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Home Daycare License Requirements in Washington (2026)

Opening a home daycare in Washington means getting a family child care home license from the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), Licensing Division. 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 Washington

Washington does not license anything called a "family child care home." The label does not exist in Washington law, and if you search for it you will find only other states' rules and stale directory pages. The two operative labels are statutory and administrative, and they do not match each other word for word. RCW 43.216.010(1)(c), as it reads today after amendment by 2025 c 181 s 1 and 2026 c 54 s 1, provides: "'Family day care provider' and 'family home provider' mean a child care provider who regularly provides early childhood education and early learning services for not more than 12 children at any given time in the provider's home in the family living quarters except as provided in RCW 43.216.692 and subsection (2)(n) of this section." That is the statute. The rule that actually governs your license uses a third name for the same thing: WAC 110-300-0005 defines "'Family home early learning program'" as "an early learning program licensed by the department where a family home licensee provides child care or education services for 12 or fewer children in the family living quarters where the licensee resides as provided in RCW 43.216.010 (1)(c) (family day care provider)."

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

How many children you can care for in Washington

The number you can be licensed for in a Washington family home is capped twice: once by statute, once by your own experience. The statutory ceiling is in RCW 43.216.010(1)(c), which defines "Family day care provider" and "family home provider" to mean "a child care provider who regularly provides early childhood education and early learning services for not more than 12 children at any given time in the provider's home in the family living quarters except as provided in RCW 43.216.692 and subsection (2)(n) of this section." Twelve is the number the legislature wrote, and RCW 43.216.010 as the code index served it on 26 August 2026 carries "2026 c 54 s 1" at the head of its history line — the section was amended this year by Engrossed House Bill 2317, chapter 54, Laws of 2026, approved 14 March 2026 and effective 11 June 2026. If you are worried that the twelve moved, it did not: EHB 2317 was titled "CHILD CARE LICENSING—EXEMPTION—EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AND HEAD START PROGRAMS," and the only change to (1)(c) in the enrolled bill text is the renumbering of the cross-reference from subsection (2)(m) to (2)(n) to make room for a new licensing exemption for a school-day ECEAP or Head Start program located in a public school or community or technical college building.

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

Adult-to-child ratios

Washington does not publish one staff-to-child ratio for family child care. It publishes a ladder, and the rung you land on is decided by how many years of licensed child care experience you can document on the day you apply. WAC 110-300-0355, "Family home capacity, ratio, and group size," as the Washington State Legislature's code index served it on 26 August 2026 (chapter 110-300 WAC, "Foundational quality standards for early learning programs," last update shown as 7/1/26), sets out four request bands and a set of hard triggers that force a second adult into the home. Read the bands as what you may REQUEST at application, not as what you automatically get: subsection (1) says "The department issues initial or nonexpiring family home licenses for up to 12 children. The department will not issue a family license to care for more children than permitted by the rules in this chapter but may issue a license to care for fewer than the maximum allowable enrolled children." Your license, not the rule book, is the number you may operate at, and subsection (1)(a) and (b) require the license to state "The maximum number of children that may be in care at any one time (total capacity)" and "The age range of children allowed in care."

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

Training you must complete before licensure

Washington runs your training clock off two different starting guns, and the one that decides whether you get a license at all is not the one the Department of Children, Youth, and Families advertises on its website. The chapter that governs you is chapter 110-300 WAC, "FOUNDATIONAL QUALITY STANDARDS FOR EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS," administered by DCYF; there is no separate family-home chapter anymore, because the entire Title 170 WAC of the old Department of Early Learning is dead — the code reviser's index for Title 170 today returns "No active sections in this title," and the family home rules formerly at chapter 170-296A and the center rules formerly at chapter 170-295 were folded into one chapter, recodified as chapter 110-300 WAC by WSR 18-15-001, filed 7/5/18, effective 7/5/18. If a consultant, a training vendor, or an older checklist sends you to 170-296A, that person is quoting a chapter that has not existed for eight years. Your license number, your ratio, your training and your inspection all come out of 110-300. School-age-only programs sit in chapter 110-301 WAC and outdoor nature-based programs in chapter 110-302 WAC; a family home serving birth-through-12 stays in 110-300. Start with the gate that has no grace period.

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

Ongoing (annual) training

Ten hours a year, and the year is the calendar year — not your licensing year, not your license anniversary, not the twelve months following whatever date DCYF printed on your certificate. Washington states the hour count in the rule and states the year in the agency's implementation, and the mismatch between those two documents is where providers lose a license renewal over four missing hours. Read the rule first. WAC 110-300-0107(1): "An early learning provider must complete ten hours of annual in-service training after twelve months of cumulative employment." That sentence sets a trigger and a quantity, and it does two things people misread. "Cumulative employment" means the twelve months need not be continuous and need not be at your current program; time in a previous licensed program counts toward reaching the trigger. And the trigger is not the accounting period. Once you have crossed twelve months of cumulative employment, the ten-hour duty attaches; the window in which those ten hours are counted comes from elsewhere. That elsewhere is unambiguous, and it appears in two places.

