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Home Daycare License Requirements in Hawaii (2026)

Opening a home daycare in Hawaii means getting a family child care home license from the Hawaii Department of Human Services (DHS), Benefit, Employment & Support Services Division (BESSD), Child Care Program Office / Child Care Licensing Units. 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 Hawaii

Hawaii regulates home-based care as a single tier: a 'family child care home (FCCH)' = child care in any private home maintained by an individual which provides care to THREE and NO MORE THAN SIX children at the same time during any part of a twenty-four-hour day, where the relationship of child and provider is not by blood, marriage, or adoption (definition at HAR §17-891.1-1; six-child cap at §17-891.1-5). There is NO small-vs-large family-home split. Care for up to twelve children is a 'group child care home,' which §17-891.1-1 states is licensed under the rules for group child care centers — a separately LICENSED facility, not a registered family child care home.

How many children you can care for in Hawaii

No more than SIX children at the same time during any part of a 24-hour day (HAR §17-891.1-5 and §17-891.1-18(a), which use identical language). The provider's OWN children count toward the six UNLESS they are (1) six years of age or older, or (2) under six but in school or attending a child care facility (such as a child care center) more than six hours per day. Practically, a provider's young children reduce the number of outside children who can be enrolled.

Adult-to-child ratios

Family child care homes in Hawaii do NOT use age-banded adult:child ratios like centers — a single qualified adult provider may supervise all children up to the six-child cap. The one numeric age limit is on infants: 'No more than two children under eighteen months of age shall be permitted in the family child care home at the same time. Should there be additional adult help in the home, there may be up to four children under eighteen months of age.' (HAR §17-891.1-18(b), quoted verbatim). The overall maximum of six children still applies in every case.

Training you must complete before licensure

Before registration: each provider must be qualified through training, experience, and personal qualities appropriate to the age group served, be at least 18 years old, and submit two written references from listed categories — (1) a neighbor/personal friend, (2) a professional such as a teacher/doctor/minister/social worker, or (3) a parent of a child previously in the provider's care (HAR §17-891.1-17(a)-(c)). Health standards require that at all times during the operational day when children are in care at least one adult provider holds a CURRENT first-aid certificate AND at least one adult provider is trained in child CPR (HAR §17-891.1-22). HAR 17-891.1 does NOT fix a specific number of pre-service orientation/classroom hours. If the home will serve children receiving CCDF child-care subsidies, additional federal health-and-safety pre-service training may apply — confirm the current requirement with DHS BESSD / PATCH.

Ongoing (annual) training

Hawaii's family child care home rule does NOT fix a single statewide annual continuing-education hour figure. Instead, to RENEW the Certificate of Registration the provider must present written evidence attesting to increased knowledge in TWO OR MORE listed subject areas — the twelve areas are: physical care of the young child; care of the sick child; foods and nutrition; growth and development; learning activities and play; working with parents; child management; management of a family child care home; infants; handicapped children; first aid; or community resources (HAR §17-891.1-17(e), verified verbatim). No annual clock-hour count is stated in HAR 17-891.1; confirm any current CCDF/DHS ongoing training-hour expectation with DHS BESSD / PATCH.

Background checks

Required BEFORE registration and ongoing (HRS §346-154; HAR §§17-891.1-2, -3). The applicant (the definition of 'applicant' expressly INCLUDES the applicant's spouse), all adult household members, and prospective employees must provide, and consent to, the checks the department conducts: (1) a fingerprint-based criminal history record check (new employees/rehires fingerprinted within five working days; re-fingerprinted after any 6-month absence from the state); (2) a child abuse/neglect history check; (3) an employment-history check; and (4) periodic state name checks (renewed near the employment/consent anniversary). Applicants, adult household members, and employees must be of reputable and responsible character; a disqualifying criminal-history, child-abuse/neglect, or employment history that poses a risk to children — including confirmation that the person was a perpetrator of abuse, neglect, or threatened harm — is grounds to deny, suspend, or revoke, as is refusal to cooperate (HAR §17-891.1-3(e)). The FULL statutory scope of the checks is set by HRS §346-154 (which may add registry checks); confirm the exact current list and consent form(s) with DHS BESSD / PATCH.

The application, step by step

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

1. Confirm eligibility: you are at least 18; your dwelling is legal and complies with county codes; your landlord/condominium or community association permits child care; and the home and yard are safe. Contact your island's DHS Child Care Licensing Unit (or PATCH) to request the family child care registration packet (confirm current guide/form numbers with DHS/PATCH).
2. Submit a completed, signed department application form for a Certificate of Registration (HAR §17-891.1-2(a)(1); confirm the current DHS form number with DHS/PATCH).
3. Provide two written references from the categories listed in HAR §17-891.1-17(c) (a neighbor/personal friend; a professional such as a teacher/doctor/minister/social worker; or a parent of a child previously in your care).
4. Complete background clearances for yourself, your spouse, and every adult household member (and any prospective employee): fingerprint-based criminal-history, child-abuse/neglect-history, employment-history, and state-name checks, with written consent on the department's forms (HAR §17-891.1-2, -3; confirm the current consent form number with DHS/PATCH).
5. Submit evidence of a satisfactory physical examination and TB clearance for all household members (HAR §17-891.1-2(a)(2); confirm the current medical-report form number with DHS/PATCH).
6. Obtain and keep current first-aid certification and child CPR training for at least one adult provider (HAR §17-891.1-22); maintain a first-aid kit in the home at all times.
7. Prepare a written statement of operation policies (HAR §17-891.1-6) and the required child-health documentation for enrolled children (DOE Form 14 or comparable writing per §17-891.1-20).
8. Cooperate with the DHS inspection/home study; DHS issues a regular Certificate of Registration if the home complies, or a provisional certificate (up to six months) if only minor deficiencies remain (HAR §17-891.1-3(h)). By §17-891.1-2(c), DHS must notify you of the disposition within 90 days of a completed application.
9. Renew as required: valid one year for new applicants and providers registered less than four years, and two years for providers registered four or more years, submitting written evidence of increased knowledge in two or more subject areas (HAR §§17-891.1-3(i), -17(e)).

