Home › State guides › Virginia

Home Daycare License Requirements in Virginia (2026)

Opening a home daycare in Virginia means getting a family child care home license from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). 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 Virginia

A "family day home" — since 2026-07-01 called "home-based child care" in the Code of Virginia — is a child day program run out of a residence. The two governing definitions do not read identically, and both matter. THE REGULATION. 8VAC20-800-10: "'Family day home' means a child day program offered in the residence of the provider or the home of any of the children in care for one through 12 children under the age of 13, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, when at least one child receives care for compensation. A family day home serving five through 12 children, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, shall be licensed. A family day home caring for more than four children under the age of two years, including the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, shall be licensed or voluntarily registered. A family day home where the children in care are all related to the provider by blood or marriage shall not be required to be licensed." THE STATUTE, AS AMENDED. Va. Code § 22.1-289.02: "'Home-based child care' means a child day program offered in the residence of the provider or the home of any of the children in care for one through 12 children under the age of 13, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, when at least one child receives care for compensation.

The provider of licensed or registered home-based child care shall disclose to the parents or guardians of children in their care the percentage of time per week that persons other than the provider will care for the children. Home-based child care in which five through 12 children are served, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, shall be licensed. However, no more than four children under the age of two shall be served in home-based child care, including the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, unless the home-based child care is licensed or voluntarily registered. However, home-based child care where the children in care are all related to the provider by blood or marriage shall not be required to be licensed." Underneath both sits Va. Code § 22.1-289.02's definition of the container: "'Child day program' means a regularly operating service arrangement for children where, during the absence of a parent or guardian, a person or organization has agreed to assume responsibility for the supervision, protection, and well-being of a child under the age of 13 for less than a 24-hour period."

Three elements, therefore, must all be present before any of this applies: regular operation, absence of the parent, and a period under 24 hours. Note the last one: a Virginia home CAN provide overnight care and stay inside the definition, and 8VAC20-800 has a dedicated Part XIV, "Nighttime care" (8VAC20-800-1020), defining nighttime care at 8VAC20-800-10 as "care provided between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m." What takes a program out of the definition is care of 24 hours or more, not care after dark. CORRECTION TO THE PRIOR ENTRY'S CITATION. The prior entry wrote: "Under Va. Code § 22.1-289.011, a state LICENSE is required for a family day home caring for five through 12 children." The five-through-12 threshold is not in § 22.1-289.011. Section 22.1-289.011 is titled "Licenses required; issuance, expiration, and renewal; maximum number of participants or children; posting of licenses" and it says only, at subsection B, "Every person who constitutes, or who operates or maintains, a child day program or home-based child care system shall obtain the appropriate license from the Superintendent" — it never mentions a child count.

The counting rule lives inside the DEFINITION at § 22.1-289.02 (and its twin at 8VAC20-800-10 and 8VAC20-821-10). This is not pedantry: the definition is where the two other thresholds live too, and the prior entry, by citing the wrong section, silently dropped both of them. THE THRESHOLD THE PRIOR ENTRY MISSED: FOUR UNDER TWO, COUNTING YOUR OWN. The prior entry said a home "caring for one through four such children is exempt from licensure and may instead voluntarily register." That is only true if none of the arithmetic involves babies. The statute imposes a second, independent trigger: "no more than four children under the age of two shall be served in home-based child care, INCLUDING the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, unless the home-based child care is licensed or voluntarily registered." Read the two counting rules side by side, because they use OPPOSITE conventions: - For the five-through-12 licensure threshold, you count children in care and you EXCLUDE the provider's own children and any children residing in the home. - For the four-under-two threshold, you count children under two and you INCLUDE the provider's own children and any children residing in the home.

So a provider with three infant twins-and-a-baby of her own and two paying infants is at five children under two, is nowhere near five paying children, and is nevertheless outside the unregulated zone: she must be licensed or voluntarily registered. A provider caring for four paying school-agers and no infants is under the licensure threshold and may operate unregulated. This asymmetry is the single most common way a Virginia home gets it wrong, and no amount of reading § 22.1-289.011 will surface it. THE RELATIVES EXEMPTION. "Home-based child care where the children in care are all related to the provider by blood or marriage shall not be required to be licensed" (§ 22.1-289.02; identical text at 8VAC20-800-10 and 8VAC20-821-10). Note the word "all": one unrelated child destroys the exemption for the whole home. Note also that this exemption is drafted as an exemption from LICENSURE, and that it also carves the home out of Va. Code § 22.1-289.016's parent-notice duty (below). THE FOUR REGIMES A VIRGINIA HOME CAN BE IN, AND HOW TO TELL THEM APART. (1) LICENSED HOME-BASED CHILD CARE — five through 12 unrelated-or-not children in care, exclusive of own/resident children; or any number of children where more than four children under two are present counting own/resident children and the provider elects licensure over registration.

Governed by 8VAC20-800 plus 8VAC20-821. This fiche. (2) VOLUNTARILY REGISTERED HOME-BASED CHILD CARE — Va. Code § 22.1-289.015 A: "Any person who provides home-based child care serving fewer than five children, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home, may apply for voluntary registration." The implementing chapter, 8VAC20-850, is live (it is NOT among the repealed chapters). 8VAC20-850-100 A: "The provider shall ensure that the total number of children receiving care at any one time does not exceed four, which is the maximum capacity allowed by law (§ 22.1-289.015 of the Code of Virginia) for family day homes that may apply for voluntary registration." And 8VAC20-850-100 B: "The adult-to-child ratios for voluntary registration shall be same as those for licensed day homes" — i.e. the 16-point system described below applies to a registered home too. A registered home gets a "certificate of registration," not a licence: 8VAC20-850-50 B, "The superintendent shall issue the certificate of registration, which shall not be transferable, to a specific provider at a specific location."

Registration runs on a two-year cycle (8VAC20-850-50 C refers to "the end of the two-year registration period"; § 22.1-289.015 A requires the application "prior to beginning any such operation and thereafter biennially"). CRITICAL ELIGIBILITY LIMIT most summaries omit — 8VAC20-850-20 D: "A family day provider and substitute provider shall live in a county, city, or town that does not have a local ordinance for the regulation or licensure of family day homes." Voluntary registration is simply unavailable inside the four local-ordinance jurisdictions; § 22.1-289.015 G says the same at statute level. Registration is also frequently administered by a contractor rather than by VDOE: § 22.1-289.015 D requires the Superintendent to "contract in accordance with the requirements of the Virginia Public Procurement Act ... with qualified local agencies and community organizations to review applications and certify home-based child care as eligible for registration," and VDOE's own page tells applicants to "Determine if your home is located in a city/county administered by the Office of Child Care Health and Safety or contract agency" and warns "Applications submitted to the incorrect agency will delay processing." (3) LOCALLY LICENSED HOMES — Va.

Code § 15.2-914: "Any (i) county that has adopted the urban county executive form of government or (ii) city may by ordinance provide for the regulation and licensing of persons who provide child-care services for compensation and for the regulation and licensing of child-care facilities." The section defines "'Child-care services'" as "provision of regular care, protection and guidance to one or more children not related by blood or marriage while such children are separated from their parent, guardian or legal custodian in a dwelling not the residence of the child during a part of the day for at least four days of a calendar week." Two limits are written into the same section: "Such local ordinance shall not require the regulation or licensing of any child-care facility that is licensed by the Commonwealth" (so a state licence pre-empts the local one), and "Except as otherwise provided in this section, such local ordinances shall not be more extensive in scope than comparable state regulations applicable to home-based child care." The one place a locality MAY go further: "Such local ordinances may regulate the possession and storage of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof at child-care facilities and may be more extensive in scope than comparable state statutes or regulations applicable to home-based child care."

Local ordinances "may require that persons who provide child-care services shall provide certification from the Central Criminal Records Exchange and a national criminal background check, in accordance with §§ 19.2-389 and 19.2-392.02" and central-registry certification. VDOE names the four localities that currently exercise this power: "At present, four localities have the authority to approve by local ordinance certain family day homes and center-based programs: Arlington County (homes and centers), Alexandria City (homes only), Fairfax County (homes only), Norfolk City (homes only)." VDOE adds one hook back to the state: "Local ordinance homes that are approved subsidy vendors receive annual health and safety inspections by the VDOE Office of Child Care Health and Safety." (4) UNLICENSED, UNREGISTERED HOMES — legal at four or fewer children in care (exclusive of own/resident) and four or fewer under two (inclusive of own/resident), but NOT unregulated. Va. Code § 22.1-289.016 imposes an affirmative duty: "Every unlicensed, unregistered home-based child care provider shall provide written notice to the parents of every child receiving care, at the time the home-based child care provider begins providing care for the child, stating that the home-based child care is not regulated by the Department and referring parents to a website maintained by the Department for additional information regarding licensed, registered, and unlicensed, unregistered home-based child care.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to unlicensed, unregistered home-based child care in which all of the children receiving care are related to the provider by blood or marriage." And two prohibitions bind even an unlicensed home: Va. Code § 22.1-289.041 makes it "unlawful for any person to operate home-based child care if he, or if he knows that any other person who resides in, is employed by, or volunteers in the home," has one of a listed set of felony convictions, "has been convicted of any offense that requires registration on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry pursuant to § 9.1-902, or is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect within or outside the Commonwealth," a Class 1 misdemeanour; and Va.

Code § 22.1-289.056 requires that "During hours of operation, all firearms in a home in which home-based child care licensed pursuant to § 22.1-289.011 or voluntarily registered pursuant to § 22.1-289.011 is provided or in a home in which home-based child care approved by a home-based child care system is provided shall be stored unloaded in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet, and all ammunition shall be stored in a separate locked container, compartment, or cabinet." (The internal cross-reference in § 22.1-289.056 to voluntary registration "pursuant to § 22.1-289.011" appears to be a drafting slip — voluntary registration is § 22.1-289.015 — but the substantive rule is unmistakable.) A FIFTH ROUTE THAT REMOVES THE LICENCE ENTIRELY: § 22.1-289.030 F. "Home-based child care providers that are members of a licensed home-based child care system shall not be required to obtain a license from the Superintendent." A system (defined at § 22.1-289.02 as a person "who approves providers of home-based child care as members of its system; who refers children to available home-based child care in that system; and who, through contractual arrangement, may provide central administrative functions") is itself licensed under 8VAC20-810, and its member homes are approved by the system rather than licensed by VDOE.

Their background checks, however, are not waived: § 22.1-289.036 A expressly covers "approval as home-based child care by a home-based child care system." WHAT COUNTS AS THE "RESIDENCE." 8VAC20-800-10: "'Residence' means principal legal dwelling or abode that is occupied for living purposes by the provider and contains the facilities necessary for sleeping, eating, cooking, and family living." A second dwelling, an outbuilding or a rented storefront is not a residence, and a program there is a child day center under 8VAC20-780, not a home. The definition of "Child day center" confirms the boundary: "a child day program offered to (i) two or more children 13 years of age or younger in a facility that is not the residence of the provider or any of the children in care or (ii) 13 or more children at any location" (8VAC20-821-10). The second clause is the hard ceiling: at 13 children you are a center wherever you are.

WHO THE PEOPLE ARE. 8VAC20-800-10 defines the cast precisely and the definitions carry real consequences later: "'Caregiver' means an individual who provides care, protection, supervision, and guidance to children in the home and includes the provider, substitute provider, and assistant." "'Provider' means an individual who is issued the family day home license by the Department of Education and who has primary responsibility in providing care, protection, supervision, and guidance of children in the family home." "'Substitute provider' means an individual who meets the qualifications of a provider; is designated by the provider; and who provides care, protection, supervision, and guidance for children in the family day home when the provider is absent from the home for more than two hours." "'Assistant' means an individual who helps the provider or substitute provider in the care, protection, supervision, and guidance to children in the home." "'Adult' means any individual 18 years of age or older." "'Child' means an individual under 18 years of age." The age bands used by the ratio table are defined here too: "'Infant' means a child from birth up to 16 months of age"; "'Toddler' means a child from 16 months of age up to 24 months of age"; "'Preschool' means children from two years up to the age of eligibility to attend public school, age five by September 30 of that same year"; "'School age' means eligible to attend public school, age five or older by September 30 of that same year."

ONE MORE STATUTORY DUTY BUILT INTO THE DEFINITION ITSELF. § 22.1-289.02 embeds a disclosure obligation inside the definition of the program: "The provider of licensed or registered home-based child care shall disclose to the parents or guardians of children in their care the percentage of time per week that persons other than the provider will care for the children." 8VAC20-800-70 A 15 operationalises it as a required item of written information for parents: "Amount of time per week that an adult assistant or substitute provider instead of the provider is scheduled to care for the child and the name of the adult assistant or substitute provider."

How many children you can care for in Virginia

TWELVE CHILDREN IS THE STATUTORY CEILING; THE NUMBER ON YOUR LICENCE WILL USUALLY BE LOWER, AND IT IS SET BY THREE DIFFERENT AUTHORITIES. THE CEILING. The definition itself caps the program: home-based child care is offered "for one through 12 children under the age of 13, exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home" (Va. Code § 22.1-289.02; identically 8VAC20-800-10 and 8VAC20-821-10). Above 12 children at any location the program is a child day center by definition — 8VAC20-821-10: "'Child day center' means a child day program offered to (i) two or more children 13 years of age or younger in a facility that is not the residence of the provider or any of the children in care or (ii) 13 or more children at any location." The current VDOE application form states the ceiling on its own face: the field reads "Requested Capacity (number of children for which you are requesting licensure /may not exceed 12)" and the adjacent field reads "Maximum age (12 years maximum)." WHAT COUNTS TOWARD THAT NUMBER. 8VAC20-800-40 A and B: "A. The provider shall ensure that the total number of children receiving care at any one time does not exceed the maximum licensed capacity of the home. B. When at least one child receives care for compensation, all children, exclusive of the provider's own children and children who reside in the home, who are in the care and supervision of a provider, count in the licensed capacity."

Two things follow that people get wrong. First, the trigger is "at least one child receives care for compensation" — once a single paying child is present, EVERY non-resident child under the provider's care and supervision counts, including the unpaid neighbour's child and the friend's child dropped off for the afternoon. Second, the provider's own children and children who reside in the home do NOT count toward licensed capacity. They do, however, count toward the staffing point total if they are under eight — see ratios, where this asymmetry is decisive. WHO SETS THE ACTUAL NUMBER — FACTOR 1, VDOE. 8VAC20-800-40 C: "The department will establish the home's maximum capacity based on the following factors: 1. The availability of adequate space to allow each child free movement and active play indoors and outdoors as required by 8VAC20-800-380; 2. The provider's responsibility to care for another individual who may require special attention or care, including but not limited to a child with a serious physical, emotional, or behavioral condition; or 3. The issuance of a special order to limit capacity pursuant to § 22.1-289.023 of the Code of Virginia."

Note how thin factor 1 actually is. 8VAC20-800-380 in its entirety reads: "The home shall provide each child with adequate space to allow free movement and active play indoors and out." That is the whole section. Virginia does NOT publish a square-feet-per-child figure for homes — no 35 sq ft indoor / 75 sq ft outdoor rule of the kind most states use. The inspector's judgment about "adequate space to allow free movement and active play" is the standard, and it is applied at the pre-licensure inspection. Any source that quotes a per-child square footage for a Virginia home is importing it from somewhere else; nothing in 8VAC20-800 contains one. Factor 2 is broader than it looks: the text says "another individual who may require special attention or care," not "another child in care." A provider caring for an elderly relative in the same home falls squarely inside it. The related programme rule at 8VAC20-800-620 A requires, for a child with special needs, that "the provider shall obtain from the parent a written statement from a physician, or other qualified professional, that includes recommendations for the care and activities of the child" (see required_forms), and VDOE publishes a model form named "Staffing Recommendations for a Child with Special Needs."

