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How do I become a licensed home daycare provider in Florida?

Use the free tool — Child Care License Check FL

What Florida law requires

Florida law calls a home where you regularly care for children from at least two unrelated families, and receive a payment, fee or grant for any of them, a "family day care home" (Fla. Stat. 402.302). If that describes what you plan to do, Fla. Stat. 402.313 says you must be licensed in counties that have adopted licensing for family day care homes, and registered with DCF everywhere else. This is not legal advice — DCF or your county licensing agency confirms which one applies to you.

How many children you may care for

Fla. Stat. 402.302(8) sets the ratio limits for a family day care home, at one time, counting your own children under 13:

• up to 4 children from birth to 12 months, or
• up to 3 children from birth to 12 months plus other children for a total of 6, or
• up to 6 preschool children if all are older than 12 months, or
• up to 10 children if no more than 5 are preschool age and, of those, no more than 2 are under 12 months.

These come from Fla. Stat. 402.302 and Rule 65C-20, F.A.C. A tool that reads your exact ages can tell you which limit applies; guessing is risky when infants are involved.

Over the limit: large family child care homes

Caring for 7 to 12 children means you are running a "large family child care home" under Fla. Stat. 402.3131. This requires a license, a second caregiver, and the operator must first have run a licensed family day care home for two consecutive years.

Before you accept any child

Rule 65C-20, F.A.C. requires the following before your first day:

• Level 2 background screening (fingerprints through DCF's Background Screening Clearinghouse) for the operator, any substitute, and every household member 18 or older — household members 12 to 17 may need it too.
• The 30-hour Family Child Care Home training course.
• Current infant/child CPR and first aid, with annual in-service training after that.

Your application is not approved until screening clears. Do not take in children before it does. See Rule 65C-20, F.A.C. and DCF Child Care Licensing for the current steps.

Your county, pools, and other resources

Some Florida counties license family day care homes through a local agency instead of DCF, and local rules can be stricter — the DCF child care website lists which counties do this. If you're not sure about your county, check that list rather than guessing.

Any pool or body of water on the property must be made inaccessible to children (fence/barrier, locked gate or door); DCF or the local agency inspects this. Licensed or registered homes may also be able to join the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program through a Florida sponsor, and may accept School Readiness subsidy families through the local Early Learning Coalition — ask each about eligibility, since this page names no amounts.

If you only care for relatives

Care that is only for relatives generally falls outside the "family day care home" definition in Fla. Stat. 402.302, so licensing or registration may not be required. You can still choose voluntary registration or licensing, which can open eligibility for subsidies through the Early Learning Coalition. DCF confirms whether that path fits your situation.

What to do next

A free tool can read the exact numbers you give — how many children, their ages, and whose they are — and tell you whether Florida law points to a license, a registration, or neither, along with the ratio limit and the screening and training steps that apply before day one. Nothing you enter is stored, there's no account, and it is not legal advice — always confirm with DCF or your county licensing agency before caring for any child.

Child Care License Check FL explains Florida's family child care rules in plain language; it can be wrong, and it is not legal advice. Definitions and ratios are from Fla. Stat. 402.302–402.3131 and Rule 65C-20 as published; some counties license locally with stricter rules. Nothing you enter is stored.