a resolution of the board of county commissioners. Where either exists, licensure is mandatory and registration is not available. REGIME 2 — REGISTERED FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME. Section 402.313(1)(a), F.S.: “If not subject to license, family child care homes shall register annually with the department, providing the following information: 1. The name and address of the home. 2. The name of the operator. 3. The number of children served. 4. Proof of a written plan to provide at least one other competent adult to be available to substitute for the operator in an emergency.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

How many children you can care for in Florida

Ten children in a family child care home; twelve in a large family child care home; and in both cases only in one of a small number of fixed age configurations, with your own children counted. FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME — TEN, BUT ONLY IN ONE SHAPE. Section 402.302(8), F.S. sets the capacity in the definition itself: “A family child care home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following groups of children, which shall include household children under 13 years of age: (a) A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of age. (b) A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children. (c) A maximum of six preschool children if all are older than 12 months of age. (d) A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12 months of age.” Handbook 2.2.1 reproduces the four groups word for word, prefaced by “A family child care home may provide care for one of the following groups of children, which shall include household children under 13 years of age.” THE WORDS “ONE OF THE FOLLOWING GROUPS” ARE THE OPERATIVE WORDS.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Adult-to-child ratios

Florida publishes no staff-to-child ratio table for home-based care, and the omission is deliberate: in a family child care home the AGE-GROUP CAPACITY IS the ratio, because there is one adult. WHY THERE IS NO TABLE. Section 402.305(4)(a), F.S. sets out Florida’s ratio grid — one adult per four children birth through 1 year; per six for 1 to under 2; per eleven for 2 to under 3; per fifteen for 3 to under 4; per twenty for 4 to under 5; per twenty-five for 5 and older, with the mixed-group rule that “[w]hen children 2 years of age and older are in care, the staff-to-children ratio shall be based on the age group with the largest number of children within the group.” But s. 402.305 is captioned “Licensing standards; child care facilities,” and subsection (4)(a) begins “Minimum standards for the care of children in a licensed CHILD CARE FACILITY as established by rule of the department must include.” It does not govern family child care homes. Homes are governed by ss. 402.313 and 402.3131, F.S. and by Chapter 65C-20, F.A.C., and neither adopts the s. 402.305(4) grid. Rule 65C-20.009, F.A.C. — the rule that used to be titled “Staffing Requirements” — has been REPEALED since October 25, 2017. If a source hands you a Florida home ratio table, ask which text it came from.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Training you must complete before licensure

Thirty-five clock hours plus current pediatric CPR and first aid before you may care for a single child — and, for a large family child care home, a credential you must already have held for a year. THE CORE 30 HOURS. Handbook 5.1.1 opens: “Prior to licensure and prior to caring for children, all home operators, substitutes for the operator, and substitutes working more than 40 hours per month on average over a 6-month period must: A. Successfully complete the Department’s 30-clock-hour Family Child Care Home training, as evidenced by successful completion of a competency-based examination(s) offered by the Department or its designated representative with a weighted score of 70 or better. Operators who successfully completed the mandatory 30-clock-hour Family Child Care Home training prior to January 1, 2004, are not required to fulfill the competency examination requirement. Documentation of course completion may either be a single Family Child Care Home certificate or certificates for the five individual training courses which total 30-clock-hours of training: Family Child Care Home Rules and Regulations; Health, Safety and Nutrition; Identifying and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect; Child Growth and Development; and Behavioral Observation and Screening.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Ongoing (annual) training

Ten clock hours, or one continuing education unit, every licensing year — measured against your own 12-month licensing period, not the calendar year, and recorded on a Department form. THE STATUTE. Section 402.313(5), F.S.: “In order to further develop their child care skills and, if appropriate, their administrative skills, operators of family child care homes shall be required to complete an additional 1 continuing education unit of approved training or 10 clock hours of equivalent training, as determined by the department, annually.” Section 402.3131(4), F.S. imposes the identical duty on large family child care home operators “who have completed the required introductory course.” THE RULE. Handbook 5.6.1: “All operators must complete a minimum of 10-clock-hours or one CEU of in-service training concentrating on children ages birth through 12 years annually during the operator’s 12-month licensing period.” Two constraints sit in that sentence and are routinely dropped. The content must concentrate on children BIRTH THROUGH 12 YEARS; and the clock is the operator’s LICENSING PERIOD, so a licence issued in March runs its training year March to March.