Factor 3 is the enforcement route: Va. Code § 22.1-289.023 B 2 empowers the Superintendent, by special order, to "Reduce licensed capacity or prohibit new admissions when the Superintendent concludes that the licensee cannot make necessary corrections to achieve compliance with regulations except by a temporary restriction of its scope of service." A special order has "a stated duration of not more than 12 months" and "The 12-month period begins 30 days after notification of the issuance of a special order or at the conclusion of all appeal steps" (8VAC20-821-10, definition of "Special order"). A reduced capacity, once ordered, becomes a term of the licence: 8VAC20-821-30 F, "Any administrative sanction imposed by a special order or any sanction imposed by a final order shall be considered a term of the license." WHO SETS THE ACTUAL NUMBER — FACTOR 4, THE ONE THE PRIOR ENTRY OMITTED ENTIRELY: LOCAL ZONING. This is a genuine Virginia peculiarity and it is not in 8VAC20-800 at all; it is in the application process. VDOE's licensing instructions, step 4: "Contact your local zoning office to determine the number of children you may request to care for in your home.

Note: Written verification of zoning requirements is required as part of the application." The current initial application form (Revised 7/2026) lists as required attachment number 2: "Zoning form signed by the zoning official (see VDOE website) - Each county has different requirements in determining the capacity of the home-based child care." VDOE publishes the model form for this purpose under the name "Contact with Local Zoning Administrator" (also listed in its model-forms library as "Contact with Zoning Administrator"). And at renewal: "Zoning verification may be needed if there are requested changes in capacity or a special use permit has expired" — note the phrase "special use permit," which is how many Virginia localities handle homes above a small threshold. The practical consequence: a provider may satisfy every requirement of 8VAC20-800 and still be capped at, say, six children because that is what her county's zoning administrator will sign off on. The number on the licence cannot exceed what zoning permits. Any capacity figure quoted without reference to the local zoning sign-off is incomplete for Virginia.

WHO SETS THE ACTUAL NUMBER — FACTOR 5, IN PRACTICE THE BINDING ONE: THE 16-POINT RULE. 8VAC20-800-570 A caps one caregiver at 16 points and weights children birth-through-15-months at four points each. Twelve children under 16 months would be 48 points, needing three caregivers. A single-caregiver home with only infants is capped at four children by arithmetic, not by the licence. See ratios for the full table and for the trap in subsection B. WHAT THE LICENCE ITSELF SAYS. 8VAC20-821-30 E: "A license shall be issued with the following terms: 1. The name of the person to whom the license is issued; 2. The date the license is effective and the date the license expires; 3. The name in which the licensee is doing business; 4. The physical location of the facility; 5. The maximum number of children who may be in care at any time; 6. The age range of children for whom care may be provided; and 7. Any other stipulations or conditions that the superintendent may prescribe within the context of the licensing standards or laws." Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 E says the same at statute level: "Each license shall indicate the maximum number of persons who may be cared for in the child day program or home-based child care system for which it is issued."

Exceeding it is a criminal matter, and the application form says so in the applicant's own signed agreement: "I am aware that it is a misdemeanor for any person to interfere with an authorized agent of the superintendent in the discharge of his duties, make false or untrue reports with respect to the operation of the facility, engage in the operation of a facility without first obtaining a license, or serve more persons than the maximum capacity stipulated on the license." CHANGING THE NUMBER LATER. Capacity is a term of the licence, so raising it is a modification, not a phone call. 8VAC20-821-60: "A. A licensee may submit a written request to the superintendent for a modification of the terms of the license at any time during the license period. B. If the superintendent grants a modification, the department will issue a modified license reflecting the changes. C. No modification shall be granted to change or replace the person to whom the license was granted." Acting first is a prohibited act: 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 4 lists "Failure to obtain from the superintendent a modification pursuant to 8VAC20-821-60 or variance pursuant to 8VAC20-821-70 before making programmatic or operational changes for which a modification or variance is required."

VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION CAP, FOR CONTRAST. 8VAC20-850-100 A: "The provider shall ensure that the total number of children receiving care at any one time does not exceed four, which is the maximum capacity allowed by law (§ 22.1-289.015 of the Code of Virginia) for family day homes that may apply for voluntary registration." VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S CAPACITY LINE. The prior entry said "Maximum licensed capacity is 12 children (birth through 12 years)." CONFIRMED as to the number 12 and as to the exclusion of own/resident children, and its summary of the three 8VAC20-800-40 C factors was accurate. CORRECTED as to "birth through 12 years": the definitional boundary is "under the age of 13" (§ 22.1-289.02; 8VAC20-800-10), and the licence carries an "age range" set by the Superintendent, which the application form caps at "Maximum age (12 years maximum)" — so a 12-year-old is in and a 13-year-old is out, but the phrase "birth through 12 years" is the form's shorthand, not the Code's. INCOMPLETE, materially: it omitted the local zoning sign-off, which is a required attachment to the application and which in practice determines the requested capacity before VDOE ever sees the file.

Adult-to-child ratios

VIRGINIA DOES NOT PUBLISH A STAFF-TO-CHILD RATIO TABLE FOR HOMES. IT PUBLISHES A POINT SYSTEM, AND THE POINT SYSTEM COUNTS SOME OF THE PROVIDER'S OWN CHILDREN. THE OPERATIVE RULE, QUOTED IN FULL. 8VAC20-800-570, "Determining need for additional caregiver": "A. The provider shall ensure that a caregiver does not exceed 16 points by using the following point system to determine if an additional caregiver is needed: 1. Children from birth through 15 months of age count as four points each; 2. Children from 16 months through 23 months of age count as three points each; 3. Children from two through four years of age count as two points each; 4. Children from five years through nine years of age count as one point each; and 5. Children who are 10 years of age and older count as zero points. B. A caregiver's own children and resident children under eight years of age count in point maximums." SUBSECTION B IS THE TRAP, AND THE PRIOR ENTRY MISSED IT COMPLETELY. The prior entry reproduced the point table correctly and then stopped. It never mentioned 8VAC20-800-570 B. That omission inverts the practical effect of the rule for a large share of Virginia providers, because Virginia uses two OPPOSITE counting conventions in two adjacent sections: - 8VAC20-800-40 B, LICENSED CAPACITY: the provider's own children and children who reside in the home are EXCLUDED. - 8VAC20-800-570 B, STAFFING POINTS: the caregiver's own children and resident children UNDER EIGHT YEARS OF AGE are INCLUDED.

Worked example. A licensed provider with a licence for eight children has two of her own children at home, aged three and six. Her own children do not appear anywhere on her licensed capacity — she may still take eight paying children. But before she opens the door she is already carrying 2 points (the three-year-old, "two through four years of age") plus 1 point (the six-year-old, "five years through nine years") = 3 points against her 16-point ceiling. She has 13 points of headroom, not 16. Eight paying two-to-four-year-olds would be 16 points, plus her own 3 = 19, over the cap, and a second caregiver is required even though she is at her licensed capacity of eight. A provider who reads only the capacity section will staff this home illegally. Note the cut-off precisely: "under eight years of age." A resident nine-year-old contributes nothing to the point total (and would in any case be a 1-point child if in care); a resident seven-year-old contributes 1 point. WHAT THE POINT TABLE IMPLIES, EXPRESSED AS RATIOS, FOR A SINGLE CAREGIVER WITH NO OWN/RESIDENT CHILDREN UNDER EIGHT (16 points): - Children birth through 15 months, at 4 points each: FOUR children maximum (16 points exactly). - Children 16 through 23 months, at 3 points each: FIVE children maximum (15 points; a sixth would be 18). - Children two through four years, at 2 points each: EIGHT children maximum (16 points exactly). - Children five through nine years, at 1 point each: the point rule alone permits sixteen, but licensed capacity caps the home at 12. - Children 10 and older, at 0 points: unlimited by the point rule, capped at 12 by licensed capacity, and capped at "under the age of 13" by the definition of child day program.

Mixed groups are what the system exists for. Two infants (8) + two toddlers 16-23 months (6) + one four-year-old (2) = 16 points: five children, at the ceiling, one caregiver. Add a sixth child of any age under ten and a second caregiver is required. WHEN THE SECOND CAREGIVER IS "REQUIRED" — AND WHO IT MAY BE. The section's title is "Determining need for additional caregiver," and "caregiver" is defined at 8VAC20-800-10 as including "the provider, substitute provider, and assistant." So the second body may be an assistant, and assistants may be young: 8VAC20-800-150 A, "Assistants shall be 16 years of age or older," with B, "An assistant under the age of 18 years of age shall always work under the direct supervision of the provider or substitute provider. Direct supervision means being able to hear or see the assistant and children at all times." An assistant aged 18+ still may not run the home: 8VAC20-800-150 C, "An assistant 18 years of age or older shall not be left alone with children in care for more than two hours per day," and if left alone at all, 8VAC20-800-150 D requires that assistant to hold current CPR and first aid certification.

Beyond two hours the person must qualify as a substitute provider: 8VAC20-800-150 E, "An assistant 18 years of age or older who meets the requirements for a substitute provider may act as the substitute provider when the provider is absent from the home for more than two hours." THE SUPERVISION RULE THAT SITS ON TOP OF THE POINTS. Points tell you how many bodies; 8VAC20-800-560 tells you what those bodies must be doing. "A. A caregiver shall be physically present on site and provide direct care and supervision of each child at all times. Direct care and supervision of each child includes: 1. Awareness of and responsibility for each child in care, including being near enough to intervene if needed; and 2. Monitoring of each sleeping infant in one of the following ways: a. By placing each infant for sleep in a location where the infant is within sight and hearing of a caregiver; b. By in-person observation of each sleeping infant at least once every 15 minutes; or c. By using a baby monitor. B. Caregivers shall actively supervise each child during outdoor play to minimize the risk of injury to a child. C. A caregiver may allow only school age children to play outdoors while the caregiver is indoors if the caregiver can hear the children playing outdoors. D. Infants shall be protected from older children. E. No child under five years of age or a child older than five who lacks the motor skills and strength to avoid accidental drowning, scalding, or falling while bathing shall be left unattended while in the bathtub."

Two operational readings worth extracting. (1) Sleeping infants are the ONE place Virginia expressly permits an electronic substitute for line of sight: "By using a baby monitor" is a listed compliant method, on equal footing with sight-and-hearing and 15-minute checks. (2) Subsection C is the only permission to have children outdoors while the caregiver is indoors, and it is narrow: school-age children only, and the caregiver must be able to HEAR them. THE POINT SYSTEM FOLLOWS THE CHILDREN INTO THE WATER. 8VAC20-800-660 A: "The level of supervision by caregivers required in 8VAC20-800-560 and the point system as outlined in 8VAC20-800-570 shall be maintained while the children are participating in swimming or wading activities." And swimming adds requirements on top: 8VAC20-800-660 E, "When one or more children are in water that is more than two feet deep in a pool, lake, or other swimming area on or off the premises of the family day home: 1. A minimum of least two caregivers shall be present and able to supervise the children; and 2. An individual currently certified in basic water rescue, community water safety, water safety instruction, or lifeguarding shall be on duty supervising the children participating in swimming or wading activities at all times.

The certification shall be obtained from an organization such as, but not limited to, the American Red Cross, the YMCA, or the Boy Scouts." Also: "C. Caregivers shall have a system for accounting for all children in the water" and "D. Outdoor swimming activities shall occur only during daylight hours." Annual written parent permission is required (8VAC20-800-660 B), plus "A written statement from the parent advising of a child's swimming skills before the child is allowed in water above the child's shoulder height." NIGHTTIME CARE ADDS A STAFFING RULE OF ITS OWN. 8VAC20-800-1020 I: "Caregivers shall remain awake until all children are asleep and shall sleep on the same floor level as the children in care." And J: "A baby monitor shall be used if the caregiver is not sleeping in the room with the child or in a room adjacent to the room where the child is sleeping." Also D: "Separate sleeping and dressing areas shall be provided for children of the opposite sex over six years of age." REGISTERED HOMES USE THE SAME MATHS. 8VAC20-850-100 B: "The adult-to-child ratios for voluntary registration shall be same as those for licensed day homes."

So the 16-point system governs a voluntarily registered home too, within its four-child cap. FOR CONTRAST — WHERE VIRGINIA *DOES* PUBLISH A RATIO TABLE. Religiously exempt child day CENTERS have an express staff-to-child ratio in statute, at Va. Code § 22.1-289.031 A 3: "a. One staff member to four children from ages zero to 16 months. b. One staff member to five children from ages 16 months to 24 months. c. One staff member to eight children from ages 24 months to 36 months. d. One staff member to 10 children from ages 36 months to five years. e. One staff member to 20 children from ages five years to nine years. f. One staff member to 25 children from ages nine years to 12 years." That table applies to religiously exempt CENTERS, not to homes. It is quoted here only because it is a frequent source of contamination: a table with these numbers, attached to a Virginia home, is the wrong table. VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S RATIO LINE. CONFIRMED: the statement that Virginia uses no fixed per-age ratios for homes, the 16-point ceiling, all five point weights, and the cross-reference to 8VAC20-800-560's physical-presence requirement — all verbatim-accurate against 8VAC20-800-570 A and 8VAC20-800-560 A. CORRECTED BY OMISSION: 8VAC20-800-570 B, "A caregiver's own children and resident children under eight years of age count in point maximums," was absent from the prior entry and is the single most consequential sentence in the section for a provider with young children of her own.

Training you must complete before licensure

FOUR DISTINCT PRE-SERVICE OBLIGATIONS, IN TWO DIFFERENT CHAPTERS PLUS THE AGENCY'S PROCESS. Virginia does not gather them in one place, and the prior entry found only two of them. (1) THE PROVIDER'S AND SUBSTITUTE PROVIDER'S PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS — 8VAC20-800-140, quoted in full: "A. Providers and substitute providers shall be 18 years of age or older. B. Providers licensed after and substitute providers employed after June 30, 2010, shall have: 1. (i) A high school program completion or the equivalent or (ii) evidence of having met the requirements for admission to an accredited college or university; 2. Three months of programmatic experience; 3. Current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as appropriate to the age of the children in care, from the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, American Safety and Health Institute, or the National Safety Council, or current CPR certification issued within the past two years by a community college, a hospital, a rescue squad, or a fire department; and 4. Current certification in first aid from the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, American Safety and Health Institute, or the National Safety Council, or current first aid certification issued within the past three years by a community college, a hospital, a rescue squad, or a fire department.

EXCEPTION: A provider or substitute provider who is a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse with a current license from the Board of Nursing shall not be required to obtain first aid certification. C. Use of a substitute provider shall be limited to no more than a total of 240 hours per calendar year. D. A substitute provider shall record and sign the time of arrivals and departures on each day that the substitute provider works." Two definitions carry the weight. 8VAC20-800-10: "'High school program completion or the equivalent' means an individual has earned a high school diploma or General Education Development (G.E.D.) certificate, or has completed a program of home instruction equivalent to high school completion." And "'Programmatic experience' means time spent working directly with children in a group that is located away from the child's home. Work time shall be computed on the basis of full-time work experience during the period prescribed or equivalent work time over a longer period. Experience settings may include, but not be limited to, a child day program, family day home, child day center, boys and girls club, field placement, elementary school, or a faith-based organization."

The "away from the child's home" clause matters: babysitting in the children's own homes does not count; a field placement, a church nursery or a Boys and Girls Club does. And "equivalent work time over a longer period" means the three months need not be three consecutive full-time months. The grandfather date is real: the education, experience and certification requirements bind "Providers licensed after and substitute providers employed after June 30, 2010." A provider continuously licensed from before that date is not retroactively subject to subsection B — though CPR/first aid currency is required of anyone left alone with children under other sections and is a required attachment to every application. The 240-hour cap in subsection C is an under-cited limit: a substitute provider is a stopgap, not a co-provider, and burning through 240 hours in a calendar year exhausts the permission entirely. (2) THE GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS THAT APPLY TO EVERY CAREGIVER — 8VAC20-800-130: "Caregivers shall: 1. Be of good character and reputation; 2. Be physically and mentally capable of carrying out assigned responsibilities; 3. Be courteous, respectful, patient, and affectionate toward the children in care; 4. Be able to speak, read, and write in English as necessary to: a.