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

Background checks

THE RULE THAT GOVERNS YOU IS CHAPTER 110-06 WAC, AND IT IS NOT THE CHAPTER YOU WILL BE POINTED AT. Washington licenses family home child care through the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), and the licensing standards live in chapter 110-300 WAC, Foundational Quality Standards for Early Learning Programs. The background check is not there. WAC 110-300-0105(2) contains one sentence and hands you off: "Early learning providers and household members in a family home early learning program must complete and pass a department background check, pursuant to chapter 110-06 WAC." Everything that decides whether you get a licence — who is checked, what is checked, what disqualifies you, what you pay, how you appeal — sits in a separate chapter headed BACKGROUND CHECKS — EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS, formerly chapter 170-06 WAC, whose index on app.leg.wa.gov carries the line "Last update: 4/25/22". Verified 26 August 2026 against the code reviser's index of rules in effect and DCYF's semi-annual rule-making agenda for July 1 to December 31, 2026: chapter 110-06 WAC has not been amended since WSR 22-10-022, filed 25 April 2022, effective 26 May 2022, and DCYF has no open rule-making file on it.

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

The application, step by step

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

1. STEP ZERO, CONFIRM YOU ACTUALLY NEED THE LICENSE. WAC 110-300-0010(1) requires a license of any individual or entity that provides child care and early learning services for a group of children, birth through 12 years of age, "unless exempt under RCW 43.216.010(2) and WAC 110-300-0025," and subsection (3) makes the family home trigger unusually low: a license is required when an individual provides care in their family home "outside the child's home on a regular and ongoing basis for one or more children not related to the licensee," or "for preschool age children for more than four hours a day." One unrelated child on a regular schedule is a licensable program in Washington. There is no…
2. ORIENTATION COMES FIRST, AND IT HAS A TWELVE-MONTH SHELF LIFE. WAC 110-300-0400(1) opens with the sequencing in plain words: "After completing a department orientation an applicant must submit a complete license application packet, pursuant to chapter 43.216 RCW." You do not apply and then attend; you attend and then apply. WAC 110-300-0105(1) extends the duty beyond the applicant to "all applicants, coapplicants, family home licensees, center directors, assistant directors, and program supervisors," and adds that anyone newly promoted into one of those roles must "complete or be registered in orientation training" before being in charge of the programme fifty percent of the time or more.…
3. THE MERIT ACCOUNT AND STARS ID ARE PREREQUISITES TO EVERYTHING ELSE. MERIT — the Managed Education and Registry Information Tool at merit.dcyf.wa.gov — is not a convenience portal, it is the legal system of record. WAC 110-300-0106(2) is categorical: "License applicants and early learning providers must register with the electronic workforce registry prior to being granted an initial license or working with children in an unsupervised capacity." WAC 110-300-0115(1)(b) requires staff records to be "entered and maintained in the electronic workforce registry," and expressly permits paper records to be discarded "once entered into the electronic workforce registry and confirmed by the…
4. THE PORTABLE BACKGROUND CHECK COVERS EVERY HOUSEHOLD MEMBER SIXTEEN AND OVER. Chapter 110-06 WAC governs, and WAC 110-06-0020 defines a "subject individual" as, among others, an individual who is 16 years of age or older seeking authorisation to have unsupervised access to children, to work at a child care agency, or "to reside at the premises of a child care agency or certified facility," and expressly includes "a person who is 16 years of age or older who resides at, or will be moving onto, the premises where early learning services will or are provided." For a family home programme run out of your own house, that is your spouse, your adult children, your parents, your lodger — everyone.…
5. THE TUBERCULOSIS TEST IS SEPARATE FROM THE BACKGROUND CHECK AND CATCHES FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLDS. Applicants routinely assume the background check is the only clearance a household member needs, and lose a fortnight discovering otherwise. WAC 110-300-0105(3) requires that "early learning providers, including volunteers and household members, in a family home early learning program ages fourteen and over, must provide documentation signed within the last twelve months by a licensed health care professional of tuberculosis (TB) testing or treatment." Note the age: fourteen, not sixteen. A household has a two-year band — fourteen and fifteen — in which a resident needs TB documentation but is not…
6. CHILD CARE BASICS IS THE COURSE NAME, AND IT IS A CONDITION OF ISSUE, NOT A DEADLINE AFTER OPENING. WAC 110-300-0106(3), as amended by WSR 25-10-051, filed 1 May 2025 and effective 1 June 2025, provides that "license applicants, center directors, assistant directors, program supervisors, lead teachers, assistant teachers, and aides must complete the child care basics training as approved or offered by the department: (a) Prior to being granted a license; or (b) Prior to working unsupervised with children." The current name is Child Care Basics, abbreviated CCB by DCYF; if a checklist you were handed says STARS Basics or Child Care Basics 30-hour, it is describing an earlier regime. DCYF's…
7. THE ECE CERTIFICATE DEADLINE IS 2030, NOT 2026 — VERIFY THIS AGAINST ANY CHECKLIST YOU HAVE. WAC 110-300-0100(1)(a) sets what you must hold on the day you apply, and it is modest: a family home licensee must "be at least 18 years old," "have a high school diploma or equivalent," and "complete the applicable preservice requirements pursuant to WAC 110-300-0105." No college credit is required to be licensed. The staged education requirement lives in WAC 110-300-0100(1)(b), and its current wording is: "Have an ECE initial certificate or equivalent by August 1, 2030, or within five years of being licensed by the department, whichever occurs later," and "have an ECE short certificate or…
8. THE APPLICATION PACKET IS ALL-OR-NOTHING AND THE NINETY DAYS RUN FROM COMPLETENESS. WAC 110-300-0400(1) lists the packet, and every line is a document someone has to produce. Under (1)(a), professional and background information: the department application form for the type of licence sought; the orientation certificate taken within the last twelve months; "a Washington state business license or a tribal, county, or city business or occupation license, if applicable"; liability insurance if applicable; a certificate of incorporation, partnership agreement or similar business organisation document if applicable; the licence fee; a copy of current government-issued photo identification; a…