What you must post on your walls

• HAR 17-891.1 does not prescribe a wall-posting checklist like modern center rules; the following are items the rule requires the home to have/maintain — confirm current on-site posting practice with your Child Care Licensing Unit/PATCH:
• The Certificate of Registration, which states the kind of program the registrant may operate, the registrant's address, and the number and types of children who may be cared for (HAR §17-891.1-3(j))
• Emergency-care information — the name of the physician or nearest hospital/clinic where care can be provided, plus written parental permission for emergency care (HAR §17-891.1-21)
• A disaster/emergency plan for the home (HAR §17-891.1-30)

Enrollment forms for each child

• Signed department application form for a Certificate of Registration (HAR §17-891.1-2(a)(1); DHS form number — confirm with DHS/PATCH, commonly referenced as the FCC application/DHS-982)
• Written consent to conduct criminal-history, child-abuse/neglect, and employment-history checks for the applicant, spouse, adult household members, and prospective employees (HAR §17-891.1-2(a)(4)-(5); consent form number — confirm with DHS/PATCH)
• Evidence of satisfactory physical examination and TB clearance for all household members / medical report (HAR §17-891.1-2(a)(2); form number — confirm with DHS/PATCH)
• Two written letters of reference per HAR §17-891.1-17(c)
• Child health/immunization record for each enrolled child — DOE Form 14 or comparable writing (HAR §17-891.1-20)
• Notification-of-changes documentation for any change in services (HAR §17-891.1-8; form number — confirm with DHS/PATCH)

What's specific about getting licensed in Hawaii

Hawaii does not 'license' a home daycare and has no small-vs-large family-home tiers — there is exactly ONE home-based path, a REGISTERED Family Child Care Home capped at six children. The trap most first-timers miss is that the six-child ceiling is a hard wall, not a starting point you can grow past: plan for a seventh child and you are no longer eligible to register at all — you must instead be LICENSED as a group child care home under the group child care center rules, an entirely different, stricter framework. Worse, 'six children' is not 'six paying clients.' Your own children under age six count against the six unless they are age 6+ or in school/another program more than six hours a day (HAR §§17-891.1-5, -18(a)), and within the six no more than two may be under 18 months unless a second qualifying adult is in the home (then up to four; §17-891.1-18(b)). Providers routinely build a plan around six enrolled infants and discover at the home study that the infant sub-limit plus their own toddlers have quietly cut real capacity to three or four.

How long it takes and what it costs in Hawaii

Timeline: Plan on roughly 2–3 months from submitting a complete packet to receiving the Certificate of Registration — most of that time is fingerprint/background-clearance turnaround, medical reports, references, and scheduling the DHS home study. By rule, DHS must notify you of the disposition within 90 days of a completed application (HAR §17-891.1-2(c)); if it fails to do so, the application is deemed approved. If only minor deficiencies remain, DHS can issue a PROVISIONAL certificate valid up to 6 months to correct them (HAR §17-891.1-3(i)). Confirm current processing time with your island's DHS Child Care Licensing Unit or PATCH.

Cost: HAR 17-891.1 sets no registration application fee for the family child care home certificate itself (registration, not licensure; the rule's only monetary provision, §-3.01, concerns fines/penalties, not an application fee). Real out-of-pocket costs are the fingerprint/criminal-history-check fee, the provider/household medical exam(s) and TB clearance, and first-aid + child-CPR certification. Exact amounts vary — confirm the current fingerprint fee with the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, the CPR/first-aid and medical-exam costs with your provider, and verify there is no processing fee with DHS BESSD/PATCH.

Source: https://humanservices.hawaii.gov/bessd/files/2013/01/HAR_17-891.1-Family-Child-Care-Home-Rules.pdf (OFFICIAL rule text verified page-by-page: §-1 definitions of FCCH/GCCH; §-2 application; §-3 inspection/issuance/background standards/renewal terms; §-5 number and age of children; §-17 staff qualifications & renewal subject areas; §-18 staff-child ratio incl. under-18-month sub-limit; §-20 DOE Form 14; §-21 emergency care; §-22 first aid & child CPR; §-30 disaster plan); https://humanservices.hawaii.gov/bessd/child-care-connection-hawaii/ (DHS BESSD Child Care Connection Hawaii — application packet & forms); https://www.patchhawaii.org/providers/become-a-family-child-care-provider/ (PATCH Hawaii — designated resource & referral agency; confirmed the 'more than two unrelated children' registration trigger); statutory basis HRS §§346-151, 346-154, 346-171 to 346-177 (Hawaii Revised Statutes, https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/)

Verified 2026-08-10. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state’s licensing agency before applying.