Carry out assigned job responsibilities, and b. Communicate effectively with emergency responders; and 5. Meet the requirements specified in 8VAC20-770, Background Checks for Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems." Subdivision 5 is one of the dangling cross-references described in program: 8VAC20-770 was repealed effective 2026-06-17 and the operative background-check rules are now Part V of 8VAC20-821 and Article 5 of Chapter 14.1. Subdivision 4 is a genuine, enforceable English-language requirement tied specifically to emergency communication. "Good character and reputation" is defined, and the definition tells the applicant how the check is done: 8VAC20-800-10, "'Good character and reputation' means knowledgeable and objective people agree that the individual (i) maintains business, professional, family, and community relationships that are characterized by honesty, fairness, and truthfulness; and (ii) demonstrates a concern for the well-being of others to the extent that the individual is considered suitable to be entrusted with the care, guidance, and protection of children.

Relatives by blood or marriage, and people who are not knowledgeable of the individual, such as recent acquaintances, shall not be considered objective references." That last sentence is why the application demands three reference letters from non-relatives who have known the person at least a month. 8VAC20-800-30 C adds: "The provider shall be of good character and reputation. Character and reputation investigation includes, but is not limited to, background checks as required by §§ 22.1-289.034 et seq. of the Code of Virginia." (3) THE ORIENTATION INSIDE THE HOME — 8VAC20-800-200, and the prior entry mis-stated who receives it. The prior entry wrote that "each caregiver receives an orientation to be completed by the end of the first week." The regulation says something narrower: "A. The provider shall orient the substitute provider and assistant by the end of their first week of assuming job responsibilities. B. The orientation shall cover the following topics: 1. Job responsibilities; 2. Requirements for parental notifications listed in 8VAC20-800-650; 3. Standards in this chapter that relate to the substitute provider's or assistant's responsibilities; 4. Emergency evacuation, relocation, and shelter-in-place procedures; 5. Location of emergency numbers, first aid kit, and emergency supplies; 6. Confidential treatment of information about children in care and their families; and 7. Requirement for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect. C. Documentation of the orientation shall be signed and dated by the provider and substitute provider or by the provider and assistant."

The obligation runs FROM the provider TO the substitute provider and assistant. The provider does not orient herself, and the section imposes no orientation duty on the provider personally. That is not a loophole — the provider's own equivalent obligations arrive through 8VAC20-800-140 (qualifications), through 8VAC20-800-800 C (emergency-plan training, which does reach every caregiver, see below) and through the Superintendent's pre-licensure orientation (below). There is a fifth topic-area duty that reaches EVERY caregiver at the same one-week mark and that the prior entry did not cite: 8VAC20-800-800 C, "The provider shall ensure that each caregiver receives training regarding the emergency evacuation, emergency relocation, and shelter-in-place procedures by the end of his first week of assuming job responsibilities, on an annual basis, and at the time of each plan update." Three trigger points — first week, annually, and every plan update — and here the word is "each caregiver," which by definition includes the provider. (4) THE ITEM THE PRIOR ENTRY FLAGGED "TO CONFIRM," NOW RESOLVED: A MANDATORY PRE-LICENSURE ORIENTATION RUN BY THE DEPARTMENT.

The prior entry wrote: "NOTE (to confirm): 8VAC20-800 does not prescribe a single named pre-service training curriculum beyond this orientation plus CPR/first aid; the federally required (CCDF) health-and-safety pre-service content is delivered through orientation and annual training — confirm the current VDOE-required health-and-safety module list before relying on it." Half right, and the missing half is a hard licensure condition. It is true that 8VAC20-800 contains no named pre-service curriculum. But 8VAC20-821-40 C 6 — a chapter that did not exist when the prior entry was written — makes one a qualification for licensure: "The applicant shall have completed a prelicensure orientation offered through or approved by the superintendent that focuses on health and safety standards, application processes, background check requirements, and general licensure requirements. a. The superintendent may, at the superintendent's discretion, waive the prelicensure orientation requirement or issue a license conditioned upon the applicant's completion of the prelicensure orientation program. b.

Applicants who have previously completed the prelicensure orientation program training and have not been subject to a license denial or revocation shall not be required to complete the prelicensure orientation program a second time." VDOE runs it in two phases and is explicit about which is compulsory. Phase I: "Complete the Phase I: Pre-Application Training for Licensed Home-Based Child Care. This training provides information about the initial application process and important points of consideration prior to applying for licensure. The training is highly recommended." (Highly recommended — not required.) Phase II: "Contact the Office of Child Care Health and Safety in your region to sign up for Pre-Licensure Orientation for Licensed Home-Based Child Care - Phase 2. This is a required orientation where licensing inspectors will focus on the Standards for Licensed Family Day Homes (Chapter 800) and answer any of your questions." (Required.) And the current application form makes Phase II documentary: required attachment 3 is "Documentation of the required Pre-Licensure Orientation Training." (5) THE PRE-SERVICE COURSE THAT APPLIES ONLY IF YOU TAKE SUBSIDY MONEY.

There IS a named Virginia pre-service curriculum, but it attaches to Child Care Subsidy Program vendor status, not to licensure. VDOE's one-page "HOME - Subsidy Program TRAINING Requirements" sets out, for NEW vendors: "PRIOR to approval / Provider applying to be a vendor / Proof of legal operation [and] Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff course"; "PRIOR to being alone with children and within 7 days of employment/vendor approval / ALL caregivers / Orientation Training (information specific to the home)"; "Within 90 days of approval or employment / Caregivers / Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff course [and] First Aid and CPR certification*"; "Annually / ALL caregivers / 16 hours of training & staff development." The asterisk carries a bridging rule: "During the 90 day period, there must always be at least one caregiver with current CPR and first aid training present during hours of operation." For CURRENT vendors the same sheet requires new caregivers to complete orientation before being alone with children and within 7 days of employment, First Aid and CPR "Within 30 days of employment," and the "Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff course" within 90 days.

So the answer to the prior entry's open question is: the named course is "Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff," it is a subsidy-vendor requirement rather than a licensure requirement, and a licensed home that never takes subsidy children never has to take it. (6) HEALTH SCREENING BEFORE CONTACT WITH CHILDREN — TUBERCULOSIS. 8VAC20-800-170: "A. The provider shall obtain from each caregiver at the time of hire and each adult household member prior to coming into contact with children a current Report of Tuberculosis Screening form published by the Virginia Department of Health or a form consistent with it documenting the absence of tuberculosis in a communicable form. B. The form shall have been completed within the last 30 days and be signed by a physician, physicians' designee, or an official of the local health department." Recurrence is on a two-year cycle: 8VAC20-800-180 A, "The provider shall obtain for each caregiver and adult household member a current Report of Tuberculosis Screening form, in accordance with the requirements in 8VAC20-800-170, every two years from the date of the first screening or more frequently as recommended by a physician or the local health department."

Exposure and symptoms restart the clock and exclude the person from contact in the meantime: 8VAC20-800-180 B, "Within 30 days of a caregiver's or adult household member's coming into contact with a known case of infectious tuberculosis, the provider shall obtain for the individual a new Report of Tuberculosis Screening form ... Until a new screening form is issued that documents the absence of tuberculosis in a communicable form, the caregiver or adult household member shall not have contact with children," and C, the same for "any caregiver or adult household member who develops chronic respiratory symptoms of three weeks duration."

The 30-day currency is enforced at application: the VDOE checklist requires "Tuberculosis (TB) Test/Screening results for all caregivers and adult household members (completed within the last 30 days)." (7) HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS ARE A REGULATED CLASS BEFORE ANYONE IS HIRED. 8VAC20-800-160: "Individuals 14 years of age and older who reside in the family day home shall: 1. Display behavior that demonstrates emotional stability; 2. Be of good character and reputation; and 3. Meet the requirements specified in 8VAC20-770, Background Checks for Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems." (Again a repealed cross-reference; the live rule is 8VAC20-821-170 B and Va. Code § 22.1-289.036 A (iii).) And the Department may demand a medical or mental-health report at any time: 8VAC20-800-190 A, "The provider or the department's representative may require a report of examination by a licensed physician or mental health professional when there are indications that a caregiver's or household member's physical or mental health may endanger the health, safety, or well-being of children in care," with B requiring immediate removal from contact with children and with food "until the condition is cleared as evidenced by a signed statement from the physician or mental health professional." (8) MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION, IF THE HOME AGREES TO GIVE MEDICATION AT ALL.

Pre-service only in the sense that it must precede the act: 8VAC20-800-220 A, "To safely perform medication administration practices listed in 8VAC20-800-710 whenever the family day home has agreed to administer prescription medications or nonprescription medications, the administration shall be performed by a caregiver who: 1. Has satisfactorily completed a training program for this purpose developed or approved by the Board of Nursing and taught by a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine, or pharmacist; or 2. Is licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to administer medications." VDOE delivers this as the MAT programme: "The MAT Program trains and certifies Virginia child day program providers and private school employees to safely give medications to children (ages infant through high school graduation) in their care." A separate, later-added module governs seizure rescue: VDOE states that "Effective November 15, 2023, to be authorized to give seizure rescue nasal spray to a child in their care, a provider must meet ONE of the following criteria: 1. Holds a current MAT Certificate AND a current MAT Seizure Rescue Nasal Spray Online Course Completion Certificate; 2. Holds a current MAT Certificate AND a current MAT Epilepsy for Certified Providers Certificate; or 3. Holds a current MAT Epilepsy for Uncertified Providers Certificate."

VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S PRE-SERVICE LINE. CONFIRMED: age 18+, high-school completion or equivalent (or college-admission evidence), three months programmatic experience, current CPR and first aid, RN/LPN exemption from FIRST AID only, and the seven orientation topics — all verbatim-accurate. CORRECTED: (a) orientation under 8VAC20-800-200 runs to the substitute provider and assistant, not to "each caregiver"; the "each caregiver" duty at the one-week mark is the emergency-procedures training in 8VAC20-800-800 C. (b) The open question about a named pre-service curriculum is answered in two parts — a MANDATORY superintendent-run prelicensure orientation now exists as a licensure qualification under 8VAC20-821-40 C 6 (VDOE's "Phase 2"), and the named CCDF-flavoured course, "Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff," is a subsidy-vendor requirement rather than a licensure requirement. (c) The prior entry omitted the 240-hour annual cap on substitute providers, the English-language requirement at 8VAC20-800-130 subdivision 4, and the tuberculosis screening regime entirely.

Ongoing (annual) training

SIXTEEN CLOCK HOURS A YEAR, FOR EVERY CAREGIVER, ON TOP OF CPR AND FIRST AID. THE RULE, QUOTED IN FULL. 8VAC20-800-210: "A. In addition to satisfactory completion of first aid training and CPR training, caregivers shall obtain a minimum of sixteen clock hours of training annually in areas relevant to their job responsibilities. B. The annual training shall cover areas such as, but not limited to: 1. Physical, intellectual, social, and emotional child development; 2. Behavior management and discipline techniques; 3. Health and safety in the family day home environment; 4. Art and music activities for children; 5. Child nutrition; 6. Recognition and prevention of child abuse and neglect; 7. Emergency preparedness as required by 8VAC20-800-800 C; or 8. Recognition and prevention of the spread of communicable diseases." Five things worth pulling out of that short section. (1) "CAREGIVERS," not "providers." By the definition at 8VAC20-800-10 the word covers "the provider, substitute provider, and assistant." The 16 hours therefore attach to a 16-year-old assistant and to a substitute provider who works a handful of days a year exactly as they attach to the licensee.

There is no pro-rating clause in the section. (2) "IN ADDITION TO satisfactory completion of first aid training and CPR training." The opening words are load-bearing: hours spent sitting a CPR or first-aid course do NOT count toward the 16. A common error is to book a four-hour combined CPR/first-aid class and claim four hours of annual training; the regulation forecloses it. (3) "SIXTEEN CLOCK HOURS" — the regulation spells the number in words, and it says clock hours, not contact hours, credit hours or CEUs. The measure is time. (4) "AREAS SUCH AS, BUT NOT LIMITED TO" and the list ends in "or", not "and". The eight topics are illustrative, not a compulsory distribution. Nothing in 8VAC20-800-210 requires that a set number of hours fall in any one topic. What the section does require is that the training be "in areas relevant to their job responsibilities." (5) Subdivision B 7, "Emergency preparedness as required by 8VAC20-800-800 C," is a pointer to a mandatory item: 8VAC20-800-800 C, "The provider shall ensure that each caregiver receives training regarding the emergency evacuation, emergency relocation, and shelter-in-place procedures by the end of his first week of assuming job responsibilities, ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, and at the time of each plan update."

So at least some emergency-procedures content is not optional each year; it is required by a different section and merely credited against the 16 by this one. There is no minimum hour figure attached to it. WHAT THE HOME MUST BE ABLE TO SHOW. 8VAC20-800-230: "A. The provider shall maintain written documentation of each caregiver's applicable education and programmatic experience, applicable first aid and CPR certification, orientation, annual training, and applicable medication administration training. B. Written documentation of annual training shall include: 1. Name of the caregiver; 2. Name of the training session; 3. Date and total hours of the session; and 4. Name of the organization that sponsored the training and the trainer." Four data points per session — sponsor AND trainer are both required, which rules out an undocumented in-house session with no named presenter. VDOE publishes a model form for this, "Record of Annual Training" (Word). The retention rule sits in 8VAC20-800-50 E: records "shall be maintained and made accessible to the department's representative for two years from the date of termination of services for a child, date of separation from employment for caregivers, or date of termination of residence for a household member, or unless specified otherwise."

MEDICATION-ADMINISTRATION RETRAINING RUNS ON ITS OWN THREE-YEAR CLOCK. 8VAC20-800-220 B: "Caregivers required to have the training in subdivision A 1 of this section shall be retrained at three-year intervals." Note the scope: subdivision A 1 is the Board-of-Nursing-approved course route. A caregiver who qualifies under A 2 ("Is licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to administer medications") is not subject to the three-year retraining clause — her professional licence carries its own renewal. CORRECTION TO THE PRIOR ENTRY'S PHRASING: it said medication training "must be provided by a registered nurse or a Board of Nursing-approved program." The text is narrower and broader at once — the programme must be "developed or approved by the Board of Nursing" AND "taught by a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, doctor of medicine or osteopathic medicine, or pharmacist." Four categories of permitted instructor, not one. FIRST AID AND CPR CURRENCY IS A ROLLING, NOT ANNUAL, OBLIGATION. 8VAC20-800-140 B 3 and B 4 accept certification from the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, American Safety and Health Institute or the National Safety Council without a stated interval (those bodies set their own), and separately accept "current CPR certification issued within the past two years by a community college, a hospital, a rescue squad, or a fire department" and "current first aid certification issued within the past three years" from the same four kinds of local issuer.

So the fallback intervals are TWO years for CPR and THREE years for first aid — a distinction the prior entry did not draw. VDOE notes that the training can be free: "Child Care Aware of Virginia provides First Aid and CPR training on behalf of the Virginia Department of Education. There is no cost to Child Care Providers that participate in the Child Care Subsidy program or provide child care for infants and toddlers." THE SUBSIDY OVERLAY GIVES THE SAME NUMBER. VDOE's "HOME - Subsidy Program TRAINING Requirements" sheet lists, for both new and current vendors: "Annually / ALL caregivers / 16 hours of training & staff development." So a home that takes subsidy children does not face a higher annual hour count — it faces the same 16, plus the "Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff" course and a tighter CPR/first-aid deadline for new caregivers ("Within 30 days of employment" for current vendors' new hires, "Within 90 days" for a new vendor's caregivers), with the bridging rule that "During the 30 or 90 day period, there must always be at least one caregiver with current CPR and first aid training present during hours of operation."

WHERE THE HOURS CAN COME FROM. VDOE names the delivery channels it recognises without limiting the field: Child Care Aware of Virginia ("training sessions that can be used to obtain a CDA credential or as in-service training hours; offered in-person or online"); the Community College Workforce Alliance, whose courses "CHLD 2015 - Child Abuse and Neglect: Recognition and Reporting" and "CHLD 2016 - Health Screening for Childcare Professionals" VDOE says "meet regulatory and statutory requirements for child day programs, are available in English and Spanish, and are made available for free through this partnership"; the Virginia Infant & Toddler Specialist Network; the Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children; Square One; the Virginia Early Intervention eLearning Center; and FEMA's IS-36.a "Preparedness for Child Care Providers." Statutory backing for VDOE building this infrastructure is Va. Code § 22.1-289.010, which directs that licence fees "shall be used for the development and delivery of training for operators and staff of child day programs and home-based child care systems," that "Fees shall be expended for this purpose within two fiscal years following the fiscal year in which they are collected," and that "Training provided to operators and staffs of licensed child day programs shall include training and information regarding shaken baby syndrome, its effects, and resources for help and support for caretakers."