9. THE FEE IS SMALL, NONREFUNDABLE, AND DUE WITH THE PACKET. WAC 110-300-0401 is one of the few genuinely cheap parts of Washington licensing, and the amounts have not been restated in dollars-per-year language that hides them. Subsection (4): "The annual fee for family home early learning programs is thirty dollars, or as otherwise set by the legislature." Subsection (5): "The annual fee for center early learning programs is one hundred twenty-five dollars for the first twelve children plus twelve dollars for each additional child, or as otherwise set by the legislature." Subsection (2) fixes when it is owed — "with the early learning applicant's initial license application packet" and…
10. ZONING AND THE BUSINESS LICENCE ARE YOUR JOB, NOT THE LICENSOR'S. WAC 110-300-0415(3) puts the burden squarely on the applicant: "Prior to licensing, an applicant must contact state, city, and local agencies that regulate the early learning program. An early learning provider must obtain regulations and comply with the direction given by such agencies. These agencies may include, but are not limited to, the Washington state department of labor and industries, the Washington state fire marshal, the Washington state department of health, and local health jurisdictions." DCYF will not run these enquiries for you and will not treat local silence as approval. Washington law does, however, give…
11. THE BUILDING CODE APPLIES AT THE STANDARD IN FORCE WHEN YOU ARE LICENSED. WAC 110-300-0415(1) adopts and incorporates by reference the Washington State Building Code, chapter 19.27 RCW, "as now and hereafter amended," and subsection (2) requires that "early learning program space must comply with the Washington state building code or local building code as enacted at the time of licensure." Later modifications are then governed by WAC 110-300-0402. For centres the pre-licensing gate is explicit in WAC 110-300-0415(4): a centre applicant must "have a certificate of occupancy issued by the local building, planning, or zoning department, or a local equivalent if locality does not have the…
12. THE FIRE SAFETY INSPECTION IS ANNUAL, AND FOR A FAMILY HOME IT IS YOURS TO ARRANGE. WAC 110-300-0170(2) states it plainly: "An early learning provider must arrange for a fire safety inspection annually. A provider must arrange a fire safety inspection with a local government agency. If a local government agency is not available to conduct a fire safety inspection, a provider must inspect for fire safety using the state fire marshal form." That fallback is the sentence most applicants miss — where no local fire authority will come, the self-inspection on the State Fire Marshal's form is the compliant route, and refusing to do it because "the fire department never called back" is a citation,…
13. WATER, WELL AND SOIL TESTING ARE PRE-LICENSING LAB WORK WITH REAL LEAD TIMES. WAC 110-300-0400(1)(b) requires four environmental documents in the packet where applicable, and each one has an outside laboratory in the critical path. Lead and copper results for drinking water are required outright by (1)(b)(vi). WAC 110-300-0235(2) sets the method: "An early learning provider must use a Washington state certified water laboratory accredited by the department of ecology to test the program water supply for lead and copper," and "all fixtures used to obtain water for preparing food or infant formula, drinking, or cooking must be tested prior to licensing approval and at least once every six…
14. THE FOUR WRITTEN PLANS ARE SUBMITTED, REVIEWED AND RETURNED — WRITE THEM BEFORE YOU APPLY. WAC 110-300-0400(2) requires the applicant to include with the application "the following policy documents, which will be reviewed by the department and returned to the applicant": parent and programme policies, staff policies, an emergency preparedness plan, and health policies. They are not attachments to be promised later. The emergency preparedness plan is the longest. WAC 110-300-0470(1) requires that it be written, followed, "reviewed and approved by the department prior to when changes are made," specific to the programme, implementable during hours of operation, and that it address what the…
15. INFANT SAFE SLEEP IS EQUIPMENT, TRAINING AND A POSTING RULE AT ONCE. If you intend to enrol infants, three separate obligations attach before the licence issues. First, training: WAC 110-300-0106(8) requires licence applicants and providers licensed to care for infants to complete department-approved safe sleep training "annually" and "prior to being licensed" or "prior to caring for infants." It is on the pre-licence list, not the first-year list, and it repeats every year. Second, equipment: WAC 110-300-0290(1) requires a single-level crib, playpen or other developmentally appropriate sleep equipment for each infant and prohibits sofas, couches and adult-sized or toddler beds for infant…
16. OUTDOOR SPACE IS MEASURED, FENCED AND SURFACED TO NUMBERS, AND IT IS THE MOST COMMON PRE-LICENSING SPEND. WAC 110-300-0145(2) sets the area: "Outdoor play space must contain a minimum of seventy-five square feet of licensed usable space per child accessing the play space at any given time," with an alternate plan permitted — rotating groups or an off-site play area — where the programme cannot accommodate all enrolled children at once, and departmental approval required for off-site spaces. Subsection (3) requires shaded areas provided by trees, buildings or shade structures. The fence specification in subsections (6) through (9) is where quotes get expensive: licensed outdoor play areas…
17. LIABILITY INSURANCE: A FAMILY HOME MAY OPT OUT, BUT ONLY IN WRITING AND ONLY ON THE DEPARTMENT'S FORM. This is the requirement most often misdescribed to Washington applicants. RCW 43.216.700(1) imposes a hard duty on centres and outdoor nature-based providers: every licensed child day care centre and outdoor nature-based provider "shall, at the time of licensure or renewal and at any inspection, provide to the department proof that the licensee has day care insurance as defined in RCW 48.88.020, or is self-insured pursuant to chapter 48.90 RCW," with liability limits as set in RCW 48.88.050, a duty to notify the department when coverage is terminated, a duty to post notice of a lapse at…
18. THE ON-SITE VISIT, THE INITIAL LICENCE, AND THE ROAD TO A NONEXPIRING LICENCE. WAC 110-300-0400(3) states what the licensor does after a complete packet arrives: "The department will inspect the early learning program space and approve all application submissions required in this chapter prior to issuing a license." The visit is a document review and a walk-through at once, and the documents most often missing are the ones this chapter scatters: the floor plan with emergency exits under WAC 110-300-0400(1)(b)(i), which WAC 110-300-0505(2)(b) then requires you to post in each child care area; the annual signed declaration a family home licensee must provide under WAC 110-300-0130(4)…