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

Background checks

Level 2 screening through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse for you, for everyone who lives with you from age twelve up, for your substitute, for your volunteers and for any large-home employee — completed and cleared BEFORE the licence issues, before anyone moves in, before anyone is employed and before anyone volunteers unsupervised. THE RULE THAT MAKES IT A GATE. Rule 65C-20.008(5), F.A.C. (effective September 1, 2026; currently subsection (4)): “A submitted CF-FSP Form 5133 or CF-FSP Form 5238 will not be considered complete until the licensing authority receives proof of background screening clearance on the operator of the family child care home or the large family child care home, substitutes, and on all other household members who are subject to background screening pursuant to sections 402.313(3) and 402.3131(2), F.S. If the designated substitute changes during the licensure year, prior to taking care of children, the new designated substitute for the operator must comply with background screening requirements and the licensing authority must receive proof of background screening clearances.”

Summarised from the state’s own rules. Every figure above is quoted from the regulation cited on this page.

The application, step by step

Work through these in order — the prep packet turns them into a checklist you can tick off:

1. STEP 0 — SETTLE WHICH REGIME AND WHICH AUTHORITY APPLY TO YOUR COUNTY, IN WRITING, BEFORE YOU SPEND A DOLLAR. Two independent questions. (a) Does your county compel licensure? Section 402.313(1), F.S.: “Family child care homes shall be licensed under this act if they are presently being licensed under an existing county licensing ordinance or if the board of county commissioners passes a resolution that family child care homes be licensed.” DCF publishes, under the heading “Restrictions,” the counties where “[r]egistration… is not permitted as they have a local ordinance requiring licensure”: Brevard, Broward, Clay, Duval, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Nassau, Palm Beach,…
2. STEP 1 — CLEAR ZONING, BUILDING CODE AND YOUR HOA BEFORE YOU APPLY, NOT AFTER. Handbook 2.1.D: “The provider is responsible for confirming with the county/city zoning authority that the property can be used for the operation of child care prior to operation. The ‘land use’ must be applied correctly to avoid noncompliance with county/city zoning and potential fines or closure.” Handbook 3.1.B adds that the “[o]perator must comply with local ordinances and/or Home Owners Association rules and requirements.” The instruction page of CF-FSP Form 5133 is blunter about sequencing: you “[m]ust also obtain and provide approval from local zoning and building code offices and Home Owner’s Association…
3. STEP 2 — CONFIRM YOU CAN SATISFY THE RESIDENCY AND OUTSIDE-EMPLOYMENT RULES. Handbook 3.1: the operator must be at least 18 (21 for a large family child care home, per 3.1.D), “must reside at the location of the home where the care is provided” with proof by “tax records with homestead exemption, driver’s license, and/or a copy of the lease,” and “may not work outside of the home during the hours the family child care home or large family child care home is operating.” Both are enforceable: CF-FSP 5318 item 4.3 (operator no longer a resident) is a CLASS 1 violation and item 4.2 (working outside the home during operating hours) is Class 2. If you intend to keep a day job, Florida’s home…
4. STEP 3 — COMPLETE 35 HOURS OF TRAINING AND GET PEDIATRIC CPR AND FIRST AID, BEFORE ANY CHILD ARRIVES. The Department’s 30-clock-hour Family Child Care Home training with a competency examination passed at “a weighted score of 70 or better,” delivered as one certificate or five (Family Child Care Home Rules and Regulations; Health, Safety and Nutrition; Identifying and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect; Child Growth and Development; Behavioral Observation and Screening) — Handbook 5.1.1.A and s. 402.313(4), F.S. Plus the one-time five-clock-hour (0.5 CEU) early literacy and language development course for children birth through five, uploaded into the Florida Pathways registry — Handbook…