TRAINING AS A SANCTION. Annual hours are not the only way training gets imposed. Va. Code § 22.1-289.023 B 3 lets the Superintendent, by special order, "Mandate training for the licensee or licensee's employees, with any costs to be borne by the licensee, when the Superintendent concludes that the lack of such training has led directly to violations of regulations." 8VAC20-821-290 C 3 repeats it. VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S ANNUAL-TRAINING LINE. CONFIRMED: "Minimum 16 clock hours of training annually (8VAC20-800-210)" is exactly right, as is the topic list and the three-year medication retraining interval. CORRECTED: the instructor categories for medication training (four, not one); and the prior entry did not state that CPR/first-aid hours are excluded from the 16 by the section's opening words, did not give the two-year/three-year fallback certification intervals, and did not surface 8VAC20-800-800 C's separate annual emergency-procedures training duty.

Background checks

THE CHAPTER THE PRIOR ENTRY POINTED AT NO LONGER EXISTS. The prior entry said background checks are "governed by 8VAC20-770 and the Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.035, § 22.1-289.034 and § 22.1-289.039," and hedged that "8VAC20-770 was reorganized/partly repealed in a 2026 rulemaking." Read on 2026-08-25, 8VAC20-770 is repealed in its entirety — all fifteen sections, 8VAC20-770-10 through 8VAC20-770-150, each now printing "(Repealed.)" over the Historical Note "Derived from Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 24, eff. July 1, 2021; repealed, Virginia Register Volume 42, Issue 20, eff. June 17, 2026." The Agency 20 table of contents lists it as "Chapter 770 Background Checks for Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems [Repealed]". The live regulatory text is PART V OF 8VAC20-821 (sections 8VAC20-821-160 through 8VAC20-821-230), effective 2026-02-01, sitting on top of ARTICLE 5 OF CHAPTER 14.1 OF TITLE 22.1 of the Code (§§ 22.1-289.034 through 22.1-289.041). Anyone still working from 8VAC20-770 section numbers is working from a dead chapter. WHAT A "BACKGROUND CHECK" IS, BY DEFINITION. 8VAC20-821-10: "'Background check' means (i) a sworn statement or affirmation; (ii) a fingerprint-based national criminal background check; (iii) a Virginia child protective services central registry check; and (iv) a check of the child abuse and neglect registry, criminal history record report, and sex offender registry for any state an individual has resided in within the past five years."

Four components, the fourth conditional on out-of-state residence. VDOE's own page frames it the same way: "Minimally, there are three required components of a background check ... Individuals who have lived outside of the Commonwealth within the last five years are required to complete additional background checks." And "'Sworn statement or affirmation' means a signed statement completed by a person attesting to whether the person has ever been (i) convicted of or the subject of pending charges of any crime within or outside the Commonwealth or an equivalent offense outside the Commonwealth or (ii) the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect within or outside the Commonwealth" (8VAC20-821-10). WHO MUST BE CHECKED — TWO SEPARATE STATUTES, DIFFERENT POPULATIONS. (A) AT APPLICATION, AND EVERY FIVE YEARS THEREAFTER — Va. Code § 22.1-289.036 A: "Every (i) applicant for licensure as a child day center, home-based child care, or a home-based child care system, registration as home-based child care, or approval as home-based child care by a home-based child care system; (ii) agent of an applicant ... at the time of application who is or will be involved in the day-to-day operations of the child day center, home-based child care, or home-based child care system or who is or will be alone with, in control of, or supervising one or more of the children; and (iii) ADULT LIVING IN such child day center or the home in which such home-based child care is provided shall undergo a background check in accordance with subsection B prior to issuance of a license ... and every five years thereafter." "Agent" is defined at subsection J: "a person who is authorized to act on behalf of the applicant or licensee."

So: the applicant, her agents, and every ADULT (18+) living in the house. (B) FOR EMPLOYEES AND VOLUNTEERS — Va. Code § 22.1-289.035 A: no licensed home "shall hire for compensated employment, continue to employ, or permit to serve as a volunteer who will be alone with, in control of, or supervising children any person who (i) has been convicted of any barrier crime as defined in § 19.2-392.02 or (ii) is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect within or outside the Commonwealth. All applicants for employment, employees, applicants to serve as volunteers, and volunteers shall undergo a background check in accordance with subsection B PRIOR TO EMPLOYMENT or beginning to serve as a volunteer AND EVERY FIVE YEARS THEREAFTER." (C) HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS AGED 14 AND OVER — the central-registry-only rule, and the prior entry got this right. 8VAC20-821-170 B: "Any person 14 years of age or older living in the home of a licensed or registered family day home shall request a Virginia child protective services central registry check WITHIN SEVEN DAYS of reaching 14 years of age or beginning to live in the home."

Note the trigger and the deadline the prior entry omitted: the seven-day window runs from the fourteenth birthday or from move-in, whichever applies, and the obligation is on the PERSON to "request" the check. VDOE confirms operationally: "Effective July 1, 2024, a search of the Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry must be requested prior to employment. Additionally, a search of the Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry is also required for any household members of a home-based child care program who are 14 years of age or older." The regulation at 8VAC20-800-160 also imposes substantive attributes on this same 14-and-over class: they "shall: 1. Display behavior that demonstrates emotional stability; 2. Be of good character and reputation; and 3. Meet the requirements specified in [the background-check chapter]." So the household is checked at two different depths: adults get the full four-component check under § 22.1-289.036 A (iii); residents aged 14 to 17 get the Virginia central registry check under 8VAC20-821-170 B. THE FOUR COMPONENTS, AS THE STATUTE DESCRIBES THEM.

Va. Code § 22.1-289.036 B (and, in materially identical terms, § 22.1-289.035 B): "Every person required to undergo a background check pursuant to subsection A shall: 1. Provide a sworn statement or affirmation disclosing whether he has ever been convicted of or is the subject of any pending criminal charges for any offense within or outside the Commonwealth and whether or not he has been the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect within or outside the Commonwealth; 2. Submit to fingerprinting and provide personal descriptive information described in subdivision B 2 of § 19.2-392.02; 3. Authorize the child day center, home-based child care, or home-based child care system specified in subsection A to obtain a copy of the results of a search of the central registry maintained pursuant to § 63.2-1515 for any founded complaint of child abuse or neglect against him; and 4. Authorize [the program] to obtain a copy of the results of a criminal history record information check, a sex offender registry check, and a search of the child abuse and neglect registry or equivalent registry from any state in which the individual has resided in the preceding five years."

The routing: "Fingerprints and personal descriptive information obtained pursuant to subdivision 2 shall be forwarded by the Department or its designee or, in the case of a child day program operated by a local government, may be forwarded by the local law-enforcement agency through the Central Criminal Records Exchange to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the purpose of obtaining national criminal history record information regarding the individual. Upon receipt of an individual's record or notification that no record exists, the Central Criminal Records Exchange shall forward the information to the Department or its designee. The Department or its designee shall report to [the program] as to whether the individual is eligible to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. In cases in which the record forwarded to the Department or its designee is lacking disposition data, the Department or its designee shall conduct research in whatever state and local recordkeeping systems are available in order to obtain complete data." A crucial privacy consequence: the provider is told ELIGIBLE or NOT ELIGIBLE.

She does not receive the rap sheet. § 22.1-289.036 G gives the record to the individual instead: "If an individual is denied licensure, registration, or approval because of information from the central registry or any child abuse and neglect registry or equivalent registry maintained by any other state, or convictions appearing on his criminal history record, the Superintendent shall provide a copy of the information obtained from the central registry ... or the Central Criminal Records Exchange to the individual." Central registry results must be in hand before the licence issues: § 22.1-289.036 D, "Information from a search of the central registry maintained pursuant to § 63.2-1515 and any child abuse and neglect registry or equivalent registry maintained by any other state in which the applicant, agent, or adult has resided in the preceding five years ... shall be obtained PRIOR TO issuance of a license." THE DISQUALIFIERS. The bar is "barrier crime as defined in § 19.2-392.02," and Chapter 14.1 expands the concept: Va. Code § 22.1-289.034, "For purposes of this chapter, convictions for any barrier crime as defined in § 19.2-392.02 shall include PRIOR ADULT CONVICTIONS AND JUVENILE CONVICTIONS OR ADJUDICATIONS OF DELINQUENCY based on a crime that would be a felony if committed by an adult within or outside the Commonwealth."

So a juvenile adjudication counts. The second disqualifier is being "the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect within or outside the Commonwealth" (§ 22.1-289.035 A (ii); § 22.1-289.036 C). VDOE's plain-language version of what OBI screens for: "Anyone who has committed a barrier crime as defined in § 19.2-392.02 is considered ineligible for employment or volunteer work, licensure, registration or approval," the two triggers being "A barrier crime, and/or Any other felony unless five years have elapsed since the conviction." Consequence for the licence: § 22.1-289.036 C, "If any person specified in subsection A required to have a background check (i) has been convicted of any barrier crime ... or (ii) is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect ... and such person has not been granted a waiver by the Superintendent pursuant to § 22.1-289.038, no license as a child day center, home-based child care, or home-based child care system or registration as home-based child care shall be granted." Note the reach: a disqualifying record belonging to an ADULT LIVING IN THE HOME who has nothing to do with the business blocks the licence.

And the standalone criminal bar that survives even with no licence at all — Va. Code § 22.1-289.041: "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate home-based child care if he, or if he knows that any other person who resides in, is employed by, or volunteers in the home, has been convicted of a felony in violation of § 18.2-48, 18.2-61, 18.2-63, 18.2-64.1, 18.2-67.1, 18.2-67.2, 18.2-67.3, 18.2-67.5, 18.2-355, 18.2-361, 18.2-366, 18.2-369, 18.2-370, 18.2-370.1, 18.2-371.1, or 18.2-374.1, has been convicted of any offense that requires registration on the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry pursuant to § 9.1-902, or is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect within or outside the Commonwealth. A violation of this section is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor." NOBODY WORKS BEFORE THE CHECK IS DONE — WITH ONE NARROW EXCEPTION ADDED IN 2024. The general rule, § 22.1-289.036 E: "No person specified in subsection A shall be involved in the day-to-day operations of the child day center, home-based child care, or home-based child care system, or shall be alone with, in control of, or supervising one or more children, without first having completed any required background check pursuant to subsection B." 8VAC20-821-180 D repeats it.

The exception, PROVISIONAL HIRE, is in § 22.1-289.035 A: "However, pending the results of all background check components set forth in subsection B, an applicant for employment or an applicant to serve as a volunteer may work in the child day center, home-based child care, or home-based child care system, provided that (a) the applicant has received qualifying results on a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the Federal Bureau of Investigation and (b) the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who received a qualifying result on a background check conducted in accordance with subsection B within the past five years." VDOE dates and expands it: "Provisional Hire: Effective July 1, 2024, new applicants for employment and volunteering may be provisionally hired if the applicant has received qualifying results from a fingerprint-based background check through the Central Criminal Records Exchange or the FBI; a Sworn Disclosure or Affirmation has been completed; the applicant is supervised at all times by a person who has received a qualifying result on all background checks within the last five years; the Virginia Central Registry check has been requested; and if applicable, the out-of-state criminal record check, sex offender, and child abuse and neglect registry search have been requested."

VDOE also killed a grace period that used to exist: "effective July 1, 2024 ... There will no longer be a 30-day grace period for Virginia Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry Search results or out-of-state child abuse and neglect registry search requests." Note the asymmetry: provisional hire is available for EMPLOYEES AND VOLUNTEERS under § 22.1-289.035; it is NOT available for the applicant, her agents or adult household members under § 22.1-289.036, whose checks must be complete before the licence issues. PORTABILITY — SKIPPING A REPEAT CHECK. Va. Code § 22.1-289.035 J: "Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, a background check shall not be required for any individual who has completed a background check under the provisions of this section within the previous five years, provided that (i) such background check was conducted after July 1, 2017; (ii) the results of such background check indicated that the individual had not been convicted of any barrier crime ... and was not the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect ...; and (iii) the individual is currently or has been, within the previous 180 days, employed by or a volunteer at a child day center, home-based child care, home-based child care system, or child day program described in subsection A." The mechanism is a written certification from the Department, which "shall also state the next date by which another background check for such person shall be completed" and "shall not reveal the nature of any disqualifying barrier crime or founded complaint."

VDOE dates the scheme to "Effective January 1, 2022" and warns that "The fee is nonrefundable, so it is important that you confirm with the prospective employee or volunteer that they are eligible for background check portability prior to submitting your request." There is also a staffing-pool variant at § 22.1-289.035 L, permitting VDOE to certify eligibility to "an entity designated by the Department that provides staffing for child day programs ... for the purpose of facilitating the creation and maintenance of a child day program substitute staff pool system." OUT-OF-STATE CHECKS, AND WHAT TO DO WHEN A STATE WON'T ANSWER. 8VAC20-821-190: "A. If any individual required to get a background check has lived in another state in the past five years and the results of the request for any component of the background check maintained by that state has not been returned, the person responsible for obtaining the background check shall obtain the following before the background check may be considered complete: 1. Documentation from the state on or after the date of the request if the state to which the request was made refuses to provide background check information due to the state's procedures for processing; or 2. Documentation showing that the person responsible for obtaining the background check contacted the state in writing to obtain the results of the background check at least 45 days after the first request. B. Any documentation obtained pursuant to this section shall be maintained as part of the background check record."

That 45-day re-contact rule is the escape hatch for uncooperative states, and it did not exist in a readable form in the repealed chapter's structure. VDOE points providers to the federal contact list — "view the Interstate Child Care Background Check Contact List Chart that lists the contact information for each state and territory of the United States" — and adds that "Programs may obtain the out-of-state sex offender registry check through the United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), if preferred," and that "An out-of-state criminal record search, out-of-state sex offender registry search, and out-of-state child abuse and neglect registry search must be requested prior to employment." WAIVERS. Va. Code § 22.1-289.038 A and 8VAC20-821-220 create a narrow discretionary waiver. 8VAC20-821-220: "A. Any person who seeks to operate, volunteer, or work at a child day program or family day system and who is disqualified because of a criminal conviction or a criminal conviction in the background check of any other adult living in a family day home regulated by the department ... may apply in writing for a waiver from the superintendent.

The superintendent may grant a waiver if the superintendent determines that (i) the person is of good moral character and reputation and (ii) the waiver would not adversely affect the safety and well-being of children in the person's care. B. The superintendent shall NOT grant a waiver to any person who has been convicted of any barrier crime. C. The superintendent may grant a waiver to a family day home licensed or registered by the department if any other adult living in the home of the applicant or provider has been convicted of not more than one misdemeanor offense under § 18.2-57 or 18.2-57.2 ... provided that (i) five years have elapsed following the conviction and (ii) the department has conducted a home study that includes (a) an assessment of the safety of children placed in the home and (b) a determination that the offender is now a person of good moral character and reputation. The waiver shall not be granted if the adult living in the home is an assistant or substitute provider or if the adult has been convicted of a misdemeanor offense under both §§ 18.2-57 and 18.2-57.2." Waivers are "granted at the discretion of the superintendent and are not subject to appeal" (subsection E), automatically expire "when the individual who is the subject of the waiver no longer lives in the home" (subsection I), and can be rescinded for false information, breach of conditions, or loss of eligibility (subsection H). A waiver is PUBLIC. 8VAC20-821-230: "A.