What you must post on your walls

• THE CHILD CARE LICENSE ITSELF. Washington's posting duty is set twice, once by statute and once by rule, and the licence is the only item that appears on both lists. RCW 43.216.687(1)(a) commands that "every child day care center, outdoor nature-based child care provider, and family day care provider shall prominently post the following items, clearly visible to parents and staff: (a) The license issued under this chapter." WAC 110-300-0505(2)(a) repeats it and pins it to WAC 110-300-0010, the section that says who needs a licence at all: a licence is required when an individual provides child care in their family home "outside the child's home on a regular and ongoing basis for one or…
• THE FLOOR PLAN SHOWING EMERGENCY ROUTES AND EXITS, IN EVERY CHILD CARE AREA. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(b) requires posting a "floor plan with emergency routes and exits identified in each child care area, pursuant to WAC 110-300-0400(1)(b)(i) and 110-300-0470(2)(a)(i)." Read the phrase "in each child care area" literally, because licensors do: one diagram by the front door does not cover a program that uses a living room, a converted dining room and a basement playroom. Each licensed area gets its own posted plan showing the routes out of that area. The two cross-referenced sections tell you what the diagram must contain. WAC 110-300-0400(1)(b)(i) makes "a floor plan, including use of proposed…
• EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS AND DIRECTIONS TO THE FACILITY. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(g) requires posting "emergency numbers and information including, but not limited to: (i) 911 or emergency services number; (ii) Name, address and directions from the nearest arterial street or nearest cross street to the facility; (iii) The department's toll-free number; (iv) Washington poison center toll-free number; and (v) The department's child protective services." Five components, and the one that fails inspections is the second. Washington does not ask you to post your address; it asks you to post written directions from the nearest arterial or cross street, because the poster exists so that a…
• THE LOCATION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL INFORMATION — NOT THE INFORMATION ITSELF. This is the subtlest item in WAC 110-300-0505 and the one most often mishandled in both directions. Subsection (2)(h) requires posting "the location of emergency medical information for children and staff." You post a pointer, not the records. Posting the records themselves would breach WAC 110-300-0460(1)(a), which requires each child's record to be "kept in a confidential manner but in an area easily accessible to staff," and WAC 110-300-0450(2)(n), which requires the parent handbook to explain the plan for keeping the child's information confidential and who may legally access it. So the compliant posting reads…
• DIETARY RESTRICTIONS, KNOWN ALLERGIES AND NUTRITION REQUIREMENTS — POSTED FOR STAFF, DELIBERATELY HIDDEN FROM EVERYONE ELSE. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(c) requires posting "dietary restrictions, known allergies, and nutrition requirements, if applicable, in a location easily accessible for staff but not available to those who are not parents or guardians of the enrolled child, pursuant to WAC 110-300-0186(8)." This is the one posting in the chapter with a negative visibility condition attached, and it cuts against the chapter's general rule in WAC 110-300-0505(1) that postings be "clearly visible to parents, guardians, and early learning program staff." The allergy list belongs inside the kitchen…
• HANDWASHING PROCEDURE AT EVERY HANDWASHING SINK. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(d) requires posting "handwashing practices at each handwashing sink, pursuant to WAC 110-300-0200(1)." Two things follow that applicants regularly get wrong. The first is the count: at each sink, not one sign per room and not one sign per building. A family home with a kitchen sink, a bathroom sink and a sink beside the diaper changing area needs three. The second is that WAC 110-300-0200 itself never uses the word "post." The entire posting duty for handwashing lives in WAC 110-300-0505(2)(d); WAC 110-300-0200(1) supplies the text. That matters because the licensor checks the sign against the seven steps the rule sets…
• THE DIAPER CHANGING OR STAND-UP DIAPERING PROCEDURE, AT EACH STATION. This is the only posting in Washington's early learning rules commanded twice, which tells you how often it is missed. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(e) requires posting, "if applicable, diaper changing or stand-up diapering procedure at each diapering station, pursuant to WAC 110-300-0220 and 110-300-0221(1)(d)"; and WAC 110-300-0221(1)(d) independently states that "early learning providers must post an easily viewable diaper changing procedure at each station and must follow each step described in the procedure." The second half of that sentence is the enforcement hook: the licensor watches a change and marks you against your own…
• NO SMOKING AND NO VAPING SIGNS, AT EACH BUILDING ENTRANCE. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(k) requires posting "no smoking" and "no vaping" signs pursuant to WAC 110-300-0420(2)(f), and WAC 110-300-0420(2)(f) fixes both the wording and the placement: the provider must "post 'no smoking or vaping' signs. Signs must be clearly visible and located at each building entrance used as part of the early learning program." Both words must appear. A tobacco-only sign, or the international no-smoking pictogram alone, is a finding, because Washington's rule text names vaping expressly and the underlying prohibition in WAC 110-300-0420(2)(a) covers "smoking, vaping, or similar activities." The placement standard…