5. STEP 4 — INITIATE LEVEL 2 SCREENING IN THE CLEARINGHOUSE FIRST, THEN GET FINGERPRINTED, FOR EVERY PERSON IN SCOPE. Handbook 4.1.K: “The employer/owner/operator must initiate the screening through the Clearinghouse prior to fingerprinting. Failure to initiate the screening may result in an invalid screening and the individual will have to be re-fingerprinted and pay the fees again.” Use a LiveScan vendor that is Clearinghouse compatible (Handbook 4.1.A). In scope: yourself, every household member 12 and older, your designated substitute, any volunteer who will be unsupervised, and (large homes) your employee — Handbook 4.1, ss. 402.313(3) and 402.3131(2), F.S. Household members aged 12 to…
6. STEP 5 — ASSEMBLE THE FIVE-YEAR EMPLOYMENT HISTORIES. Yours goes to licensing, which does the checking (Handbook 4.1.D). Your substitute’s — and, in a large home, your employee’s — you check yourself, with “at least three attempts to obtain employment history information” and every failed attempt logged with “date, time, and the reason the information was not obtained” (Handbook 4.1.E and 4.1.Q). Each record must show “the applicant’s job title and description of his/her regular duties, confirmation of employment dates, and level of job performance.”
7. STEP 6 — WRITE THE SUBSTITUTE PLAN, AND UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS BOTH A DOCUMENT AND A PERSON. Handbook 3.2: “The operator must have a written plan to provide at least one substitute, 18 years of age or older, to be available on a temporary/emergency basis. A. The substitute’s information (including name, date of birth, telephone number, address, anticipated number of hours worked and whether or not this person substitutes for another home) must be provided on the CF-FSP Form 5133… B. The written plan must be kept current and include the name, address, and telephone number of the substitute. C. Any changes to the plan must be reported to the licensing office within 5 working days. All hours…
8. STEP 7 — FILE THE APPLICATION, WITH THE FEE. Family child care home: CF-FSP Form 5133, May 2019, incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.008(1), F.A.C. (Ref-10482). Large family child care home: CF-FSP Form 5238, May 2019, Rule 65C-20.008(2), F.A.C. (Ref-10580). Either may be filed online through CARES at https://cares.myflfamilies.com/security/login. New from September 1, 2026, Rule 65C-20.008(3), F.A.C.: “Each completed CF-FSP Form 5133 or CF-FSP Form 5238 must be submitted with the licensure fee pursuant to s. 402.315, F.S.” The fees are set by s. 402.315(3), F.S.: “(b) For a family child care home registered pursuant to s. 402.313, such fee shall be $25. (c) For a family child care…
9. STEP 8 — KNOW THE TWO CLOCKS THAT START WHEN THE APPLICATION IS COMPLETE. The instruction page of CF-FSP Form 5133 states them: “Within 30 days of receipt of the application, the Department must notify the applicant in writing of any error(s) or omission(s) on the application and any additional information needed for the application to be considered complete,” and “[t]he Department has a 90-day time limit for approving or denying the license once the completed application has been submitted. Remember: An application is not complete until all requirements have been submitted. The submission of a completed application starts the 90-day ‘clock’ for the approval or denial of the license.”…
10. STEP 9 — FOR A LARGE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME ONLY: FIRE MARSHAL APPROVAL BEFORE LICENSURE. Section 402.3131(8), F.S.: “Prior to being licensed by the department, large family child care homes must be approved by the state or local fire marshal in accordance with standards established for child care facilities.” Handbook 7.11.C: “Large family child care homes shall conform to state standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal, Chapter 69A-36, F.A.C., Uniform Fire Safety Standards for Child Care Facilities.” Handbook 7.11.D states what must be on file and — new in the December 2025 edition — what may substitute: “A copy of the current and approved annual fire inspection report completed by a…
