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Home Daycare License Requirements in West Virginia (2026)

Opening a home daycare in West Virginia means getting a family child care home license from the West Virginia Department of Human Services (DoHS), Bureau for Family Assistance (BFA). 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 West Virginia

West Virginia tiers home-based care by the number of children served, and the count includes children under age 6 who live in the home — i.e. the caregiver's OWN young children (78 CSR 19 §6.6.b.1): Informal/Relative family child care = smallest tier (registered under separate 'Informal and Relative Family Child Care Home' regulations); Family Child Care Home = up to 6 children, provided in the caregiver's own residence and REGISTERED (certificate of registration, 78 CSR 19 §6.6.a); Family Child Care Facility = larger tier up to 12 children, LICENSED (78 CSR 18), which may be in the provider's residence or a separate building; 13 or more children = child care center.

How many children you can care for in West Virginia

Family Child Care Home: no more than 6 children in care under 13 years of age at any one time, of whom no more than 2 may be under 24 months of age (78 CSR 19 §6.6.a). The count includes children under age 6 who live in the home — including the caregiver's own children — and children under 6 visiting unaccompanied by a parent/responsible adult (78 CSR 19 §6.6.b). To serve more than 6 (up to 12) the provider must instead be licensed as a Family Child Care Facility under 78 CSR 18.

Adult-to-child ratios

Family Child Care Home (78 CSR 19): a single caregiver operates the home and must be physically present and within sight or hearing of all children in care (§6.5.a). West Virginia does NOT set a graduated adult:child ratio for a registered home; it instead caps the home at 6 children under age 13 at one time, no more than 2 of whom may be under 24 months (§6.6.a). Family Child Care Facility (78 CSR 18): two staff members must be on duty whenever the facility cares for MORE THAN two children under 24 months of age OR MORE THAN six children at the same time (§7.1.a); when determining the staff-to-child ratio, all children 12 years of age and under present and cared for — including any child of the director, staff members, and friends of the child — are counted (§7.1.b).

Training you must complete before licensure

Registered Family Child Care Home (78 CSR 19 §6.3.a): within three months of initial registration the caregiver must obtain (1) approved pediatric CPR and pediatric first aid, and (2) documentation verifying completion of approved pre-service health & safety training (delivered through WV STARS — topics include safe spaces/environment, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials, shaken-baby/abusive head trauma, safe sleep/SUIDS, infectious diseases, medication administration, food/allergy hazards, transportation, and child development; the rule itself, §6.3.a.2, requires 'approved pre-service health and safety training' without enumerating modules). A medical examination plus a tuberculosis risk assessment / TB skin test or chest x-ray is required within 30 days of application (§6.2.a; recordkeeping §6.2.e). Licensed Family Child Care Facility (78 CSR 18): all current and potential staff must complete approved pre-service training prior to caring for children, and the operator must be certified in approved pediatric CPR/first aid.

Ongoing (annual) training

Family Child Care Home: after 4 additional training hours within the first 12 months (in at least one other Core Knowledge/Core Competency area, §6.3.b), the caregiver must complete 8 hours of approved training annually covering at least two Core Knowledge/Core Competency areas (78 CSR 19 §6.3.c). Tiers differ: a licensed Family Child Care Facility operator must complete at least 15 clock hours annually (78 CSR 18 §14.1.a.8) and each staff member at least 12 clock hours annually (§15.1.n); for both, required pediatric CPR is in addition to those hours after the first year. Confirm current figures with the Bureau for Family Assistance / your regional CCR&R.

Background checks

Yes. State and federal fingerprint-based criminal background investigation under the WV Clearance for Access: Registry and Employment Screen Act (WV CARES), W. Va. Code §16-49-1 et seq. and 69 CSR 10, on the caregiver AND each adult household member (78 CSR 19 §6.4.a). Requires a completed, signed WV CARES Self-Disclosure Application and Consent Form on file and uploaded to the WV CARES system no later than the date of approval to operate (§6.4.a.1), plus a WV CARES fitness determination of eligibility (§6.4.a.3); a variance/waiver is needed if there are disqualifying convictions or pending charges (§6.4.a.2). Sex-offender registry and child/adult protective-services registry checks are run in the current state of residence and every state where the caregiver and each adult household member has resided in the past five years, and the CPS/APS search is repeated every five years (§6.4.b–c). A new adult household member must complete a criminal background check within 180 days of moving in (§6.4.d). The secretary will not grant registration if the caregiver or a household member is under indictment/charged with a disqualifying offense, on felony parole/probation, or is an active protective-services recipient / has substantiated abuse or neglect history (§6.4.e, §6.4.i).