• PESTICIDE TREATMENT NOTICE. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(f) requires posting notice of "pesticide treatment, if applicable, pursuant to RCW 43.216.280 and 17.21.410(1)(d)." Read the two statutes before you design a sign, because the posting duty they create is narrower and stranger than the WAC makes it sound. RCW 43.216.280 says only that "licensed child day care centers and outdoor nature-based child care providers shall provide notice of pesticide use to parents or guardians of students and employees pursuant to chapter 17.21 RCW" — that statute names centres and outdoor nature-based providers and does not name family day care providers, yet WAC 110-300-0505 applies to every licensed early…
• NOTICE OF ANY CURRENT OR PENDING ENFORCEMENT ACTION, INCLUDING A PROBATIONARY LICENCE. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(i) requires posting "a notice of any current or pending enforcement action, including probationary licenses pursuant to RCW 43.216.687," and sets the timing precisely: the notice must be posted "(i) Immediately upon receipt; and (ii) For at least two weeks or until the violation causing the enforcement action is corrected, whichever is longer." RCW 43.216.687(1)(c) says the same in statute. "Immediately upon receipt" means the day the certified letter arrives, not the day your appeal is decided — and this is the single most expensive misreading in the chapter, because providers…
• NOTICE OF A SAFE SLEEP VIOLATION. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(j) requires posting "a notice of safe sleep violation in the licensed space as required by WAC 110-300-0291(2), if applicable," and WAC 110-300-0291(2) — amended by WSR 24-19-056, filed 13 September 2024 and effective 14 October 2024, so this is one of the newer duties in the chapter — sets the mechanics. A provider who receives notice of a safe sleep violation must "(a) Post the notice in the licensed space for two weeks or until the violation is corrected, whichever is longer, pursuant to WAC 110-300-0505; and (b) Within five business days of receiving notice of the violation, provide all parents and guardians of enrolled children…
• A COPY OF ANY DEPARTMENT-APPROVED WAIVER OR VARIANCE. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(l) requires posting "a copy of a department approved waiver or variance from a rule of this chapter, if applicable," and then draws a privacy line that no other item in the section draws: "waivers or variances must be posted for parent or guardian view when related to the overall program (not related to any specific child), and as long as the waiver or variance is approved." Programme-wide relief goes on the wall; relief granted for one named child does not, because posting it would disclose that child's circumstances to every other family. Get this backwards and you have either concealed a programme-level departure…
• INSURANCE STATUS — AND THE FAMILY HOME OPT-OUT THAT MAKES IT A HANDOUT INSTEAD. WAC 110-300-0505(2)(m) lists among required postings "insurance coverage, or a lapse or termination of such coverage if applicable, pursuant to RCW 43.216.700." The rule reads as though every licensee posts proof of coverage. The statute it cites does not say that, and for family day care providers it says something close to the opposite. RCW 43.216.700(1)(a) applies to licensed child day care centres and outdoor nature-based child care providers: they must provide proof of day care insurance as defined in RCW 48.88.020 or self-insurance under chapter 48.90 RCW, must notify the department when coverage is…
• A NOTICE THAT INSPECTION REPORTS AND ENFORCEMENT NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE — THE REPORTS THEMSELVES ARE NOT POSTED. This is the distinction Washington licensors write citations on, and the one most posting checklists sold to providers get wrong. RCW 43.216.687(1)(d) requires every centre, outdoor nature-based provider and family day care provider to prominently post "a notice that inspection reports and any notices of enforcement actions for the previous three years are available from the licensee and the department." What is posted is a notice of availability — a sentence telling parents the reports exist, that you hold them, and that DCYF holds them too. The reports are a separate obligation…
• THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN HANDBOOK IS A WRITTEN HANDOUT, NOT A POSTING — AND IT SWALLOWS MOST OF WHAT PROVIDERS ASSUME THEY MUST POST. WAC 110-300-0450(1) states the mechanism: "an early learning provider must supply to each parent or guardian written policies regarding the early learning program. Each enrolled child's record must have signed documentation stating the parent or guardian reviewed the handbook and early learning program policies." Delivery plus a signature in the child's file, not a wall. The section was amended by WSR 26-09-080, filed 14 April 2026 and effective 15 May 2026, so the version you are reading is recent.
• WHAT WASHINGTON DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO POST, AND WHY YOUR CHECKLIST SAYS OTHERWISE. Fourteen items appear in WAC 110-300-0505(2), plus the notice of availability RCW 43.216.687(1)(d) reaches through subsection (2)(n). Nothing else in chapter 110-300 WAC is posted. The word "post" appears in only five places in the whole chapter in the version last updated 1 July 2026: WAC 110-300-0221(1)(d) for the diapering procedure, WAC 110-300-0291(2)(a) for a safe sleep violation notice, WAC 110-300-0420(2)(f) for the no smoking or vaping signs, WAC 110-300-0440(9)(e) for a probationary licence, and WAC 110-300-0505 itself. One posted sign sits outside that pattern: WAC 110-300-0170(3)(i)(iii)…