The child day program or family day system shall POST any waiver granted by the superintendent IN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE at the location listed on the waiver. B. Any waiver granted under this section shall be available for inspection by the public. The child day program or family day system shall notify in writing every parent of the children in its care of any waiver granted by the superintendent, as well as notify in writing the parent of any child enrolled after the waiver becomes effective." See required_postings. Note the one waiver Virginia gives to CENTERS but not to homes: § 22.1-289.035 G and 8VAC20-821-180 B permit a child day center to hire someone with "not more than one misdemeanor offense under § 18.2-57 ... if 10 years have elapsed following the conviction." The text confines it to a "child day center." A home does not get it. FEES — AND THEY CHANGED ON 2026-01-01, WITH THE PROVIDER NOW PAYING. The statute caps them by cost: § 22.1-289.036 I, "Fees charged for the processing and administration of background checks pursuant to this section shall not exceed the actual cost to the state or the local law-enforcement agency of such processing and administration" (identically § 22.1-289.035 H). The current numbers come from VDOE: "Effective January 1, 2026, the processing fees for background checks increased.

The fee for Virginia Central Registry Search Requests are now $12, portability requests are now $17, and national criminal fingerprint background requests are $43.23 for volunteers and $63.23 for all others. Providers are now responsible for all background check fees. All VDOE providers must register a new business account with Fieldprint after January 1, 2026, in order to successfully send applicants for fingerprinting." The background-check page repeats it: "Effective January 1, 2026, all criminal background fingerprint fees will be the responsibility of the provider or applicant, paid directly to Fieldprint at the time of appointment scheduling. There is a $43.23 processing fee for volunteers and a $63.23 processing fee for all other individuals required to obtain criminal background checks." SUMMARY OF CURRENT FEES: Virginia Central Registry search $12; portability request $17; national fingerprint check $43.23 (volunteers) / $63.23 (everyone else). The June 2026 VDOE memo adds a wrinkle created by the terminology statute: "Because of this law, the Virginia Department of Social Services-Office of Background Investigations (OBI) has updated all Fieldprint codes to remove references to the previous terms, 'family day home' and 'family day system.' ...

If a provider uses the provider-pay model (in effect since January 1, 2026), Fieldprint will send updated information directly to the provider. If a provider uses the applicant-pay model, the applicant must contact OBI to receive the updated generic Fieldprint code before scheduling fingerprints." NOTE THE CONTRAST WITH THE LICENCE FEE. The background-check fees are real money and are being collected now; the LICENCE application fee is currently suspended (see prelicensing_steps). HOW THE CHECKS ARE SUBMITTED. Central registry and portability go through the OBI web portal: "A request for a Central Registry Search can be submitted through the VDSS-OBI's web-based portal," and providers "should select DOE User type when first registering for an OBI portal account." Fingerprints go through Fieldprint. VDOE tells applicants that on receipt of an initial application they "will receive an email from VDOE providing instructions for obtaining a Fieldprint facility ID from VDSS-OBI." The results of the national check must land before hire: "Note: The results of a national fingerprint check must be received prior to employment."

RECORDKEEPING AND SECURITY. 8VAC20-821-210: "A. A child day program or family day system shall keep background check records at its place of business for at least two years after an individual required to have a background check terminates duties with a facility or no longer resides in the home, unless federal or state law or regulation requires the records to be kept for longer. ... B. Background check records shall be kept in locked files or a secure electronic file, and access to the files should be restricted according to a principle of least privilege." Dissemination is prohibited: 8VAC20-821-180 E and § 22.1-289.036 H, "Further dissemination of the background check information is prohibited other than to the Superintendent's representative or a federal or state authority or court as may be required to comply with an express requirement of law for such further dissemination." VDOE tells providers not to send them in at all except for the listed attachments: "Except for those listed as a required attachment, background checks DO NOT need to be submitted to the licensing office; however, if you choose to send background checks electronically, please use the secure online portal or send them via an encrypted email.

Background checks must be available for inspection." For the record trail inside the home, 8VAC20-800-120 requires each caregiver's record to contain "Background checks as required by [the background-check chapter]" (subsections B 8 and D 1). RE-CHECKS AND SELF-REPORTING. 8VAC20-821-200: "The child day program or family day system, the department, or the registering or approving authority may require a new background check if there is reason to suspect that a person required to have a background check has a disqualifying background." And the individual must speak up: § 22.1-289.035 I, "Any individual required to undergo a background check pursuant to subsection A who is (i) convicted of any barrier crime ... or (ii) found to be the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect ... shall notify the child day center, home-based child care, or home-based child care system ... of such conviction or finding." Failure by the PROVIDER to pass that on is a prohibited act: 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 11, "Failure to notify the superintendent that anyone required to have a background check under § 22.1-289.036 ... has been convicted of a barrier crime ... or is the subject of a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect."

PENALTIES. Lying on the sworn statement is a crime: § 22.1-289.036 F and § 22.1-289.035 D, "Any person making a materially false statement regarding the sworn statement or affirmation provided pursuant to subdivision B 1 is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor." Failing to run the checks costs the licence: § 22.1-289.037 B, "Failure to obtain background checks pursuant to §§ 22.1-289.035 and 22.1-289.036 shall be grounds for denial, revocation, or termination of a license, registration, or approval or any contract with the Department ... No violation shall occur if the home-based child care system, home-based child care, or child day center has applied for the background check timely and it has not been obtained due to administrative delay." Keeping a disqualified person costs the licence: § 22.1-289.037 A permits revocation or denial of renewal where the home "has knowledge that a person specified in § 22.1-289.035 or 22.1-289.036 required to have a background check" is disqualified "and the agency or home refuses to separate such person from employment or service OR ALLOWS THE HOUSEHOLD MEMBER TO CONTINUE TO RESIDE IN THE HOME."

Good-faith compliance is protected: § 22.1-289.035 F, "A person who complies in good faith with the provisions of this section shall not be liable for any civil damages for any act or omission in the performance of duties under this section unless the act or omission was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct." RIGHT TO CHALLENGE. § 22.1-289.035 C: the home "shall inform every individual required to undergo a background check pursuant to this section that he is entitled to obtain a copy of any background check report and to challenge the accuracy and completeness of any such report and obtain a prompt resolution before a final determination is made of the individual's eligibility to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children." VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION USES SHORTER CURRENCY WINDOWS. 8VAC20-850-30 D requires "A criminal records check, as specified in §§ 22.1-289.036 of the Code of Virginia, conducted no more than 90 days before the date of initial application and no more than 90 days before the date of application for renewal, for the provider applicant, the provider assistant, and the substitute provider, if any, and any adults residing in the home," plus a CPS Central Registry Clearance on the same 90-day clock and a sworn disclosure statement for the same people.

VDOE restates it for registered homes as "Copies of required background checks for all caregivers and household members completed within the last 90 days except for the sworn disclosure or affirmation, which must have been completed within the last 30 days." For LICENSED homes the equivalent VDOE instruction is: "Background checks for all caregivers, household members, individuals listed in the business entity section of the application (sworn statement or affirmation completed within the last 30 days; all other background checks completed within the last five years)." VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S BACKGROUND-CHECK LINE. CONFIRMED: the four components (fingerprint-based national check via VSP/FBI, sworn statement or affirmation, Virginia central registry search, sex offender registry check); the coverage of the applicant, assistants, substitute providers, agents and volunteers; and the central registry check for household members "age 14 and older."

CORRECTED: (1) 8VAC20-770 is wholly repealed effective 2026-06-17, not "reorganized/partly repealed" — the live chapter is 8VAC20-821 Part V, effective 2026-02-01. (2) The prior entry cited "§ 22.1-289.039" as a source of the home's obligations; § 22.1-289.039 is titled "Records check by unlicensed child day CENTER" and governs religiously exempt centers, not homes. (3) The prior entry gave no renewal cadence; it is FIVE YEARS, in both § 22.1-289.035 A and § 22.1-289.036 A. (4) The prior entry gave no fees; they exist, they changed on 2026-01-01, and the provider now pays them ($12 / $17 / $43.23 / $63.23). (5) The prior entry omitted provisional hire (from 2024-07-01), portability (from 2022-01-01), the 45-day out-of-state rule, the waiver regime and the public posting of waivers, the 14-and-over seven-day request deadline, and the § 22.1-289.041 absolute criminal bar.