11. STEP 10 — BUILD THE HOME TO THE HANDBOOK BEFORE THE INSPECTION, BECAUSE ONE CATEGORY OF PROOF CANNOT BE CREATED AFTERWARDS. Handbook 7.22.E: “Documentation of conducted fire and emergency preparedness drills must be available at the time of the inspection. Documentation produced after the inspection shall not meet the licensing standard or corrective action requirements.” So the drills have to have happened. Fire drills are monthly, “utilizing the smoke detector(s)… at various dates and times when children are in care,” recorded with “the date, number of children and child care personnel in attendance, evacuation route used, and time taken for all individuals to evacuate,” kept 12 months,…
12. STEP 11 — PUT THE REST OF THE PHYSICAL AND PAPER STANDARDS IN PLACE.
13. STEP 12 — PASS THE INSPECTION, AND UNDERSTAND THAT REFUSING ACCESS IS ITSELF A SANCTIONABLE ACT. Rule 65C-20.012(6), F.A.C.: “The family child care home or large family child care home operator must allow access to the entire premises of the home to inspect for compliance with minimum standards. Access to the family day care home or large family child care home also includes access by the parent, legal guardian, and/or custodian, to their child(ren) while in care.” Handbook 9.1.A adds that personnel “must not interfere with or prevent the licensing authority from copying records, photographing or recording a location/activity on the premises as documentation for the inspection.” Section…
14. STEP 13 — POST THE LICENCE AND BEGIN, KNOWING WHAT A PROVISIONAL LICENCE IS AND IS NOT. Handbook 2.1.F: “A copy of the annual license shall be posted in a conspicuous location within the home.” Failure to post is CF-FSP 5318 item 4.4. On provisional licences, Rule 65C-20.008(6), F.A.C. (currently (5)): “The Department may issue a provisional license allowing a home to operate for a designated period of time while working to correct one or more licensing standard(s) not met, provided the operator is making adequate provisions to ensure the health and safety of the children in care. A provisional license may not be issued as the initial license and is a not a disciplinary sanction.” The…
15. STEP 14 — IF YOU ARE REGISTERING RATHER THAN LICENSING, THIS IS A DIFFERENT AND SHORTER PATH, WITH ONE ABSOLUTE RULE. DCF: “you must complete the registration process and receive a registration letter from DCF prior to providing child care,” with a first-time applicant filing an “Intent to Apply” (enquiries: (850) 488-4900). Renewals are on paper: DCF instructs registrants to “download and print all of the documents listed below. Complete all forms and mail them all together with your $25 application fee to: Department of Children and Families, Office of Child Care, 2415 North Monroe Street, Suite 400, Room N216, Tallahassee, FL 32303.” The packet is: Family Day Care Home Registration…
16. STEP 15 — FOR A LARGE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME, PLAN THE TWO-YEAR RUNWAY BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. Section 402.3131(1)(a), F.S.: “A licensed family child care home must first have operated for a minimum of 2 consecutive years, with an operator who has had a child development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year, before seeking licensure as a large family child care home.” Handbook 2.1.G adds the recency limit: the two consecutive years “must have been within five years of the date of the application,” and the credential must be “verified on the Department’s training transcript.” Then, per Handbook 5.1.3.A, the credential must have been ACTIVE and documented on the Training…
17. STEP 16 — DIARIZE THE RENEWAL 45 DAYS OUT, AND KNOW THAT THE LATE FINE CHANGES ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2026. Rule 65C-20.008(4), F.A.C.: “A completed CF-FSP Form 5133 or CF-FSP Form 5238 for renewal of an annual license must be submitted to the licensing authority at least 45 days prior to the expiration date of the current license to ensure that a lapse of licensure does not occur. Failure to submit… constitutes a licensing violation as defined in paragraph 65C-20.012(3)(d), F.A.C.” Under the version of 65C-20.012(3)(d), F.A.C. in force through August 31, 2026, the sanction is graduated: “The department shall issue an administrative complaint imposing a fine of $50.00 for the first occurrence,…