Enrollment forms for each child

• DCYF 15-955, FAMILY HOME AND CENTER CHILD CARE LICENSE OR CERTIFICATION APPLICATION. This is the licence application itself, and the copy DCYF serves today is stamped "DCYF 15-955 (REVISED 5/2026) EXT", seven pages, English PDF only. It is a single combined form for both licence types: you tick "Family Home" or "Child Care Center" under License Type, then "Initial Application", "Certification" or "Move" under Application Type. The applicant and any co-applicant sign it; the form collects legal name, all other names ever used, mailing address, type of organization (government agency, individual/sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, LLC sole proprietor, LLC corporation, LLC partnership,…
• DCYF 15-862, INITIAL CHECKLIST FOR FAMILY HOME CHILD CARE APPLICANT, AND DCYF 15-963, THE FEASIBILITY CHECKLIST. Neither is a filing you send in; both are self-inspection instruments you complete before a licensor walks your home, and both are the cheapest money an applicant can spend. DCYF 15-862 carries revision date 05-2023 and exists in English as a Word document only — there is no English PDF at the forms library, so an applicant working from a phone or a locked-down library computer often cannot open it at all. Its structure is a table of WAC citations: for each row you enter a code from "C = Compliance, N = Non-Compliance, NA = Not Applicable, ? = Have Question for Licensor". It…
• PORTABLE BACKGROUND CHECK APPLICATION AND DCYF 15-949, FAMILY HOME CHILD CARE RESIDENT AND STAFF BACKGROUND CHECKLIST. Washington does not use a paper background-check authorisation form for family homes; the subject individual files a DCYF background check application through the DCYF Background Check Unit, and what you keep on site is the roster. That roster is DCYF 15-949, revised 05-2026, English PDF, and its instruction line is explicit: "Please list below ALL members who live on the premises, regardless of age. Anyone who lives on the premises age 13 years and older, all staff and volunteers must have a cleared DCYF Portable Background Check (PBC)." You list each household member…
• DCYF 15-956, NO SOCIAL SECURITY CARD DECLARATION. WAC 110-300-0400(1)(a)(viii) makes the application packet include "A copy of Social Security card or sworn declaration stating that the applicant does not have one", and DCYF 15-956 is that sworn declaration. It exists in English as a Word document only, plus Somali and Spanish PDFs; there is no English PDF at the forms library. The form recites its own legal basis: it cites WAC 110-300-0400 and WAC 110-301-0400, and explains that "The license applicant seeking an initial license under chapter 110-300 or 110-305 must submit an application packet that includes a copy of the license applicant's Social Security card pursuant to 42 U.S.C.…
• DCYF 15-879, CHILD CARE REGISTRATION FORM. This is Washington's child enrolment and emergency contact record, revised 6/2021, available in English Word and PDF and in Somali, Spanish and Ukrainian PDFs, and it is a two-page form that covers four separate legal obligations at once. Page one records the date the child entered care and the date the child left care, the child's name, nickname, birthdate and address, then two parent or guardian blocks each with the instruction "Circle the best number to contact you at when your child is in our care" across cell, home and alternate numbers. Then comes the emergency and pickup section, which carries its own signature line: "I give my permission…
• DCYF 15-897, CHILD CARE PARENT/GUARDIAN PERMISSION. The forms library indexes this as "Child Care Parent Guardian Permissions"; the form itself is headed "Child Care Parent/Guardian Permission" and its footer reads "DCYF 15-897 (REV. 04/2020) EXT", two pages, English Word and PDF plus Somali and Spanish Word. It is signed by the parent or guardian — there are two signature lines, for two parents — and filed in the child's record. It carries four blocks. Transportation and off-site activity is the largest: for each of four trip categories (to and/or from school, on field trips, on occasional errands, and a fill-in "Other"), you tick yes or no for three modes — "By a personal vehicle", "By…
• WATER ACTIVITY PERMISSION AND THE SINGLE-LINE FORM THAT DOES NOT CARRY IT. Washington requires written permission for water activities as a standalone legal duty: WAC 110-300-0350(3) states that "An early learning provider must have written permission for water activities from each child's parent or guardian", and WAC 110-300-0460(2)(f)(iv) puts that signed permission in the child's enrolment record alongside field trips, transportation and bathing. The only DCYF instrument covering it is one yes/no line inside DCYF 15-897 (REV. 04/2020): "Take my child swimming or play in a swimming pool or other body of water." There is no DCYF water-activity form, no depth-specific consent, and no…
• CERTIFICATE OF IMMUNIZATION STATUS, DOH 348-013, AND CERTIFICATE OF EXEMPTION, DOH 348-106. The immunisation record for a child in Washington child care is a Department of Health form, not a DCYF form; the DCYF Forms and Documents page carries no number of its own here and simply links out to DOH. The current names and numbers, verified at DOH today, are the Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS), DOH 348-013, and the Certificate of Exemption (COE), DOH 348-106, both published in roughly eighteen languages. WAC 110-300-0210(1) fixes the deadline: "On or before their children's first day of attending an early learning program, the parents or guardians of enrolled children must give to…
• HEALTH HISTORY, AND THE PHYSICIAN'S STATEMENT WASHINGTON DOES NOT REQUIRE. Applicants arriving from another state look for a physical-examination form signed by a doctor before a child's first day. Washington has no such form and no such requirement for children in licensed child care. Read WAC 110-300-0460(4), which is the exhaustive list of what a child's health record must contain: an immunisation record under 110-300-0210(1); "The child's health history including any known health conditions and the child's individual care plan, if applicable"; a medication authorisation and administration log under 110-300-0215 if applicable; documentation of special medical procedure training given by…
