Opening a child development home in DC: OSSE license, zoning permit and the expanded-home tier

The two home licenses OSSE issues

DC regulates all licensed child care as “child development facilities” under the Child Development Facilities Regulation Act of 1998 and Chapter 1 of Title 5-A of the DC Municipal Regulations. You need a license once you care for more than two infants, toddlers or children who are not related to you, on a regular basis ⁠¹. OSSE then classifies the facility as a Center, a Home, an Expanded Home or an out-of-school-time program, and prints the classification on the license ⁠¹.

For care in your own residence there are two options:

Sources for the table: OSSE rule sections 121, 139, 167, 169 and 170 ⁠¹, and the Department of Buildings (DOB) zoning guidance ⁠⁷.

Anything above twelve children, or care in a building that is not the operator’s home, is a Child Development Center.

Who does not need a license

5-A DCMR 101.5 exempts, among others: occasional babysitting for the children of one family; care in the child’s own home by a caregiver the family pays; a nanny-share; informal parent-supervised play groups; care by a related person; and programs that offer only before-school care, only after-school care, or only summer camp to school-age children ⁠¹. “Related” for the home capacity rule means grandparent, parent, brother, sister, step-sibling, uncle or aunt by marriage, blood or adoption ⁠¹.

Counting children: your own kids and relatives

The six-child cap in a Child Development Home does not include your own children aged six or older. That exclusion has limits: no more than three of your children aged 6 to 15, and no more than two of those aged 10 or younger ⁠¹. Your children under six count toward the six. Related children you care for also count toward the limit, even though related care on its own would be exempt ⁠¹.

Zoning counts slightly differently. DOB’s definition of a child development home covers no more than six individuals aged 15 or younger, including all individuals age four and younger who live in the dwelling unit ⁠⁷. In practice, a caregiver with a toddler of their own has five places to fill, not six.

The license itself lists the maximum number of children and the maximum for each age group ⁠¹. OSSE sets capacity from the occupancy load DOB or Fire and EMS (FEMS) calculates, program space, toilets, and the ratio table ⁠¹.

Zoning and the home occupation permit come first

OSSE will not process an initial application without a Certificate of Occupancy or Home Occupation Permit (HOP) showing the premises meet DC building, fire, construction and zoning codes ⁠¹. For homes this is a HOP, now issued by the Department of Buildings ⁠⁷. OSSE’s orientation and checklist still send applicants to DCRA at 1100 4th Street SW, which is now DOB’s address ⁠³⁠⁵⁠⁷.

What DOB’s March 2024 guidance says ⁠⁷:

• Building type. A child development home may operate in a single-family dwelling, a townhouse, a flat (two dwelling units in a townhouse) or an R-3 residential use. It may not operate in a multifamily building with more than two dwelling units. If you live in an apartment building, a home license is not available to you.
• Residency. The operator must live in the home as their principal residence. Owners and tenants both qualify. DOB will not accept a HOP application filed by anyone other than the named resident.
• By-right limits. In residential zones a home with up to six children and two non-resident caregivers is permitted as a matter of right. So is an expanded home caring for seven to nine children. Board of Zoning Adjustment approval is required to go up to twelve.
• Expanded-home standards (11 DCMR U-251.1(b)(2)). No more than three non-residents may be engaged or employed. You need at least 35 square feet of floor area per individual, counting the basement but not accessory structures. No more than 320 square feet of the dwelling’s floor area may be used for the expanded home.
• Process. Apply online with a government ID showing DC residency and a simple evacuation plan drawing that shows the path to the exit. After DOB approves the plan, an inspector checks the fire and life-safety items on site. The HOP certificate lists the number and ages of children and staff.
• Duration. A HOP does not expire. It cannot be transferred to another operator or another address. FEMS inspects the home every year.

If you rent, OSSE’s application has you attest that you hold a valid lease and the owner’s or landlord’s permission to operate a child development facility on the premises ⁠⁶.

DOB’s guidance quotes a 320-square-foot cap on dwelling floor area used for an expanded home. At 35 square feet per child, 320 square feet fits nine children (315 square feet) but not twelve (420 square feet). The guidance does not explain how the cap applies to a twelve-child home approved by the BZA, and the zoning text itself was not separately opened for this guide. Ask DOB at 202.671.3500 before you plan a home above nine children ⁠⁷.