What you must post on your walls

• A copy of the annual license, posted in a conspicuous location within the home — Handbook 2.1.F: “A copy of the annual license shall be posted in a conspicuous location within the home.” Failure to post is a citable licensing standard violation: CF-FSP Form 5318 (December 2025) item 4.4, “The home’s license was not posted in a conspicuous place,” and CF-FSP Form 5317 item 5.4 for large homes. Note that this is the LICENCE; a registered family child care home receives a registration letter from DCF rather than a licence, and the Handbook’s posting duty is written for licensed homes.
• Emergency procedures, posted and readily accessible — Handbook 7.20: “The operator shall have a procedure for responding when an immediate emergency medical response is required. Emergency procedures must be posted and readily accessible. The operator shall develop contingency plans for emergencies or disaster situations when it may not be possible to follow standard emergency procedures. All child care personnel must be trained to manage in an emergency.”
• Emergency telephone numbers plus your own address and directions, posted on or near all telephones — Handbook 7.20.A: “Emergency telephone numbers (including ambulance, fire, police, poison control center, Florida Abuse Hotline, the county public health unit); the home’s address, and directions to the home (including major intersections and local landmarks) must be posted on or near all telephones and shall be used to protect the health, safety and well-being of any child in care.” The address-and-directions element is the part providers omit; it exists so a substitute or a panicking visitor can read a 911 dispatcher the route.
• Known medication allergies and special restrictions, posted with the stored medication — Handbook 7.24.B: “Any known allergies to medication or special restrictions must also be documented, maintained in the child’s file, and posted with stored medication.” This is a posting requirement in a place most providers never think of as a noticeboard: wherever the medication is kept.
• LARGE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME ONLY — the written plan of scheduled activities for each age group or class, “posted in a conspicuous location accessible to the custodial parents or legal guardian” — Handbook 2.5. The plan must “[p]romote emotional, social, intellectual and physical growth,” “[i]nclude quiet and active play, both indoors and outdoors,” “[i]nclude meals, snacks, and nap times,” and must “[n]ot include the use of electronic media for children under two years of age,” with media for children two and over limited to educational or physical-activity use “for no more than 1 to 2 hours per day.”
• LARGE FAMILY CHILD CARE HOME ONLY — the emergency evacuation plan and diagram, posted — Handbook 7.22.G and H: “The operator shall prepare an emergency evacuation plan including a diagram of safe routes by which the child care personnel and children may exit each area of the home in the event of fire or other emergency requiring evacuation. This plan shall be posted and shared with the employees, substitutes, custodial parents, and/or legal guardians.”
• NOT POSTED, BUT KEPT AT THE HOME AND PRODUCED ON DEMAND — the documents an inspector will ask for.
• NOT POSTED, BUT GIVEN TO PARENTS — and the December 2025 edition shortened this list. Still required: written notice if anyone living in the home smokes, including e-cigarettes and vaping (Handbook 7.3.A); written notice of all animals on the premises, which “may be provided by way of a parent flyer, a notification statement, or a statement included in the child’s enrollment form” (Handbook 7.1); the written disciplinary and expulsion policies, evidenced by the parent’s signature on the enrollment form (Handbook 2.3.C); the Department’s brochure CF/PI 175-28, Selecting a Family Day Care Home Provider, with the parent’s signed statement of receipt (Handbook 8.3.D); and, for licensed and…