• THE INDIVIDUAL CARE PLAN, AND THE RETIREMENT OF DCYF 15-970. WAC 110-300-0300(1) requires an early learning provider to "develop an individual care plan for each child with special needs and must notify the department when a child with special needs is enrolled or identified", and WAC 110-300-0300(2) says the plan "must be signed by the parent or guardian and may be developed using a department provided template." That template no longer exists. DCYF form 15-970 has been withdrawn from the forms library — a search of the library on its number returns nothing, and the number is simply absent from the sequence, which runs 15-969 to 15-971 with no 15-970 in between. In its place, DCYF's own…
• DCYF 15-968, CHILD CARE MEDICATION AUTHORIZATION FORM. Revision 06/2021, English Word and PDF plus Somali, Spanish and Ukrainian PDFs. It is signed by the parent or guardian, one form per medication, and filed in the child's health record under WAC 110-300-0460(4)(c). The form opens by reciting the rule it enforces: a provider "must not give medication to any child without written and signed consent from that child's parent or guardian, must administer medication pursuant to directions on the medication label, and must use appropriate cleaned and sanitized medication measuring devices", which is WAC 110-300-0215(3). Fields are the child's full name and birthdate, the name of the medication…
• DCYF 15-969, CHILD CARE MEDICATION LOG. This is the administration record, distinct from the authorisation on 15-968, and it is required by WAC 110-300-0215(3)(b), which obliges a provider to maintain a written medication log for every medication given except the non-medical items in 0215(3)(a)(iv). The rule fixes six contents: the child's full name, the name of the medication administered, the dose amount, side effects observed, "The date and time of each medication given or reasons that a particular medication was not given", and the name and signature of the person who administered it. The form mirrors this exactly. It is headed with the child's name (first and last) and "Name of…
• DCYF 15-941, CHILD CARE INJURY/INCIDENT REPORT. Revision 01/2023 on the form itself, published in English Word and PDF and in Somali and Spanish, and it is the "department form" that WAC 110-300-0475(3) requires: "In addition to reporting to the department by phone or email, an early learning provider must submit a written incident report of the following on a department form within 24 hours." The form restates the deadline across its head: "In addition to reporting to the department by phone or email about the following incidents and injuries, a provider must also complete this incident report and submit it to DCYF within 24-hours." Fields are the child's name, provider name and Provider…
• DCYF 15-942, DAILY CHILD ATTENDANCE RECORD FOR CHILD CARE FACILITIES. The forms library indexes it as "Daily Child Attendance Records"; the form is titled "Daily Child Attendance Record for Child Care Facilities" and footed "DCYF 15-942 (REV. 08/2019) EXT", English Word and PDF plus Somali and Spanish. It is a month grid with columns for Date, Child's Name (First/Last), Time in, "Parent/guardian or authorized person signature", Time out, and then a shaded band the form explains is "for child care staff use when child leaves and returns to licensee's care" — Time, Staff signature, Time, Staff signature — closing with a second parent or authorised person signature at final departure. WAC…
• DCYF 15-892, CHILD CARE FIRE SAFETY AND EMERGENCY DRILLS RECORD. The forms library titles it "Fire, Safety, Emergency Drills Record", revision 08-2019, and the document itself is headed "Child Care Fire Safety & Emergency Drills Record for ____ (year)". It exists in English as a Word document ONLY — no English PDF is served — with Amharic, Somali and Spanish PDFs. It is a one-year sheet with four tables. The first records the annual maintenance date of fire extinguishers. The second is the monthly inspection of the premises to identify and eliminate possible fire hazards, a twelve-column January-to-December grid with Date and Staff Initials rows plus monthly working checks of alternate…
• PET AND ANIMAL DISCLOSURE — THE WRITTEN NOTICE WITH NO DCYF CHILD CARE FORM. WAC 110-300-0225(1) permits pets and other animals on the premises, and WAC 110-300-0225(2) attaches two conditions in a single short subsection: the provider "must have and follow a pet and animal policy" and must "Provide written notice to children's parents and guardians." DCYF publishes no child care form for either. There is a DCYF 15-826 "Pet Vaccination Agreement", revised 06-2023 and available in seven languages, but read the numbering before you use it: the 15-82x block is the licensing-division foster and group-care series that also holds 15-820 and 15-820A tuberculosis screening, 15-821 the infant…
• PARENT HANDBOOK ACKNOWLEDGEMENT — SIGNED IN EVERY CHILD'S RECORD, WITH NO STATE FORM. WAC 110-300-0450(1) is one sentence and it is the whole obligation: "An early learning provider must supply to each parent or guardian written policies regarding the early learning program. Each enrolled child's record must have signed documentation stating the parent or guardian reviewed the handbook and early learning program policies." DCYF publishes no acknowledgement form; you write the signature page yourself and it lives in the child's record under WAC 110-300-0460. This section was amended recently — the current text was filed as WSR 26-09-080 on 14 April 2026, effective 15 May 2026, under…
• DCYF 15-974 DECLARATION OF COMPLIANCE, 15-894 LIABILITY INSURANCE NOTICE, AND THE ANNUAL PAPERWORK OF A NONEXPIRING LICENCE. Washington issues nonexpiring licences under WAC 110-300-0425, so there is no renewal application; what replaces it is an annual declaration. DCYF 15-974, "Declaration of Compliance (for family home and centers)", revision 02-2026, is filed each year and its first instruction is that you "complete this form in the Provider Portal" at the WA Compass provider portal, with a paper copy available at the forms library — and DCYF states that after it receives and uploads a paper form, "the form will be shredded." The licensee or the licensee's authorised agent signs. Under…