Caregiver qualifications after the December 2023 credential deadline

The 2016 rules raised caregiver education requirements, and after two extensions they took effect on December 2, 2023 ⁠²⁠⁸. On December 20, 2023, OSSE adopted emergency and proposed amendments that widened the accepted pathways, and it adopted them as a final rule on May 7, 2025 ⁠²⁠¹⁰.

Child Development Home caregiver (5-A DCMR 168.1, as amended). You must be at least 18 and hold one of ⁠¹⁰:

• a current Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, or a state-awarded certificate OSSE accepts as meeting or exceeding the CDA;
• an associate degree or higher with a major in child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, or human development (the final rule removed “a closely related field” from the 2023 text);
• an associate degree in another field with at least 12 credit hours in early childhood subjects, plus one year of supervised experience in a licensed facility;
• 60 college credit hours with at least 12 in early childhood, plus one year of supervised experience; or
• a foreign degree or credits with an equivalency report.

You must also complete at least 12 hours of approved child development training each year and all required health and safety training ⁠¹⁰. A home caregiver who was working in a licensed DC home on December 20, 2023, with ten years of continuous service may apply for a continuous-service certification that waives the education requirement; OSSE may deny it, for example after a summary suspension ⁠¹⁰.

Expanded Home caregiver (170.2). The primary caregiver must be at least 18 and meet both an education test and an experience test ⁠¹⁰:

• Education: an associate degree or higher in one of the majors listed above; a degree in another field with 12 credits in those subjects; 60 credits with 12 in early childhood; or a current CDA, provided you are enrolled in a degree program and finish within four years of opening. You can have up to six years with continuous enrollment or a documented hardship OSSE approves.
• Experience: at least one year operating as the caregiver of a licensed child development home, or one year as a center director or teacher in a licensed center.

Annual training rises to 15 hours ⁠¹⁰.

Associate Caregiver (171). The second adult in a home or expanded home does not have to live there ⁠¹⁰. The associate caregiver can start with a high school diploma and earn a CDA (or OSSE-accepted equivalent) within two years of hire, or already hold a CDA, 60 college credits or a degree. They also complete 15 training hours a year ⁠¹⁰.

Back-up caregivers and your hours log

A home caregiver must be physically present during operating hours and keep a record on the premises of the days and hours actually worked ⁠¹. When you leave for training or other caregiver duties, you must name a back-up who has a high school diploma or equivalent, has completed the health and safety training, and has cleared a criminal background check (168.4). Back-up coverage must be available for all operating hours ⁠¹. If your back-up is another licensed home, that home cannot exceed the capacity on its own license ⁠¹. You also need a written contingency plan, covering every day and hour you operate, for medical and non-medical emergencies ⁠¹.

Ratios: why the second infant changes everything

DC uses one mixed-age table for homes and expanded homes. The ratio depends on how many children under two you enroll ⁠¹:

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

A child who cannot walk counts as under two ⁠¹. Volunteers do not count toward ratios; only employees who directly care for children do ⁠¹. In practice a solo home caregiver can take no more than two children under two. A third infant means a second caregiver, which means expanded-home rules.

First aid and CPR: every staff member needs current certification suited to the ages served. Two certified staff must be on the premises at all times, unless a home caregiver is serving no more than six children with no more than two under age two ⁠¹.

Background checks for everyone 18 and older in the house

Any person aged 18 or older who lives in a Child Development Home or Expanded Home counts as a staff member for background checks ⁠¹. You request the checks through OSSE before the person becomes staff, then at least once every three years. It aims to report results within 45 days ⁠¹. The checks are an FBI fingerprint check through Next Generation Identification, a National Sex Offender Registry search, and child abuse and neglect registry searches in every state where the person lived in the past five years. A traffic records check is also required for anyone who drives children ⁠³. OSSE may deny an initial license if the applicant, or an owner, officer or employee assigned to the home, is on a state child protection registry ⁠¹.

You must also adopt drug and alcohol testing policies, with tests before employment, on reasonable suspicion and after an accident ⁠³. Everyone living in the home needs a health examination within the past 12 months certifying them free of communicable disease ⁠¹.