Enrollment forms for each child

• CF-FSP Form 5133, May 2019 — Application for a License to Operate a Family Day Care Home. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.008(1), F.A.C.; reference file Ref-10482 on flrules.org, adopted document dated 5/2/2019. Nine sections plus an instruction page. Section 3 collects every other household member by name, relationship, date of birth and social security number; section 4 is the substitute plan and must be completed in its entirety, including “Number of Hours Substitute Works in the Home Monthly” and whether the substitute works in another home; section 5 identifies the owner of the real property as named on the deed; section 6 is an attestation covering any licence denied,…
• CF-FSP Form 5238, May 2019 — Application for a License to Operate a Large Family Child Care Home. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.008(2), F.A.C.; reference file Ref-10580. Same filing rules: submitted initially and annually, or online through CARES, and it may be used to operate a family child care home when the number of children in care falls to the family-home definition, but a family child care home licence “cannot be used to operate a large family child care home.”
• THE LICENSURE FEE, payable with the application from September 1, 2026 — Rule 65C-20.008(3), F.A.C.: “Each completed CF-FSP Form 5133 or CF-FSP Form 5238 must be submitted with the licensure fee pursuant to s. 402.315, F.S.” Section 402.315(3), F.S. fixes the amounts: $25 for a family child care home REGISTERED under s. 402.313; $50 for a family child care home LICENSED under s. 402.313; $60 for a large family child care home licensed under s. 402.3131. (For comparison, a child care facility pays $1 per child of licensed capacity, minimum $25 and maximum $100.) Section 402.315(1), F.S. also allocates cost where a county licenses locally: “If the county designates a local agency to be…
• CF Form 5268A, October 2017 — In-Service Training Record, Family Day Care Home/Large Family Child Care Home. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.008(9)(a), F.A.C. effective September 1, 2026 (subsection (8)(a) until then); reference Ref-08750. Handbook 5.8.C requires the annual ten hours to be recorded on it, requires “[a] new in-service training record… each licensing year,” and — carrying a citation the September 2026 renumbering left behind — still cites the form to “65C-20.008(7)(a), F.A.C.” Handbook 5.8.D requires the two previous licensing years’ records to be kept at the home as well.
• CF/PI 175-28, September 2007 — Selecting a Family Day Care Home Provider. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.008(9)(b), F.A.C. effective September 1, 2026 (subsection (8)(b) until then); reference Ref-08751. Handbook 8.3.D requires “signed statements from the custodial parents or legal guardian that the family child care home or large family child care home has provided them with” this brochure. The statutory basis is s. 402.313(9), F.S., which also requires the brochure to list “those counties that require licensure of family child care homes.”
• CF-FSP Form 5219 — Child Care Application for Enrollment. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(f), F.A.C. Handbook 8.3.A requires enrollment information to be obtained “prior to accepting the child into care,” documented on CF-FSP 5219 “or an equivalent that contains all the information required by the Department’s form.” Handbook 8.3.C requires the enrollment information to include written permission to release the child, with “[t]he name, address and phone number of authorized persons,” and 8.3.E requires “parental/guardian consent for child care personnel to have access to child’s records.”
• CF Form 1649A — Child Care Attestation of Good Moral Character. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(a), F.A.C. Handbook 4.3.B: completed “for all child care personnel at the time of initial screening or upon change in employers”; Handbook 4.1.R adds “or in accordance with the local licensing agency compliance” and requires it to be “maintained in the Department’s licensing file.” Its absence is CF-FSP 5318 item 6.5. DCF also includes an “Attestation of Good Moral Character” in the family child care home REGISTRATION renewal packet.
• CF-FSP Form 5131 — Background Screening and Personnel File Requirements. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(b), F.A.C. Handbook 4.3.A: “Each personnel record must have a completed CF-FSP Form 5131.” Handbook 4.1.P requires, for large homes, that screening information for the employee and household members be documented on it and that initial screening clearance be in the Department’s licensing file.
• CF-FSP Form 5217 — Volunteer Acknowledgement. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(e), F.A.C. Handbook 4.3.H: “Volunteers must complete a CF-FSP 5217 Volunteer Acknowledgement… prior to volunteering in the home. Written documentation of volunteer hours must be maintained at the home.” Its absence is CF-FSP 5318 item 6.7; missing hour records are item 6.8.
• CF-FSP Form 5211 — Florida Child Care Staff Credential Verification Application. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(d), F.A.C. Required of a large family child care home operator to obtain and to renew the Staff Credential Verification that must appear on the Training Transcript for at least one year before licensure (Handbook 5.1.3.A.1, 5.9.B). Handbook 5.9.B lists the five qualifying routes recorded on the form: an active National Early Childhood Credential; Formal Educational Qualifications; an active Birth Through Five Child Care Credential (FCCPC, CCAC or ECPC); an active School-Age Child Care Credential (FCCPC or SAPC); or an Employment History Recognition Exemption,…
• CF-FSP Form 5270 — Florida Child Care Professional Credential Certificate. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(j), F.A.C. Handbook 1.2: “Credentials must be documented on CF-FSP Form 5270… Active credentials are valid for five years from the date of issuance.”