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 - ESTABLISH WHICH OF THE FIVE VIRGINIA REGIMES YOU ARE IN, BECAUSE FOUR OF THEM ARE NOT THIS ONE. A state licence is required where 'five through 12 children' are served, 'exclusive of the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home' (Va. Code § 22.1-289.02; 8VAC20-800-10). A licence OR voluntary registration is required where 'no more than four children under the age of two shall be served ... INCLUDING the provider's own children and any children who reside in the home' is breached (§ 22.1-289.02) - note the opposite counting convention. Voluntary registration under § 22.1-289.015 and 8VAC20-850 covers 'fewer than five children' and is unavailable if you live in a locality with its own child-care ordinance (8VAC20-850-20 D). Four localities run their own licensing under Va. Code § 15.2-914 and VDOE names them: 'Arlington County (homes and centers), Alexandria City (homes only), Fairfax County (homes only), Norfolk City (homes only).' A home whose children 'are all related to the provider by blood or marriage shall not be required to be licensed.' And members of a licensed home-based child care system 'shall not be required to obtain a license from the Superintendent' (§ 22.1-289.030 F).
2. STEP 1 - PHASE I PRE-APPLICATION TRAINING (OPTIONAL BUT SENSIBLE). VDOE: 'Complete the Phase I: Pre-Application Training for Licensed Home-Based Child Care. This training provides information about the initial application process and important points of consideration prior to applying for licensure. The training is highly recommended.' It is a self-serve document on the VDOE site. Recommended, not required - do not let a checklist tell you otherwise.
3. STEP 2 - READ THE FOUR TEXTS VDOE TELLS YOU TO READ. VDOE's step 2 lists: the Welcome letter; 'General Procedures for the Licensure of Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems and Background Checks' (8VAC20-821); 'Standards for Licensed Family Day Homes' (8VAC20-800, also published in Spanish as 'Normas Para Centros De Cuidado Infantil Familiar Diurno Con Licencia'); the background-check information page; and the Code of Virginia extract. WARNING: 8VAC20-800 still directs you to two chapters that were repealed on 2026-06-17 - 8VAC20-770 (background checks) at 8VAC20-800-30 D, -120 B 8, -120 D 1, -130 subdivision 5 and -160 subdivision 3, and 8VAC20-820 (general procedures) at 8VAC20-800-30 H. Substitute 8VAC20-821 wherever 8VAC20-800 says 770 or 820.
4. STEP 3 - PHASE II PRE-LICENSURE ORIENTATION (MANDATORY). This is a qualification for licensure, not a courtesy. 8VAC20-821-40 C 6: 'The applicant shall have completed a prelicensure orientation offered through or approved by the superintendent that focuses on health and safety standards, application processes, background check requirements, and general licensure requirements,' with a discretionary waiver by the superintendent and a one-time-only rule for applicants who have taken it before and 'have not been subject to a license denial or revocation.' VDOE: 'Contact the Office of Child Care Health and Safety in your region to sign up for Pre-Licensure Orientation for Licensed Home-Based Child Care - Phase 2. This is a required orientation where licensing inspectors will focus on the Standards for Licensed Family Day Homes (Chapter 800).' Documentation of completion is required attachment number 3 on the application form.
5. STEP 4 - GET YOUR NUMBER FROM THE ZONING OFFICE BEFORE YOU ASK VDOE FOR IT. VDOE: 'Contact your local zoning office to determine the number of children you may request to care for in your home. Note: Written verification of zoning requirements is required as part of the application.' The application's required attachment 2 reads 'Zoning form signed by the zoning official (see VDOE website) - Each county has different requirements in determining the capacity of the home-based child care.' VDOE publishes the model form as 'Contact with Local Zoning Administrator' / 'Contact with Zoning Administrator'. Many Virginia localities handle homes above a small threshold by special use permit; at renewal, 'Zoning verification may be needed if there are requested changes in capacity or a special use permit has expired.' This step is invisible in 8VAC20-800 and was absent from the prior version of this entry.
6. STEP 5 - RUN EVERY BACKGROUND CHECK, FOR EVERY REQUIRED PERSON, ON THE RIGHT CLOCKS. Va. Code § 22.1-289.036 A covers the applicant, the applicant's agents, and every ADULT LIVING IN THE HOME; § 22.1-289.035 A covers every applicant for employment, employee, applicant to volunteer and volunteer; 8VAC20-821-170 B covers 'Any person 14 years of age or older living in the home' with a Virginia central registry check requested 'within seven days.' Four components: sworn statement or affirmation, fingerprint-based national check (VSP/FBI via Fieldprint), Virginia child protective services central registry check, and - if the person lived out of state in the past five years - that state's criminal, sex offender and child abuse and neglect registry checks. VDOE's currency rules for a licensed home: 'sworn statement or affirmation completed within the last 30 days; all other background checks completed within the last five years.' Fees, provider-paid since 2026-01-01: $12 central registry, $17 portability, $43.23 fingerprint for volunteers, $63.23 for everyone else. Register a Fieldprint business account (mandatory for all VDOE providers since 2026-01-01) and get your Fieldprint facility ID from VDSS-OBI. 'The results of a national fingerprint check must be received prior to employment.'
7. STEP 6 - GET THE TB SCREENING DONE INSIDE THE 30-DAY WINDOW. 8VAC20-800-170: a 'current Report of Tuberculosis Screening form published by the Virginia Department of Health or a form consistent with it' for 'each caregiver at the time of hire and each adult household member prior to coming into contact with children'; 'The form shall have been completed within the last 30 days and be signed by a physician, physicians' designee, or an official of the local health department.' VDOE's checklist: 'Tuberculosis (TB) Test/Screening results for all caregivers and adult household members (completed within the last 30 days).' Because the window is 30 days and the application takes longer, sequence this LATE, not first.
8. STEP 7 - ASSEMBLE THE QUALIFICATION EVIDENCE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR STAFF. Per 8VAC20-800-140 and the application's attachment list: verification of age for the applicant, assistants and substitute providers; documentation of the provider's educational qualifications ('The provider must have at least high school completion or equivalent'); documentation of the provider's programmatic experience ('The provider must have at least 3 months of programmatic experience'); and 'First Aid and CPR certification - The provider must hold current certification in first aid and CPR as appropriate to the age of the children in care.' Remember the RN/LPN exception is to FIRST AID ONLY.
9. STEP 8 - SATISFY THE FINANCIAL-RESPONSIBILITY TEST WITH A BUDGET AND A CREDIT REFERENCE. 8VAC20-821-40 C 5: 'The applicant shall demonstrate financial responsibility.' Va. Code § 22.1-289.013 explains the mechanics and the trade: 'upon receipt of the initial application, an investigation of the applicant's financial responsibility. The FINANCIAL RECORDS OF AN APPLICANT SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION IF the applicant submits an operating budget and at least one credit reference.' The application accordingly requires an 'Annual operating budget (see VDOE website)' - 'Applicants may submit their own budget or one from their accountant as along as the budget contains information similar to that on the model form' - and a 'Credit Reference for the Business Entity ... from either a bank; one of the three credit agencies such as TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian; or a landlord or a service vendor such as a commercial food vendor. This is not required for public agencies or existing licensees.'
10. STEP 9 - COLLECT THREE CHARACTER REFERENCES THAT MEET VIRGINIA'S SPECIFIC RULES. Application: 'Three Reference Letters - These are required for all individuals listed in the section for Type of Business Entity under Identifying Information. Reference letters must be dated no more than 12 months prior to the date of this application from three persons who are not related to the individual by blood or marriage who have known him/her for at least one month, and who can attest to his/her character and reputation. This is not required for public agencies or existing licensees.' The rule tracks 8VAC20-800-10's definition of good character and reputation, which excludes 'Relatives by blood or marriage, and people who are not knowledgeable of the individual, such as recent acquaintances.' Separately, for hired staff, 8VAC20-800-120 B 7 requires the provider to document two reference checks for 'assistants and substitute providers who are not the spouse, parent, sibling, or child of the provider and are hired after June 30, 2010', with, for telephone checks, 'a. Dates of contact, b. Names of persons contacted, c. Firms contacted, d. Results, and e. Signature of person making call.'
11. STEP 10 - PICK YOUR BUSINESS ENTITY AND FILE THE MATCHING PAGE. The application's Part 2 offers eight entity types - Individual/Sole Proprietor, Partnership, Corporation, Association, Limited Liability Company, Public Agency, Business Trust, Religious Organization - each with its own page and documentation. Also required: 'Documentation of a fictitious name from the Virginia State Corporation Commission (VSCC) if the home will operate under a name other than that of the business entity.' Part 4 requires an affirmative disclosure under 8VAC20-821-40 C 3 of whether the applicant or any partner, member, officer, director or agent 'have ever had a license issued by any local, state, or national regulatory body that has been revoked, suspended, denied, or surrendered instead of an adverse action.'
12. STEP 11 - SUBMIT THROUGH THE ONLINE PORTAL, AT LEAST 60 DAYS BEFORE YOU WANT TO OPEN. VDOE: 'Complete an initial application for licensure, and upload the application and all required attachments through the online portal. When using the online portal, applicants should select "Family Day Home" as the provider type and "initial application" as the interaction purpose.' (The portal still uses the pre-July-2026 label.) The portal is a Hyland form server at vdoecs.hylandcloud.com. 'To ensure timely processing, the applicant must submit a complete application to the Office of Child Care Health and Safety at least 60 days prior to the facility's planned opening date. Submission of an incomplete application will delay the review process.' The current form is 'INITIAL APPLICATION FOR A LICENSE TO OPERATE HOME-BASED CHILD CARE', Revised 7/2026, published by VDOE as 'fdh initial app_2026.pdf'.
13. STEP 12 - THE FEE, WHICH IS CURRENTLY SUSPENDED. 8VAC20-821-150 A sets the schedule by capacity: for programs operating at least 12 weeks in a 12-month period, capacity '1-12' pays a 'Two-year licensing fee' of '$28'; 13-25 pays $70; 26-50 $140; 51-75 $210; 76-200 $280; '201 or more' $400. For programs operating fewer than 12 weeks, capacity 1-50 pays $50 and 51 or more $110. Family day systems pay $140. All fees are nonrefundable (8VAC20-821-140 A) and 'The date that the application fee is received by the superintendent shall be the date that the application was received' (subsection B). BUT VDOE has suspended collection: the licensed-home page states, twice, 'Application fees are not being collected by the Department through December 2026,' and Part 5 of the current application form reads 'Application fees are not currently being collected through December 31, 2026.' So the on-paper figure for a home is $28 per two-year licence and the amount actually payable today is zero. (Voluntary registration fees were dropped earlier: 'Effective July 1, 2024, applicants are no longer responsible for submitting an application fee' - which is why 8VAC20-850-40's 'nonrefundable registration fee not to exceed $50 for a two-year period' is now dormant text.)
14. STEP 13 - KEEP THE APPLICATION ALIVE: SIX MONTHS TO COMPLETE IT. 8VAC20-821-140 C: 'An applicant for initial licensure shall submit a completed application to the superintendent within six months of the date that the application was received. Applications that remain incomplete after six months of the date the application was received will be closed, and the applicant will be required to submit a new application with a new fee.' The application form repeats it: 'A complete application including all required attachments must be received within six months of the date that the application is received by the Department or the application will be closed, and a new application will be required.'
15. STEP 14 - THE DEPARTMENT'S INVESTIGATION AND THE PRE-LICENSURE INSPECTION OF THE HOME. Va. Code § 22.1-289.013: 'Upon receipt of the application, the Superintendent shall cause an investigation to be made of the activities, services, and facilities of the applicant and of his character and reputation ... The character and reputation investigation upon application shall include background checks pursuant to § 22.1-289.036.' VDOE: 'Prepare for your home inspection. After you have completed steps 1-4 and your application is complete, a licensing inspector will contact you to schedule an inspection of your home.' You must let them in and let them talk to people: § 22.1-289.018 A; 8VAC20-821-40 E, F and G. VDOE describes the six components of an inspection as 'Entrance Conference', 'Tour', 'Interactions and Interviews', 'Observations', 'Documentation Review' and 'Exit Meeting', and rates violations against a published 'risk matrix'. NOTE WHAT IS *NOT* REQUIRED FOR A HOME: 8VAC20-821-50 B and C impose fire-authority and health-authority inspection reports on 'An applicant for licensure as a CHILD DAY CENTER', and 8VAC20-821-40 D confines the buildings-and-functional-design requirements to center applicants. A home is not required to file a fire marshal or health department report with its application. Fire officials get involved only reactively, under 8VAC20-800-320 I: 'If there are open and obvious fire hazards, including the absence of fire extinguishers or smoke detectors as required by the Uniform Statewide Building Code and the Statewide Fire Prevention Code, the local fire prevention or building officials, or the State Fire Marshal's office shall be contacted by the department's representative.'
16. STEP 15 - HAVE THE HOME PHYSICALLY READY, INCLUDING A LANDLINE. Virginia has one requirement that routinely catches modern applicants. 8VAC20-800-330 A: 'A LANDLINE telephone, EXCLUDING A CORDLESS OR CELL PHONE, shall be available, operable, and accessible during the family day home's hours of operation. An operable landline telephone is one that does not require electricity to operate. Cordless or cell phones may be used in addition to the landline telephone.' Also: an indoor bathroom 'easily accessible to children two years of age and older' containing 'a working toilet and sink, toilet tissue, liquid soap, and paper towels' (8VAC20-800-340); firearms 'stored unloaded in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet, and apart from ammunition' with ammunition separately locked and the key inaccessible (8VAC20-800-270; Va. Code § 22.1-289.056); a carbon monoxide detector if 'Each building that was built before 2015' (Va. Code § 22.1-289.058); potable-water lead testing under Va. Code § 22.1-289.057, which VDOE began enforcing 'Effective January 1, 2025' and which allows a bottled-water alternative with notification to the Commissioner, VDH Office of Drinking Water and every parent; 'A working battery-operated flashlight, a working portable battery-operated weather band radio, and extra batteries' (8VAC20-800-770); and the first aid kit itemised at 8VAC20-800-760.
17. STEP 16 - WRITE THE POLICIES AND THE EMERGENCY PLAN BEFORE THE FIRST CHILD ARRIVES. The 19 items of written information for parents under 8VAC20-800-70 A must be given 'Before the child's first day of attendance' and the parent's written acknowledgement obtained (subsection B). The written emergency preparedness and response plan under 8VAC20-800-800 A must exist, must address 'the most likely to occur scenarios, including but not limited to fire, severe storms, flooding, tornadoes, and loss of utilities', and must include 'provisions for a responsible person who is 18 years of age or older and is able to arrive at the family day home within 10 minutes for emergency backup care until the children can be picked up by their parents.' Evacuation procedures need the nine elements of 8VAC20-800-810 and shelter-in-place the seven elements of 8VAC20-800-820. Drills start immediately: 8VAC20-800-830 A, 'The emergency evacuation procedures shall be practiced MONTHLY with all caregivers and children in care during all shifts that children are in care', and B, 'Shelter-in-place procedures shall be practiced a minimum of twice per year', with the nine documentation elements of subsection C and one-year retention under subsection D.
18. STEP 17 - RECEIVE THE LICENCE, POST IT, AND KNOW HOW LONG IT LASTS. Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 F: 'The license and any other documents required by the Superintendent shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the licensed premises.' 8VAC20-821-30 D says the same. DURATION - AND THERE IS A LIVE CONFLICT HERE. 8VAC20-821-30 B, effective 2026-02-01: 'A license issued under this chapter shall expire two years from the effective date of the license.' Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 C, as amended by 2026, c. 917 effective 2026-07-01: 'Each license for home-based child care or a home-based child care system and renewals thereof may be issued for periods of UP TO THREE SUCCESSIVE YEARS, unless sooner revoked or surrendered. Licenses issued to child day centers under this chapter shall have a duration of two years from date of issuance.' The statute distinguishes homes (up to three years) from centers (two years); the regulation, adopted five months before that statute took effect, applies a flat two years to everything. The statute controls where they conflict, but the Superintendent has express discretion either way: § 22.1-289.011 D and 8VAC20-821-30 B both allow him to 'extend or shorten the duration of licensure periods ... whenever, in his sole discretion, it is administratively necessary to redistribute the workload for greater efficiency in staff utilization.' Treat the actual expiry date printed on your licence (a required term under 8VAC20-821-30 E 2) as authoritative and do not assume two years. FLAGGED in verify_flag.
19. STEP 18 - IF YOU CANNOT DEMONSTRATE FULL COMPLIANCE YET: THE CONDITIONAL LICENCE, AND THE OBLIGATION TO ACTUALLY HAVE CHILDREN. 8VAC20-821-80: 'The superintendent may issue a conditional license to an applicant in order to permit the applicant to demonstrate compliance with the requirements for licensure. A conditional license may be issued for a term not to exceed six months. A conditional license may be renewed, but a conditional license may not be held for longer than six months from the original issuance.' The application form spells out the practical consequence in the applicant's own signed agreement: 'I understand that I must have children in care during the conditional period so that substantial compliance may be properly evaluated for license renewal. If substantial compliance cannot be evaluated, I may not be eligible for the renewal of my license, but I can reapply for initial licensure at a later date once I have prospective children to serve.' A conditional licence must be posted 'at each public entrance of the facility' together with a notice pointing to where the list of violations and correction deadlines can be inspected (8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 b).
20. STEP 19 - KNOW THE 60-DAY DEEMED-PERMISSION RULE, AND ITS CATCH. Va. Code § 22.1-289.053: 'In case the Superintendent fails to take final action upon an application for a license within 60 days after the application is made, either by way of issuance or refusal, or fails within such time to notify the applicant thereof, it shall be lawful for the applicant to engage in the operations or activities for which the license is desired, until the Superintendent has taken final action and notified the applicant thereof; HOWEVER, NO APPLICATION SHALL BE DEEMED MADE UNTIL ALL THE REQUIRED INFORMATION IS SUBMITTED in the form prescribed by the Superintendent.' The clock starts only when the file is complete - which is why the six-month completion rule and the 60-day submission lead-time matter.
21. STEP 20 - IF REFUSED: A SIX-MONTH LOCKOUT. 8VAC20-821-90: 'When issuance of a license for a child day program or family day system has been refused by the superintendent, the applicant shall not thereafter for a period of six months apply again for the license, unless the superintendent in the superintendent's sole discretion believes that there has been a change in the conditions on account of which the license was refused as to justify considering a new application. When an appeal is taken by the applicant pursuant to subsection A of § 22.1-289.024 of the Code of Virginia, the six-month period shall be extended until a final decision has been rendered on appeal.' The same six-month bar applies to a refused renewal (8VAC20-821-120 B).
22. STEP 21 - AFTER LICENSURE: INSPECTIONS AT LEAST TWICE A YEAR, ONE UNANNOUNCED. Va. Code § 22.1-289.018 B: 'All licensed child day programs and home-based child care systems shall be inspected NOT LESS THAN TWICE ANNUALLY, and one of those inspections shall be UNANNOUNCED.' Renewal triggers its own inspection (§ 22.1-289.018 C), and 8VAC20-821-110 E warns that 'The on-site inspections may occur at any time during the license term and may be unannounced.' Complaint-driven inspections take priority over everything else under § 22.1-289.019.
23. STEP 22 - RENEW AT LEAST 60 DAYS OUT. VDOE: 'To ensure timely processing, you must submit a complete renewal application to the Office of Child Care Health and Safety at least 60 days prior to the expiration date of the current license.' 8VAC20-821-100: 'Every person issued a license that has not been suspended or revoked shall renew the license before its expiration.' 8VAC20-821-110 A: 'Before the expiration date shown on the license, a licensee desiring to renew a license shall return to the superintendent a completed renewal application and appropriate fee. FAILURE TO RECEIVE NOTICES FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT REGARDING LICENSE RENEWAL DOES NOT RELIEVE THE LICENSEE OF THE OBLIGATION TO RENEW.' Background checks are re-run at renewal (8VAC20-821-110 D). The form is the 'Renewal Application for Family Day Home', filed through the same portal with 'renewal application' as the interaction purpose. If you are temporarily out of compliance at renewal, 8VAC20-821-130 allows a provisional licence 'for a term not to exceed six months', not renewable beyond six months from original issuance.
24. STEP 23 - KEEP THE DEPARTMENT INFORMED, AND GET PERMISSION BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING MATERIAL. 8VAC20-821-250: 'A. An applicant or licensee shall at all times keep the superintendent informed of its current mailing address, telephone number, and email address. B. An applicant or licensee shall notify the superintendent immediately of any change of ownership or business formation.' Telephone changes have their own deadline in the standards: 8VAC20-800-330 C, 'The provider shall inform the department within 48 hours and parents within 24 hours of a change of the telephone number.' Location changes go through the modification process (VDOE publishes a 'Modification Request for Facility Change of Location' form). Variances from a standard require a written request under 8VAC20-821-70 identifying 'The specific standard', 'A detailed description of the substantial programmatic or financial hardship' and 'The proposed alternative to the standard that will protect the safety and well-being of the children in care'; the superintendent 'shall review each approved variance at least annually'; and acting before approval 'may be grounds for denying the request for the variance and may constitute grounds for adverse action.'