Training deadlines for new staff

Staff complete pre-service health and safety training within 30 days of hire. It covers abuse and neglect, emergency planning, safe sleep, shaken baby prevention, and first aid and CPR. Orientation training follows within 90 days. Safe sleep, abusive head trauma prevention, first aid and CPR, poison prevention and infectious disease control must be finished before anyone cares for children unsupervised ⁠¹.

The house: space, play area, firearms and food

• Program space. OSSE approves every room you use, and you may provide care only in approved space. Kitchen food-prep areas, bathrooms, hallways, stairways, closets, laundry areas, furnace rooms and storage spaces do not count ⁠¹. Expanded homes need 35 square feet of unencumbered program space per child ⁠¹.
• Outdoor play. Homes serving infants, toddlers or preschoolers need age-appropriate outdoor play space. It can be an enclosed yard, a nearby park or playground, or a rooftop space that meets the rules. Provide at least 60 square feet per child, based on the most children outdoors at one time ⁠¹.
• Firearms. Licensed firearms and ammunition must be unloaded, trigger-locked, and kept in a locked safe storage depository out of children’s reach. Ammunition must be locked up too. Parents must be told when weapons are in the home ⁠¹.
• Foster care. You may not provide foster care for children or adults in the same home without prior written approval from OSSE ⁠¹.
• Food. If you prepare and serve food, OSSE requires a Food Protection Manager Certificate from DC Health ⁠³. You also submit a sample five-day menu following the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program meal pattern ⁠³.
• Lead. A DC Department of Energy and Environment-certified inspector, risk assessor or dust sampling technician must issue a report clearing the home of lead-based paint hazards, dated no more than 30 days before you apply ⁠¹.

Applying, step by step

The orientation says the process takes about one to three months. Most of the variation comes from how quickly you correct deficiencies ⁠³.

1. Complete OSSE’s orientation

   It is required before you apply under 5-A DCMR 103.2. The online version takes about an hour and ends in a quiz. Print the completion certificate and submit it with your application ⁠¹⁠³. One-on-one sessions are available for language access or accommodations through the licensing unit at (202) 727-1839 ⁠³.

2. Get the HOP from DOB

   File online with your ID and evacuation plan, then pass DOB’s inspection ⁠⁷.

3. Collect the dated certificates

   You need a FEMS fire safety certification no more than 90 days old, a lead clearance no more than 30 days old, and a Clean Hands certificate from the Office of Tax and Revenue dated within 30 days of filing ⁠¹. Because these expire quickly, time them for the same few weeks.

4. Buy the required insurance

   You need commercial general liability, umbrella “follow form” liability, and sexual abuse and molestation liability. Add vehicle liability for any vehicle that transports children ⁠¹. The rule ties the coverage amounts to the DC Office of Risk Management, not to a fixed figure ⁠¹.

5. Arrange a contingency location

   Either sign a notarized building use agreement for a backup site, or attach a facility closure statement to the Safe Evacuation Site form ⁠¹⁠³. The emergency plan must be signed by the contingency location’s owner, notarized and updated every year ⁠⁵.

6. Submit the application with $75

   Include background check and child protection registry documentation, caregiver credentials, the certificates above and, if incorporated, a Certificate of Good Standing no more than 30 days old ⁠⁵. OSSE treats the application as complete only when it has all documents and fees ⁠¹.

7. Upload to DELLT

   A licensing specialist contacts you within 10 business days and opens the Division of Early Learning Licensing Tool. There you upload your written program, policies and procedures, drug and alcohol policy, contingency documents and menu ⁠³. The policies must include a written staffing plan and a staffing policy with a mobile device use policy ⁠¹.

8. Initial inspection

   OSSE inspects the home and your caregiver files, then may issue a Statement of Deficiencies. Corrections are due within the time OSSE sets, up to 90 days ⁠¹⁠³. OSSE may deny the application if it stays incomplete for 90 days after first submission, or if you cannot comply within 180 days ⁠¹.

9. Follow-up inspection, then validation visit

   After any follow-up, your licensing specialist and a program manager make one final visit ⁠³. OSSE then issues the license once the $225 license fee is paid ⁠⁴.

Fees

Sources: OSSE fee sheet, revised September 2026 ⁠⁴, and 5-A DCMR 108 ⁠¹. Pay by check or money order to “DC Treasurer.” Fees cannot be refunded or transferred ⁠⁴. Fees charged by FEMS, the lead inspector, DOB and other agencies are separate ⁠¹.