The application, step by step

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

1. Determine your tier by headcount, counting children under age 6 who live in your home — including your own (78 CSR 19 §6.6.b.1): up to 6 children = register as a Family Child Care Home under 78 CSR 19; more than 6 (up to 12) = apply to be licensed as a Family Child Care Facility under 78 CSR 18.
2. Contact your regional Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) agency, which processes family child care registrations/licenses for the Bureau for Family Assistance, and obtain the application packet.
3. Enroll in WV STARS (State Training and Registry System) and begin the required approved pre-service health & safety training and pediatric CPR/first aid (allowed up to 3 months after initial registration to complete — §6.3.a).
4. Complete WV CARES state and federal fingerprint-based background checks for yourself and every adult household member; submit the signed WV CARES Self-Disclosure Application and Consent Form (uploaded no later than the date of approval) and obtain a fitness determination of eligibility (§6.4).
5. Obtain the required medical documentation, including a medical examination and tuberculosis risk assessment / TB skin test or chest x-ray dated within 30 days of application (§6.2.a).
6. Submit the application certifying compliance with 78 CSR 19 — the home's health, safety, space, and fire-safety standards (including a posted written fire-evacuation plan and written emergency information near the telephone).
7. Departmental action within 60 days (§4.3.a): the secretary issues a regular certificate of registration (valid up to 2 years, §4.5.a) upon certified compliance, or a provisional certificate (6 months, §4.5.b) if you are temporarily unable to certify full compliance.
8. Facility/license path only: before a license is issued the facility is investigated and inspected (including State Fire Marshal and Bureau for Public Health), and the license plus most recent inspection reports must be displayed.
9. Publicly display the certificate of registration (or license) (§4.4.c) and maintain training, medical, and background-check records in accessible files; expect unannounced monitoring inspections (§5.2).

What you must post on your walls

• Publicly display a valid certificate of registration (78 CSR 19 §4.4.c)
• A posted written emergency fire-evacuation plan, updated by December 31 each year, with a record of monthly fire-evacuation drills (78 CSR 19 §8.1.a, §8.1.a.5.A, §8.1.c)
• Written emergency information kept available near the telephone (78 CSR 19 §12.1.a)
• Family Child Care Facility (78 CSR 18) additionally displays: the certificate of license, current meal/snack menus, an emergency exit plan with 12 months of fire-drill records, a copy of the Family Child Care Facility licensing requirements, a daily activity schedule, and the most recent State Fire Marshal and Bureau for Public Health inspection reports

Enrollment forms for each child

• Application for a Family Child Care Home Certificate of Registration (78 CSR 19 §4.1)
• WV CARES Self-Disclosure Application and Consent Form (78 CSR 19 §6.4.a.1)
• Medical examination / tuberculosis (TB) risk assessment or TB skin test / chest x-ray documentation (78 CSR 19 §6.2.a, §6.2.e)
• WV STARS registry enrollment and training completion / attendance records (78 CSR 19 §6.3.e)
• Family Child Care Facility path: Application for a Family Child Care Facility Certificate of License (78 CSR 18)

What's specific about getting licensed in West Virginia

West Virginia's home-based ladder has a hard fork that trips up new providers: at 6 children you are a SELF-CERTIFIED 'registered' Family Child Care Home — the secretary issues your certificate on your written certification of compliance, with no mandatory pre-opening inspection, then monitors afterward (78 CSR 19 §4.3.a, §5.2) — but the moment you take a 7th child you cross into a LICENSED Family Child Care Facility (78 CSR 18) that is inspected before it opens (State Fire Marshal + Bureau for Public Health) and that triggers a two-staff requirement once more than six children (or more than two under 24 months) are present (§7.1.a). Compounding this, the headcount that sets your tier — and the strict 'no more than 2 under 24 months' ceiling — includes children under age 6 who live in your home, i.e. YOUR OWN young children (78 CSR 19 §6.6.b.1). So two of your own toddlers can quietly cut your paying capacity to four and can consume the two-infant sub-limit before you enroll a single outside infant. Providers routinely miscount and end up over capacity or operating in the wrong legal category.

How long it takes and what it costs in West Virginia

Timeline: Plan on roughly 1-3 months. Once your application is submitted, the secretary must issue a written decision within 60 days (78 CSR 19 §4.3.a). The real pacing driver is the front-end work: WV CARES fingerprinting and fitness determinations for you and every adult in the home (usually the longest pole), the medical exam/TB assessment (within 30 days of applying, §6.2.a), and getting into WV STARS pre-service and pediatric CPR/first aid classes (the rule allows up to 3 months after registration to finish these, §6.3.a). Choosing the Family Child Care Facility LICENSE path (more than 6 children) takes longer because a pre-opening investigation plus State Fire Marshal and public-health inspections must clear before the license issues.

Cost: Varies — confirm with the Bureau for Family Assistance / your regional CCR&R. 78 CSR 19 does not set a flat statutory family-child-care registration fee; real out-of-pocket costs are driven by WV CARES fingerprint-based background checks (per adult in the household), a pediatric CPR/first aid course, and a medical exam/TB test. Many WV providers access free or subsidized pre-service training through WV STARS/CCR&R, and periodic start-up/quality grants are available. Confirm current fees before budgeting.

Source: https://bfa.wv.gov/ece-policies-and-regulations; https://bfa.wv.gov/media/6866/download?inline (78 CSR 19, Family Child Care Home Registration Requirements — verified full text: capacity §6.6.a-b, supervision §6.5.a, training §6.3, TB §6.2, background §6.4, decision §4.3.a, certificates §4.5, postings §8.1/§12.1/§4.4.c); https://bfa.wv.gov/media/6861/download?inline (78 CSR 18, Family Child Care Facility Licensing Requirements — verified: staffing §7.1.a-b, training §14.1.a.8/§15.1.n); https://code.wvlegislature.gov/49-1-206/ (W. Va. Code §49-1-206 definitions); https://bfa.wv.gov/bfa-early-care-and-education

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