What's specific about getting licensed in Washington

Washington is one of the few states where your family home capacity is directly tied to your years of experience: you start capped at 6 children (max 3 under age 2) with under a year of experience and only step up to 8, 9, 10, or the full 12 as you accumulate 1-2 and then 2+ years, with a qualified assistant required at the higher levels. On top of that, Washington uniquely requires an ECE (Early Childhood Education) certificate pathway and uses the STARS ID/MERIT system to track every training hour, making it a credential-driven state rather than a one-and-done license.

How long it takes and what it costs in Washington

Timeline: Realistically plan for about 3 to 6 months from starting orientation to holding your license. The usual bottlenecks are the background-check clearance (fingerprint results can take several weeks) and getting a slot on your licensor's calendar for the on-site health and safety inspection, so start the background check and book your hands-on CPR/First Aid class as early as possible.

Cost: Expect the largest costs to be the required trainings and checks rather than a big license fee: a hands-on CPR/First Aid class (commonly around $60-$100), a food worker card through your local health jurisdiction (typically about $10-$20), a TB test, and the background-check/fingerprinting fee. The exact DCYF family home license fee changes and could not be confirmed from the official fee page at the time of writing, so confirm the current amount with the DCYF Welcome Team (dcyf.welcome@dcyf.wa.gov) before you budget.

Source: Sources officielles consultées pour Washington :

https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=110-300

https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=110

https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=170

https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=110-300A

https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.216.015

https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.216

https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.216.250

https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=43.216.325

Verified 2026-08-26. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state’s licensing agency before applying.