What you must post on your walls

• THE LICENCE, IN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE ON THE LICENSED PREMISES. Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 F: 'The license and any other documents required by the Superintendent shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the licensed premises.' 8VAC20-821-30 D repeats it verbatim. Failure to do so is an enumerated prohibited act: 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 a, 'Failure to post the following documents in a conspicuous location on the premises of each facility: a. The most recently issued license.' Note 'MOST RECENTLY ISSUED' - an expired or superseded licence on the wall is itself the violation.
• EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS, IN A VISIBLE AREA CLOSE TO THE TELEPHONE - AND THIS RESOLVES THE PRIOR ENTRY'S OPEN QUESTION. The prior version of this entry hedged: '(to confirm) Emergency telephone numbers ... 8VAC20-800-30 does not itself mandate a specific posted list; confirm current posting requirements with VDOE before relying on this line.' The hedge was unnecessary. 8VAC20-800-790, titled 'Posted telephone numbers', is short and mandatory: 'The following telephone numbers shall be posted in a visible area close to the telephone: 1. A 911 or local dial number for police, fire, and emergency medical responders; 2. The responsible person for emergency backup care as required in 8VAC20-800-800 A 3; and 3. The regional poison control center.' Three specific numbers, one specific location. Item 2 ties back to 8VAC20-800-800 A 3, which requires the emergency plan to include 'provisions for a responsible person who is 18 years of age or older and is able to arrive at the family day home within 10 minutes for emergency backup care until the children can be picked up by their parents' - so the posted number must be that person's.
• ANY BACKGROUND-CHECK WAIVER GRANTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT, IN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE. 8VAC20-821-230 A: 'The child day program or family day system shall post any waiver granted by the superintendent in a conspicuous place at the location listed on the waiver.' Subsection B adds a parallel written-notice duty: 'Any waiver granted under this section shall be available for inspection by the public. The child day program or family day system shall notify in writing every parent of the children in its care of any waiver granted by the superintendent, as well as notify in writing the parent of any child enrolled after the waiver becomes effective.' Va. Code § 22.1-289.038 A says the same at statute level.
• A CONDITIONAL OR PROVISIONAL LICENCE, AT EACH PUBLIC ENTRANCE, WITH A VIOLATIONS NOTICE BESIDE IT. 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 b: 'Any conditional or provisional license, which shall be posted at each public entrance of the facility, and a notice, which shall be prominently displayed next to the license, that states that a description of specific violations of licensing standards to be corrected and the deadline for completion of such corrections is available for inspection at the facility or on the facility's website, if applicable.' Note the escalation from 'conspicuous place' (ordinary licence) to 'each public entrance' (conditional/provisional).
• NOTICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT'S INTENT TO REVOKE OR DENY RENEWAL, AT EACH PUBLIC ENTRANCE. 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 c: 'Notice of the superintendent's intent to revoke or deny renewal of the license of a child day program or family day system. The notice will be provided by the department and shall be posted in a prominent place at each public entrance of the facility to advise consumers of serious or persistent violations.'
• NOTICE OF INTENT TO IMPOSE ANY SPECIAL-ORDER SANCTION, AT EACH PUBLIC ENTRANCE. 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 e: 'Any notice of the superintendent's intent to take any of the actions enumerated in subdivisions B 1 through B 6 of § 22.1-289.023 of the Code of Virginia. The notice will be provided by the department, and a copy of the notice shall be posted in a prominent place at each public entrance of the facility to advise consumers of serious or persistent violations.' The statute itself imposes the same duty: Va. Code § 22.1-289.023 A, 'Notice of the Superintendent's intent to take any of the actions enumerated in subdivisions B 1 through 6 shall be provided by the Department, and a copy of such notice shall be posted in a prominent place at each public entrance of the licensed premises to advise consumers of serious or persistent violations.' The six actions are probation, capacity reduction or admissions freeze, mandated training, civil penalties of up to $500 per inspection, mandatory written notification of parents, and cutting off public funds.
• A COPY OF ANY SPECIAL ORDER ACTUALLY ISSUED, AT EACH PUBLIC ENTRANCE. 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 f: 'A copy of any special order issued by the department shall be posted in a prominent place at each public entrance of the licensed premises to advise consumers of serious or persistent violations.' Va. Code § 22.1-289.023 B allows the Superintendent to 'require a copy of the special order provided by the Department to be posted in a prominent place at each public entrance of the licensed premises.'
• A FINAL ORDER OF SUMMARY SUSPENSION (STATE-OPERATED PROGRAMS), AT EACH PUBLIC ENTRANCE, OR A SUMMARY OF IT. 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 d: 'A copy of any final order of summary suspension of all or part of a license for a child day program or family day system operated by an agency of the Commonwealth shall be prominently displayed by the provider at each public entrance of the facility, or the provider may display a written statement summarizing the terms of the order, printed in clear and legible size and typeface, in a prominent location and identifying the location within the facility where the final order of summary suspension may be reviewed.'
• ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS THE SUPERINTENDENT REQUIRES. 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 g is an open-ended catch-all: 'Any other documents required by the superintendent.' Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 F carries the same open clause ('The license AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT').
• NOT A POSTING FOR THIS PROGRAM, BUT ADJACENT AND OFTEN CONFUSED WITH IT: the exempt-program notice. Va. Code § 22.1-289.030 C 3 requires certain licence-exempt child day programs to 'Post in a visible location on the premises notice that the child day program is operating as a program exempt from licensure with basic health and safety requirements but has no direct oversight by the Department.' That duty falls on EXEMPT programs, not on licensed homes. Similarly, Va. Code § 22.1-289.031 A requires a religiously exempt center to have 'posted the fact that it is exempt from licensure in a visible location on the premises.' Neither applies to a licensed home-based child care.
• NOT A POSTING BUT A HAND-DELIVERY: the 19 items of written information for parents under 8VAC20-800-70 A are to be 'provided in writing' 'Before the child's first day of attendance', not posted, and the provider 'shall obtain the parent's written acknowledgement of the receipt of the information' (subsection B). Do not satisfy 8VAC20-800-70 by pinning a sheet to a noticeboard.
• VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S POSTINGS LIST. CONFIRMED: the licence must be posted conspicuously under Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 (now also 8VAC20-821-30 D). CORRECTED: the prior entry's second item hedged that no specific posted list exists and asked the reader to 'confirm current posting requirements with VDOE before relying on this line.' There is a specific list, in two places - the three emergency telephone numbers at 8VAC20-800-790, and the seven-item enumeration at 8VAC20-821-270 subdivision 6 (licence, conditional/provisional licence plus violations notice, notice of intent to revoke or deny renewal, summary-suspension order, notice of intent to impose special-order sanctions, special order, and anything else the superintendent requires), plus the waiver posting at 8VAC20-821-230 A. The prior entry's uncertainty was a product of reading only 8VAC20-800 and only 8VAC20-800-30.

Enrollment forms for each child

• INITIAL APPLICATION FOR A LICENSE TO OPERATE HOME-BASED CHILD CARE - the licence application itself, published by VDOE as 'fdh initial app_2026.pdf', footer stamp 'Revised 7/2026', header 'Virginia Department of Education / Division of Early Childhood Care and Education / Office of Child Care Health and Safety'. Fourteen pages, six parts: Part 1 Applicant Information and Application Agreement, Part 2 Business Entity Type (eight options, each with its own page), Part 3 Required Attachments, Part 4 Disclosure (prior revoked/suspended/denied/surrendered licences, under 8VAC20-821-40 C 3), Part 5 Fees ('Application fees are not currently being collected through December 31, 2026'), Part 6 Background Checks. Statutory basis: Va. Code § 22.1-289.011 B, 'Each application for a license shall be made to the Superintendent, in such form as he may prescribe'; regulatory basis 8VAC20-821-40 A. Uploaded through the VDOE provider portal at vdoecs.hylandcloud.com selecting provider type 'Family Day Home' and interaction purpose 'initial application'.
• RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR FAMILY DAY HOME - the renewal counterpart, required by 8VAC20-821-110 A ('a licensee desiring to renew a license shall return to the superintendent a completed renewal application and appropriate fee'), filed at least 60 days before expiry per VDOE instruction, same portal, interaction purpose 'renewal application'.
• ZONING FORM SIGNED BY THE ZONING OFFICIAL - VDOE model form published as 'Contact with Local Zoning Administrator' / 'Contact with Zoning Administrator'. Required attachment 2 on the initial application: 'Each county has different requirements in determining the capacity of the home-based child care.' Also required at renewal where capacity changes or 'a special use permit has expired'. This is the form that fixes your capacity; it has no counterpart in 8VAC20-800.
• BUDGET FORM (WITH INSTRUCTIONS) - required attachment 1, the annual operating budget. Its legal purpose is to buy privacy: Va. Code § 22.1-289.013, 'The financial records of an applicant shall not be subject to inspection if the applicant submits an operating budget and at least one credit reference.' VDOE: 'Applicants may submit their own budget or one from their accountant as along as the budget contains information similar to that on the model form.'
• CREDIT REFERENCE FOR THE BUSINESS ENTITY - not a VDOE form but a required document, 'from either a bank; one of the three credit agencies such as TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian; or a landlord or a service vendor such as a commercial food vendor. This is not required for public agencies or existing licensees.' Paired with the budget under § 22.1-289.013.
• THREE REFERENCE LETTERS for each individual named in the business-entity section - 'dated no more than 12 months prior to the date of this application from three persons who are not related to the individual by blood or marriage who have known him/her for at least one month, and who can attest to his/her character and reputation.' Not required for public agencies or existing licensees. Tracks the definition of 'good character and reputation' at 8VAC20-800-10.
• DOCUMENTATION OF THE REQUIRED PRE-LICENSURE ORIENTATION TRAINING (Phase II) - required attachment 3, evidencing compliance with 8VAC20-821-40 C 6.
• SWORN STATEMENT OR AFFIRMATION (VDOE publishes it as the 'sworn disclosure or affirmation') - required by Va. Code §§ 22.1-289.035 B 1 and 22.1-289.036 B 1 for every person required to have a background check, and a required ATTACHMENT to the application 'for all adult household members and all individuals listed in the section for Type of Business Entity'. Must be 'dated no more than 30 days prior to the date of this application'. A materially false statement on it 'is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor'.
• FINGERPRINT-BASED NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECK - submitted through Fieldprint (VDOE: 'VDOE and VDSS-OBI work with a fingerprinting vendor called Fieldprint'), routed by the Central Criminal Records Exchange to the FBI under Va. Code § 22.1-289.036 B. Provider-paid since 2026-01-01: '$43.23 processing fee for volunteers and a $63.23 processing fee for all other individuals'.
• VIRGINIA CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT CENTRAL REGISTRY SEARCH REQUEST - submitted 'through the VDSS-OBI's web-based portal', $12 fee; required for every person under § 22.1-289.035 B 3 / § 22.1-289.036 B 3 and, separately, for 'any household members of a home-based child care program who are 14 years of age or older' within seven days of turning 14 or moving in (8VAC20-821-170 B).
• BACKGROUND CHECK PORTABILITY REQUEST - optional alternative to a fresh check under Va. Code § 22.1-289.035 J, submitted through the OBI portal, $17 nonrefundable fee, available since 2022-01-01. VDOE publishes a 'Portability Determination Flow Chart' and a 'Provisional Hire Flow Chart'.
• OUT-OF-STATE CRIMINAL, SEX OFFENDER AND CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT REGISTRY CHECKS - required for anyone who 'has lived in another state in the past five years', per § 22.1-289.036 B 4; VDOE points to the federal 'Interstate Child Care Background Check Contact List Chart' and permits the NSOPW for the sex offender component. Where a state does not respond, 8VAC20-821-190 A requires documented refusal or 'Documentation showing that the person responsible for obtaining the background check contacted the state in writing to obtain the results of the background check at least 45 days after the first request.'
• REPORT OF TUBERCULOSIS SCREENING EVALUATION - the VDH-published form (or a form consistent with it) required by 8VAC20-800-170 for every caregiver at hire and every adult household member before contact with children, 'completed within the last 30 days' and signed by 'a physician, physicians' designee, or an official of the local health department'; renewed every two years under 8VAC20-800-180 A.
• CHILD'S RECORD - VDOE model form 'Child's Record'. Contents fixed by 8VAC20-800-60 B, fourteen items: name, nickname, sex, address and birth date; emergency contact information comprising each custodial parent's name/address/telephone, each custodial parent's employer name/address/telephone, the child's physician's name/office address/telephone, two designated emergency contacts, allergy and intolerance information 'and actions to take in an emergency situation', medical insurance name and policy number if applicable, names of persons other than custodial parents authorised to collect the child, 'Appropriate legal paperwork when a custodial parent does not authorize the provider to release the child to the other parent', and 'Chronic physical problems, pertinent developmental information, and any special accommodations needed'; first and last dates of attendance; the parent's signed acknowledgement of the 8VAC20-800-70 information; proof of age and identity; immunisation records; physical examination results; written authorisation for emergency medical care 'unless the parent presents a written objection to provision of medical treatment on religious or other grounds'; medication authorisation; swimming/wading authorisation; off-premises authorisation; special instructions; the injury record; and documentation of the annual review of emergency contact information.
• INFORMATION FOR PARENTS (VDOE model form, Word) - the vehicle for the nineteen items of 8VAC20-800-70 A, which must be provided in writing 'Before the child's first day of attendance': hours and days of operation, holidays and closures and the message telephone number; schedule of fees and payment plans; check in and check out procedures; medication administration policies; 'Whether or not there is liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate in force on the family day home operation as required by § 22.1-289.050'; the illness pick-up requirement; the parent's duty to report a reportable communicable disease 'within 24 hours or the next business day ... except for life-threatening diseases, which must be reported immediately'; the immunisation requirement; the mandatory-reporting duty of paid caregivers under § 63.2-1509; the 'Custodial parent's right to be admitted to the family day home any time the child is in care as required by § 22.1-289.054'; the general daily schedule; food policies; 'Presence of a pet or animal in the home'; discipline policies 'including acceptable and unacceptable discipline measures'; the amount of time per week an assistant or substitute provider will care for the child and that person's name; the provisions of the emergency preparedness and response plan; the parent notifications required by 8VAC20-800-650; termination-of-care policies; and 'Address of the website of the department, with a note that a copy of this chapter and additional information about the family day home may be obtained from the website, including compliance history that includes information after July 1, 2003.' A written parental acknowledgement of receipt is required (subsection B).
• LIABILITY INSURANCE DECLARATION (VDOE model form) - supports the § 22.1-289.050 A duty to 'furnish a written notice to the parent or guardian of each child ... which states whether there is liability insurance in force', with 'no person under this section shall state that liability insurance is in place ... unless there is a minimum amount of coverage as established by the Department'. If cover lapses the provider must notify each parent 'within 10 business days after the effective date of the change' and obtain written acknowledgement, and keep the acknowledgement 'on file at the home in which home-based child care is provided at all times while the child attends ... and for 12 months after the child's last date of attendance'. Failure carries 'a civil penalty of up to $500 for each such failure' (§ 22.1-289.050 C). 8VAC20-800-650 A imposes the same 10-business-day notice and record-keeping duty.
• IMMUNIZATION AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATION REPORTS - 8VAC20-800-110 A: 'The current form approved by the Virginia Department of Health or a physician's form shall be used to record immunizations received and the results of the required physical examination', and B, each report 'shall include the date of the physical examination and dates immunizations were received and shall be signed by a licensed physician, the physician's designee, or an official of a local health department.' VDOE publishes the 'School Entrance Health Form' for this purpose. Immunisation documentation is required before attendance (8VAC20-800-90 A, tied to Va. Code § 32.1-46 A) with religious-affidavit and medical-contraindication exemptions under § 22.1-271.2 C; additional documentation is required 'Once every six months for children under the age of two years; and Once between each child's fourth and sixth birthdays'. Physical examinations must be documented 'prior to a child's attendance or within 30 days after the first day of attendance' on the graduated look-back schedule of 8VAC20-800-100 B (two months for children six months or younger, three months for 7-18 months, six months for 19-24 months, twelve months for ages two through five, twenty-four months for six and above), with exceptions for transfers, religious objection under § 22.1-270 D, and a school-age child's kindergarten/elementary entry physical.
• PROOF OF THE CHILD'S AGE AND IDENTITY - not a form but a documentary step with a statutory police trigger. 8VAC20-800-80 A requires the provider, 'Within seven business days of the child's first day of attendance', to obtain verification of identity and age plus the 'Name and location of previous day care programs and schools the child has attended'. Subsection B lists the eight acceptable documents: certified birth certificate; birth registration card; notification of birth (hospital, physician, or midwife record); passport; child-placing agency placement agreement or other proof; an original or copy of a record or report card from a Virginia public school; a signed letterhead statement from a public school principal or designated official; or a 'Child identification card issued by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles'. Subsection D: 'The provider shall notify the local law-enforcement agency if the parent does not provide the information required in 8VAC20-800-80 A within seven business days.' Va. Code § 22.1-289.049 C and D carry the same duty and require the law-enforcement agency to query the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse. Destruction rules apply: 8VAC20-800-80 E requires destruction two years after termination of services with social security numbers rendered unreadable 'by: 1. Shredding; 2. Erasing; or 3. Otherwise modifying'.
• ASSISTANT/SUBSTITUTE PROVIDER RECORD and CAREGIVER RECORDS - VDOE model forms 'Assistant/Substitute Provider Record', 'Caregiver Reference', 'Provider Record Checklist' and 'Caregiver and Household Record Audit Template'. Contents fixed by 8VAC20-800-120 B for assistants and substitutes (name; address; verification of age; job title; date of employment or volunteering; emergency contact name, address and telephone; two documented reference checks for non-relatives hired after June 30, 2010 with, for telephone checks, dates of contact, names of persons contacted, firms contacted, results and the caller's signature; background checks; TB documentation; education and training documentation) and by subsection D for the provider herself (background checks, TB documentation, education and training documentation). Subsection C: 'Substitute providers' records shall also contain documentation of the time of arrivals and departures as required by 8VAC20-800-140 D' - VDOE publishes a 'Substitute Provider Time Sheet' for this.
• CHECKLIST FOR ADULT HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS - VDOE model form supporting 8VAC20-800-160 (attributes and background checks for residents 14 and older), 8VAC20-800-170/180 (TB) and Va. Code § 22.1-289.036 A (iii) (adults living in the home).
• DOCUMENTATION OF ASSISTANT & SUBSTITUTE PROVIDER ORIENTATION TRAINING - VDOE model form. 8VAC20-800-200 C: 'Documentation of the orientation shall be signed and dated by the provider and substitute provider or by the provider and assistant.'
• RECORD OF ANNUAL TRAINING - VDOE model form (Word). 8VAC20-800-230 B requires, for each session, 'Name of the caregiver; Name of the training session; Date and total hours of the session; and Name of the organization that sponsored the training and the trainer.'
• RECORD OF DAILY ATTENDANCE - VDOE model form. 8VAC20-800-50 A: 'The family day home shall keep a written record of children in attendance each day.'
• EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS & RESPONSE PLAN and PROVISIONS OF THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE PLAN - two VDOE model forms (both Word). 8VAC20-800-800 A requires the written plan with evacuation, relocation and shelter-in-place procedures, the most-likely scenarios, and the 10-minute backup person; subsection B requires annual review and update with written documentation of 'each review and update'. Evacuation procedures need the nine elements of 8VAC20-800-810 and shelter-in-place the seven of 8VAC20-800-820. The 'Provisions' form is what goes to parents under 8VAC20-800-70 A 16.
• RECORD OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE DRILLS - VDOE model form (Word). 8VAC20-800-830 C requires nine data points per drill: 'Identity of the person conducting the drill; The date and time of the drill; The method used for notification of the drill; The number of caregivers participating; The number of children participating; Any special conditions simulated; The time it took to complete the drill; Problems encountered, if any; and For emergency evacuation drills only, weather conditions.' Retention one year (subsection D). Frequency: evacuation monthly, shelter-in-place at least twice a year (subsections A and B).
• INJURY RECORD - VDOE model form. 8VAC20-800-840 A requires recording in the child's record 'an injury or accident sustained by a child while at the family day home that requires first aid or emergency medical or dental treatment', with eight elements under subsection B including 'Caregiver and parent signatures or two caregiver signatures' and 'Documentation on how the parent was notified'. Serious incidents go further: 8VAC20-800-850 A requires a report to the department 'within 24 hours' of a lost or missing child where local authorities were contacted, a serious injury, or a death, and subsection B requires 'A written report ... submitted to the department within five working days of the date the incident occurred.'
• MEDICATION FORMS - VDOE publishes five: 'Medication Administration - Decision to Administer', 'Medication Authorization', 'Medication Administration Log for Child Day Programs - Individual Child', 'Medication Administration Log for Child Day Programs - Multiple Children', and 'Authorization to Apply a Non-Prescription Topical Skin Product'. Regulatory basis: 8VAC20-800-700 A ('Only with written authorization from the parent'), 700 B ('The parent's written authorization for medication shall expire or be renewed after 10 working days', with a long-term exception on written physician and parent authorisation), 700 C (14-day pick-up rule, then 'taken to a pharmacy for proper disposal'), 740 (six-element medication record including 'Any adverse reactions' and 'Any medication administration error'), and 750 A 1 (topical skin products: 'Written parent authorization noting any known adverse reactions shall be obtained at least annually').
• PERMISSION TO PARTICIPATE IN SWIMMING OR WADING ACTIVITIES - VDOE model form. 8VAC20-800-660 B requires the home to obtain ANNUALLY both 'Written permission from the parent of each child who participates' and 'A written statement from the parent advising of a child's swimming skills before the child is allowed in water above the child's shoulder height.'
• GENERAL PERMISSION FOR REGULARLY SCHEDULED TRIPS and SPECIAL FIELD TRIP PERMISSION - two VDOE model forms matching the two-tier rule at 8VAC20-800-980: general written permission 'on a form that lists regularly scheduled trips (e.g., library, store, playground) and the driver', and special written permission which 'shall specify destination, duration of trip, and driver'. Drivers must be 18 or older and carry, per 8VAC20-800-990 B, a valid licence, the home's name/address/telephone, a copy of the parent's permission, a copy of each child's emergency contact information, the 8VAC20-800-760 emergency supplies, and 'A mechanism for making telephone calls to emergency responders and parents'.
• STAFFING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS - VDOE model form. 8VAC20-800-620 requires a written recommendation from 'a physician, psychologist, or other professional who has evaluated or treated the child', including 'instructions for any special treatment, diet, or restrictions in activities', maintained in the child's record; subsection F requires provider and parent to 'mutually determine a recommendation for the level of staffing necessary'; subsection G requires that recommendation to go to the department's representative 'Within 30 days of the child's enrollment'; subsection H gives the Department 'the final decision regarding level of staffing or any capacity limitations'; and subsection I requires annual review by parent, provider and department representative.
• WEEKLY MENU - VDOE model form. 8VAC20-800-920 governs menus; 8VAC20-800-870 A fixes meal and snack frequency by hours of operation ('For family day homes operating less than four consecutive hours at least one snack shall be served'; four to seven hours, one meal and one snack; 'seven to 12 consecutive hours at least one meal and two snacks or two meals and one snack').
• MODIFICATION REQUEST FOR FACILITY CHANGE OF LOCATION - VDOE model form implementing 8VAC20-821-60 A.
• VARIANCE REQUEST - 8VAC20-821-70 A: 'Any demonstration of hardship or request for a variance shall be made to the superintendent and shall be in writing ON A FORM PRESCRIBED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT', stating the specific standard, the substantial programmatic or financial hardship, and the proposed protective alternative.
• WAIVER REQUEST (BACKGROUND CHECK) - 8VAC20-821-220 D: 'The request for a waiver shall be submitted on a form prescribed by the superintendent.'
• FOR VOLUNTARILY REGISTERED HOMES ONLY (different form family): 'Application for Voluntary Registration', 'Voluntary Registration Health and Safety Checklist (rev. 7/2024)' and 'Voluntary Registration Provider Application Form (eff. 7/2021)' - the last two are the forms formally incorporated by reference at the end of 8VAC20-850. 8VAC20-850-110 A: 'A health and safety checklist shall be completed by providers who apply for voluntary registration. The checklist serves as both a self-review tool for providers and an initial and renewal evaluation method for the contracting organization.'
• VERDICT ON THE PRIOR ENTRY'S FORMS LIST. CONFIRMED in substance: children's records (8VAC20-800-60), written information for parents (8VAC20-800-70), immunisation and physical examination reports (8VAC20-800-110), caregiver records (8VAC20-800-120), medication authorisation and records (8VAC20-800-220 et seq.), the sworn statement or affirmation, the central registry release, and written daily attendance (8VAC20-800-50). CORRECTED: the prior entry attributed the background-check forms to '8VAC20-770', a chapter repealed on 2026-06-17. INCOMPLETE: it omitted the entire application apparatus - the application form itself, the zoning form, the budget, the credit reference, the three reference letters, the pre-licensure orientation documentation - and omitted the TB screening report, the emergency plan and drill records, the injury record, the swimming and field-trip permissions, the special-needs staffing recommendation, and the variance and waiver forms.