• DH Form 680 (July 2010) — Florida Certification of Immunization, Parts A-1, B and/or C; or DH Form 681 (July 2008) — Religious Exemption from Immunization. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(m) and (n), F.A.C. (the December 2025 Handbook re-lettered these from the October 2021 text’s (o) and (p)). Handbook 8.1.A requires a current, complete and properly executed form for each child “within 30 days of enrollment,” obtainable from the local health department; 8.1.B is categorical about the consequence: “If the custodial parents or legal guardians fail to provide the above required documentation within 30 days of enrollment, the home shall not allow the child to remain in the…
• DH Form 3040 — Student Health Examination. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001(7)(o), F.A.C. Handbook 8.2.A requires it, or “a signed statement by an authorized professional that indicates the results of the components of the form are included in the health examination,” within 30 days of enrollment; 8.2.C: “valid for two years from the date the physical was performed and must be on file as long as the child is in care”; 8.2.D repeats the exclusion consequence; 8.2.E exempts school-aged children attending public or nonpublic schools “as such records are on file at the school”; and 8.2.G: “Medical records in this section are the property of the custodial parent or legal guardian…
• AN EMERGENCY CARE PLAN, per child where indicated — Handbook 8.2.H: “Any child who has or is at an increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional condition and require additional services must have a current Emergency Care Plan, prepared by the parent/guardian or physician, included in the child’s file and readily accessible for those caring for the child. Child care personnel caring for a child with an Emergency Care Plan must be trained to recognize and respond appropriately to a medical emergency.” Handbook 2.4.3.B sets out the required contents for an allergy plan: the allergen and avoidance steps, “[a] detailed treatment plan… including the names, doses,…
• WRITTEN MEDICATION AUTHORIZATION, per child per medication — Handbook 7.24.A: dated and signed by the custodial parent or legal guardian, containing “the child’s name; the name of the medication to be dispensed; and the date, time and amount of dosage to be given,” initialled or signed by the person who administered it, with additional written symptom criteria for any “as needed” medication. Handbook 7.24.G requires a per-child administration record — child’s full name, medication, date and time dispensed, amount and dosage, and the name of the person who dispensed — “maintained for a minimum of 12 months after the last day the child received the dosage.”
• THE ANNUAL HEALTH AND SAFETY HOME INSPECTION SELF-EVALUATION CHECKLIST — s. 402.313(7), F.S.: “Operators of family child care homes shall be required annually to complete a health and safety home inspection self-evaluation checklist developed by the department in conjunction with the statewide resource and referral program. The completed checklist shall be signed by the operator of the family child care home and provided to parents as certification that basic health and safety standards are being met.” DCF publishes it as the “Health and Safety Checklist” in the registration packet, and its registration page requires “[p]roof that each parent has been provided a copy of a completed Health…
• THE REGISTRATION PACKET (registered family child care homes only), as published by DCF for renewal: Family Day Care Home Registration Renewal; Registered Family Child Care Home Application Checklist; Attestation of Good Moral Character; Health and Safety Checklist; Child Abuse and Neglect Report Form; List of Children in Care; Employment History; Zoning Building Code/HOA Attestation; and the Online Juvenile Records Check — mailed together with the $25 application fee to the Office of Child Care in Tallahassee. First-time applicants file an “Intent to Apply” instead.
• CF-FSP Form 5318, December 2025 — Family Child Care Home Standards Classifications Summary; and CF-FSP Form 5317, December 2025 — Large Family Child Care Home Standards Classification Summary. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.012(1)(h)1., F.A.C. effective September 1, 2026 (references Ref-19082 and Ref-19083, adopted documents dated 3/13/2026); the editions they replace are CF-FSP 5318 (May 2019, Ref-10486) and CF-FSP 5317 (October 2021, Ref-13927). These are not forms you file — they are the documents that decide what every violation costs you, mapping each Handbook section to Class 1, Class 2, or nothing. A standard with no class assigned is not unenforceable: Rule…
• CF-FSP Form 5422 and CF-FSP Form 5421, October 2017 — Reconciliation of 2009 and 2017 Family Child Care Home / Large Family Child Care Home Standards Classification Summaries. Incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-20.012(3)(a), F.A.C. (Ref-08755 and Ref-08756). They exist for one purpose: to align violations cited under the 2009 classification scheme with the 2017 scheme “for purposes of progressive enforcement,” so an old citation can still count toward escalation. Relevant if you have a compliance history that straddles October 25, 2017.
• NO LONGER REQUIRED — CF-FSP Form 5337, Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Requirements. The October 2021 Handbook required that “[t]he operator, substitute, employee and/or volunteer must complete a CF-FSP 5337… signed prior to initial licensure and annually thereafter.” The coded December 2025 draft filed with the Department of State shows that requirement struck in full, and it does not appear in the adopted December 2025 Handbook. The underlying mandated-reporter duty now runs through the annual affidavit of compliance with s. 39.201, F.S. required by s. 402.319(3), F.S. and captured in section 9 of CF-FSP Form 5133. NO LONGER REQUIRED — CF/PI 175-70, What is Influenza? (Ref-19080) and…