After you open

• Inspections. OSSE and other DC officials may enter with or without notice ⁠¹. FEMS inspects homes every year ⁠⁷.
• Renewal. Licenses run three years ⁠¹. File for renewal at least 90 days before expiration, with a new FEMS certificate, a Clean Hands certificate, proof of insurance and a DC Health Certificate of Immunization Compliance ⁠¹. If you file late or incomplete, you can pay a penalty fee to extend the license for up to 180 days. After that the renewal is deemed denied ⁠¹.
• Changes. Changing capacity requires an amended license and the $100 fee ⁠¹. A new owner must apply for a new initial license 90 days before taking over, and moving means a new license before you open at the new address ⁠¹. Neither the license nor the HOP can be transferred ⁠¹⁠⁷.

Subsidy, quality rating and the Pay Equity Fund

If you accept public funding, such as a Child Care Subsidy Provider Agreement, you must also follow that agreement and join OSSE’s Quality Rating and Improvement System ⁠¹.

Licensed homes can also take part in OSSE’s Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund. OSSE pays facilities quarterly, and in return they must pay eligible educators at least set minimum salaries. For fiscal 2027 those minimums are unchanged from fiscal 2026 and apply through December 31, 2027 ⁠⁹:

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The funding formula adds a Child Development Home Enhancement worth 25 percent of the base award for homes and expanded homes ⁠⁹. A 12 percent administrative enhancement is limited to providers whose tuition is below the 90th percentile of market rates. Further equity adjustments depend on subsidy enrollment and infant/toddler capacity ⁠⁹. OSSE calculates awards from the credentials recorded and approved in DELLT by its quarterly deadline, so upload transcripts and CDA certificates promptly ⁠⁹.

What changed recently

• December 2023: home, expanded-home and associate caregiver credential requirements took effect on December 2, 2023. OSSE’s December 20, 2023 emergency and proposed rule added pathways: state certificates equivalent to the CDA, 60-credit options, foreign credentials, the four-to-six-year degree window for expanded-home caregivers, and ten-year service certifications ⁠².
• May 2025: OSSE adopted those amendments as a final rule on May 7, 2025, effective on publication in the DC Register. It replaced “closely related field” with a defined list of majors ⁠¹⁰.
• March 2024: the Department of Buildings, which now handles the home occupation permits OSSE’s documents attribute to DCRA, published updated child development home guidance ⁠⁷. OSSE’s checklist (2018) and application (2021) still use DCRA’s name ⁠⁵⁠⁶.
• September 2026: OSSE reissued its home fee sheet. The amounts match the 2016 rule ⁠¹⁠⁴.
• August 2026: OSSE confirmed FY27 Pay Equity Fund salaries and formula unchanged from FY26 ⁠⁹.

The official sources name two offices for the initial fire safety certificate. The rule (103.5(b)) and OSSE’s 2018 checklist say FEMS issues it, OSSE’s 2022 orientation points to DCRA’s Fire Protection Branch at 1100 4th Street SW, and DOB says its inspector checks fire and life-safety items for the HOP and FEMS inspects annually ⁠¹⁠³⁠⁵⁠⁷. Because DCRA no longer exists under that name, ask the licensing unit at (202) 727-1839 or [email protected] which office schedules the inspection and whether the HOP inspection satisfies it ⁠⁴.

Sources

1. 1
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Notice of Final Rulemaking: 5-A DCMR Chapter 1, Child Development Facilities: Licensing (63 DCR, Dec. 2, 2016) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Child Development Facilities Licensing Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking (effective Dec. 20, 2023) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Licensing Orientation for New Child Development Homes and Expanded Homes (March 2022) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Child Development Home and Expanded Child Development Home Licensing Fees (Rev. September 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Child Development Home Licensing Requirements Checklist (Rev. 07-2018) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Child Development Home License Application (2/23/2021) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   DC Department of Buildings, Establishing a District of Columbia Child Development Home: Regulatory Zoning and Permitting Guidance (March 4, 2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Qualifications for Family Child Care Home and Expanded Family Child Care Home Staff by Position Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Guide to Minimum Salaries and CDF Payroll Funding Formula for FY27 (August 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Notice of Final Rulemaking: Child Development Facilities Licensing, educator qualifications (adopted May 7, 2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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