What's specific about getting licensed in Virginia

Virginia is one of the few states that regulates home capacity with a 16-point system rather than fixed age ratios - and it counts your own children and resident children under 8 against that cap. That single rule (8VAC20-800-570) reshapes how many kids you can actually enroll and trips up providers coming from other states. Pair it with Virginia's specific 5-child licensing trigger (1-4 is exempt, 5-12 needs a license) and its requirement that EVERY household member age 14+ pass a fingerprint background check, and you have a compliance picture that is genuinely Virginia-specific rather than generic national advice.

How long it takes and what it costs in Virginia

Timeline: Realistically plan on 2 to 4 months from starting your application to holding a license, and sometimes longer. The pace is usually set by two things: how fast the fingerprint-based background checks clear for you and every adult in your household, and whether your home passes its licensing inspection the first time. Front-loading the fingerprinting, TB screenings, and your CPR/First Aid certification while you prepare the home is the single best way to keep the timeline short.

Cost: Virginia's state license application fee is modest and scaled to your licensed capacity, but the real out-of-pocket costs are the surrounding requirements: fingerprint-based background checks (charged per adult, so a larger household multiplies this cost), a TB screening for each caregiver and adult household member, and CPR and First Aid certification for anyone left alone with children (8VAC20-800-150). Budget for these per-person costs across your whole household rather than just yourself. Note: we could not confirm the exact current dollar figure of the state application fee from the official code text, so verify it directly with the Virginia Department of Education before you file.

Source: PRIMARY - VIRGINIA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE (law.lis.virginia.gov, published by the Virginia General Assembly's Division of Legislative Automated Systems; every page read on 2026-08-25 carried the stamp "Virginia Administrative Code 8/25/2026"): - 8VAC20-800, Standards for Licensed Family Day Homes (full chapter, ~100 sections read in full): https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincodefull/title8/agency20/chapter800/ .

Sections relied on: -10 definitions; -30 operational responsibilities; -40 capacity; -50 general recordkeeping; -60 children's records; -70 written information for parents; -80 proof of age and identity; -90/-100/-110 immunizations, physical examinations, form and content; -120 caregiver records; -130 general qualifications for caregivers; -140 qualifications for providers and substitute providers; -150 assistants; -160 household members; -170/-180 tuberculosis screening; -190 physical and mental health examinations; -200 orientation; -210 annual training; -220 medication administration training; -230 documentation of education and training; -270 firearms and ammunition; -320 fire safety and shock prevention; -330 telephones; -340 bathrooms; -380 space; -390 individual location; -460 animals; -470 smoking and prohibited substances; -500 outdoor play area; -510/-520 rest areas and cribs; -560 supervision; -570 determining need for additional caregiver; -580 general requirements for programs; -590 sleeping and resting; -620 care of a child with special needs; -630 behavioral guidance; -640 forbidden actions; -650 parent notifications; -660 swimming and wading; -700 to -750 medication; -760 first aid and emergency medical supplies; -770 emergency flashlights and radios; -780 emergency information; -790 posted telephone numbers; -800 emergency preparedness and response plan; -810 evacuation and relocation; -820 shelter-in-place; -830 emergency response drills; -840 injury records; -850 reports to department; -860 reports of suspected child abuse or neglect; -870 meals and snacks; -980 to -1010 transportation; -1020 nighttime care.

Statutory authority throughout: §§ 22.1-16 and 22.1-289.046 of the Code of Virginia. Historical Notes throughout: "Former 22VAC40-111-XXX ... renumbered, Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 24, eff. July 1, 2021." - 8VAC20-821, General Procedures for the Licensure of Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems and Background Checks (full chapter read): https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincodefull/title8/agency20/chapter821/ . Every section: "Derived from Virginia Register Volume 42, Issue 8, eff. February 1, 2026." Sections relied on: -10 definitions; -20 necessity for license; -30 license; -40 qualifications for licensure; -50 buildings and functional design; -60 modification; -70 variances; -80 conditional license; -90 refusal of issuance; -100/-110/-120/-130 renewal, qualifications, refusal, provisional license; -140/-150 application fees; -160 to -230 Part V Background Checks; -240 continued compliance; -250 maintenance of license; -260 provision of records; -270 prohibited acts (including the posting enumeration at subdivision 6); -280 review process; -290 administrative sanctions; -300 revocation and denial; -310 summary suspension; -320 consent agreements; -330 appeal. - 8VAC20-770, Background Checks for Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems [REPEALED]: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincodefull/title8/agency20/chapter770/ .

All fifteen sections "(Repealed.)"; each Historical Note: "Derived from Virginia Register Volume 37, Issue 24, eff. July 1, 2021; repealed, Virginia Register Volume 42, Issue 20, eff. June 17, 2026." - 8VAC20-850, Voluntary Registration of Family Day Homes - Requirements for Providers (live): https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincodefull/title8/agency20/chapter850/ .

Sections relied on: -20 provider eligibility; -30 application for registration; -40 registration fees; -50 issuance; -60 renewal; -100 staffing requirements; -110 health and safety checklist criteria; and the incorporated forms list. - Agency 20 (State Board of Education) chapter table of contents, showing the [Repealed] status of chapters 770, 820 and 830 and the live status of 780, 790, 800, 810, 821 and 850: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title8/agency20/ PRIMARY - CODE OF VIRGINIA (law.lis.virginia.gov; pages carried "Code of Virginia ... 8/25/2026"): - Title 22.1, Chapter 14.1, Early Childhood Care and Education, table of contents: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter14.1/ - § 22.1-289.02 Definitions (2020, cc. 860, 861; 2025, cc. 187, 328; 2026, c. 917) - § 22.1-289.05:1 Small Home-Based Child Care Provider Incentive Pilot Program (expires July 1, 2029) - § 22.1-289.010 Application fees; regulations and schedules; use of fees - § 22.1-289.011 Licenses required; issuance, expiration, and renewal; maximum number of participants or children; posting of licenses (2020, cc. 860, 861; 2026, c. 917) - § 22.1-289.013 Investigation on receipt of application - § 22.1-289.015 Voluntary registration of home-based child care - § 22.1-289.016 Unlicensed and unregistered home-based child care;

notice to parents - § 22.1-289.018 Inspections and interviews; § 22.1-289.019 prioritization of inspections - § 22.1-289.023 Enforcement and sanctions; special orders; civil penalties - § 22.1-289.030 Exemptions from licensure; § 22.1-289.031 religious-institution centers - §§ 22.1-289.034 to 22.1-289.041 Article 5, Background Checks - § 22.1-289.046 Regulations for child day programs and home-based child care systems - § 22.1-289.049 Proof of child identity and age; § 22.1-289.050 insurance notice; § 22.1-289.053 delay in acting on application; § 22.1-289.054 visitation by parents; § 22.1-289.056 storage of firearms; § 22.1-289.057 lead testing; § 22.1-289.058 carbon monoxide detectors; § 22.1-289.059 epinephrine - Title 15.2, § 15.2-914 Regulation of child-care services and facilities in cities and certain counties: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title15.2/chapter9/section15.2-914/ PRIMARY - AGENCY (VDOE / Office of Child Care Health and Safety, https://www.childcare.virginia.gov; retrieved 2026-08-25 through a text-extraction proxy because the host returned HTTP 403 to direct requests): - "Licensed Home-Based Child Care (Formerly Family Day Home)" program page, /providers/program-types/licensed-family-day-home - licensure thresholds, the Phase I / Phase II training sequence, the zoning step, the required-attachment list, the 60-day submission rule, the fee suspension, the renewal process, and the full model-forms library. - "Latest Updates for Virginia Child Care" (what's new), /providers/what-s-new - "Terminology Update Effective July 1, 2026";

"General Procedures ... 8VAC20-821, Effective February 1, 2026"; "Increase to VDSS Office of Background Investigations (OBI) Processing Fees"; potable-water lead testing; provisional employment. - "Background Checks", /providers/background-checks - components, Fieldprint, central registry, portability, out-of-state checks, provisional hire, current fees. - "Voluntary Registration for Home-Based Child Care", /providers/program-types/voluntary-registration-for-family-day-homes. - "Local Ordinance Homes and Centers", /providers/program-types/local-ordinance-homes-and-centers - the four localities. - "Become a Licensed Provider", /providers/become-a-licensed-provider - inspection protocol, the three current rule sets. - "Training and Professional Development", /providers/training-and-professional-development - MAT, mandated reporter training, CPR/first aid providers, CCWA courses. - "Subsidy Inspection and Training Requirements" and the PDF "HOME_Subsidy_Program_Training Requirements.pdf" - "Virginia Preservice Training for Child Care Staff course" and "Annually / ALL caregivers / 16 hours of training & staff development". - Current application form: "INITIAL APPLICATION FOR A LICENSE TO OPERATE HOME-BASED CHILD CARE", VDOE file "fdh initial app_2026.pdf", published 2026-06-30, footer "Revised 7/2026", 14 pages. - VDOE memo, 2026-06-23, "2026 Legislation Implementation—Home-Based", from Jeffrey S. Williams, Assistant Superintendent of Child Care Health and Safety, distributed via GovDelivery (attachment "Memo Legislative Implementation 2026_Home-Based.pdf") - HB 258 terminology change, Fieldprint code updates, epinephrine action halted.

SECONDARY - VIRGINIA REGULATORY TOWN HALL (townhall.virginia.gov; retrieved through the same proxy): - Board of Education chapter list (boardid=93) showing 8VAC20-800 "Fast-Track ... Stage Withdrawn 4/28/2026", 8VAC20-821 "Final ... Effective 2/1/2026". - 8VAC20-800 chapter page (chapterid=3010): "Current Actions ... None"; past action "Transfer of Early Childcare Regulations ... effective on 07/01/2021"; withdrawn action "Amend regulation to require each family day home provider or other caregiver to be trained in epinephrine administration ... Comment period complete, but objections were filed." ADMINISTERING AGENCY CONTACT: Virginia Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Care and Education, Office of Child Care Health and Safety, James Monroe Building, 101 N. 14th St., Richmond, VA 23219; childcarelicensing@doe.virginia.gov; provider portal https://vdoecs.hylandcloud.com/formserver/fs?form=Capture%20Form . Background checks: Virginia Department of Social Services, Office of Background Investigations, backgrounds@dss.virginia.gov (fingerprints) and crs_operations@dss.virginia.gov (central registry and portability); fingerprint vendor Fieldprint, https://fieldprintvirginia.com/ .

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