What's specific about getting licensed in Florida

Florida does NOT have one statewide 'license' for home daycares. Under Fla. Stat. 402.313 a family day care home REGISTERS annually with DCF unless the county board of commissioners has passed a licensing ordinance, in which case it must be licensed locally. That county-by-county split, combined with Florida's rule that your own household children under 13 count inside your capacity, is what makes Florida different from states with a single state license, and it is the exact thing first-timers get wrong.

How long it takes and what it costs in Florida

Timeline: Plan for roughly 6 to 12 weeks from decision to open. The two things that actually set the pace are finishing the mandatory 30-hour introductory course (self-paced, often several weeks) and getting your Level 2 fingerprint background screening cleared. If you live in a county that LICENSES (not just registers) family day care homes, add time for the required home inspection, which can push you past three months.

Cost: Your real costs in Florida are the mandatory 30-hour Introductory Child Care Training course fee, the Level 2 (fingerprint) background screening for you and any household member over 12, and the annual registration or license fee paid to DCF or your county. Note: I could not confirm the current exact dollar amounts from the official DCF page in this pass (the myflfamilies.com pages returned errors), so verify the training and screening fees and the annual registration fee directly on the DCF child care site before budgeting.

Source: Sources officielles consultées pour Florida :

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ChapterHome.asp?Chapter=65C-20

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=65C-20.008

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=65C-20.012

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=0&tid=31250410&type=1&file=65C-20.008.doc

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=0&tid=31250507&type=1&file=65C-20.012.doc

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=2&tid=30352190&type=1&file=65C-20.008.doc

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/readFile.asp?sid=3&tid=31067468&type=1&file=65C-20.008.doc

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-19079

Verified 2026-08-25. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state’s licensing agency before applying.