Kentucky child-care center license: Type I and Type II centers

Type I, Type II, or not a center at all

Kentucky licenses child-care centers under KRS 199.896 and 922 KAR 2:090. The statute bars anyone from operating, maintaining or advertising a child-care center without a license. Any advertisement for child care must give the address where the care is provided.⁠³ The regulation sets up two kinds of center:⁠¹

• Type I child-care center: 4 or more children in a nonresidential setting, or 13 or more children in a designated space separate from the licensee’s primary residence.
• Type II child-care center: the licensee’s primary residence, caring for at least 7 and no more than 12 children, including children related to the licensee.

Kentucky’s line falls in an unusual place. Many states call a home with 7 to 12 children a “group” or “large” family home, but in Kentucky it is a licensed center, under the same regulation as a 200-child building. Below 7, a home-based provider caring for 4 to 6 unrelated children is certified as a family child-care home under a separate regulation. See the Kentucky certified family child-care home guide. If you plan to grow past 12 children, or to move care out of your home, you will need a Type I license.

The rules treat the two types differently in several places. The maximum group sizes apply only to Type I centers. A Type II center needs one qualified substitute on call instead of two. Every adult who lives in a Type II home has to pass the background check and tuberculosis screening.⁠¹⁠²

Programs that are exempt

922 KAR 2:090 Section 3 and KRS 199.896 exempt these settings:⁠¹⁠³

• summer camps permitted by the cabinet as youth camps serving school-age children
• private-school kindergarten through grade 12 while school is in session, and preschools regulated by the Kentucky Department of Education under KRS Chapter 157
• religious summer programs that a child attends for no more than two weeks
• care while parents are on the premises (other than at the parents’ workplace or school), and care during religious services
• programs run by the armed services on a base
• parent-involvement programs that teach parenting skills
• instructional programs that run no more than 20 hours a week, where a child attends no more than 10 hours a week
• after-school programs run and staffed by an accredited school, if they do not take Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) children
• school-age skill programs, such as martial arts or dance, that meet the KRS 199.896(21) conditions. These include not advertising as child care, telling parents they are unlicensed, and running registry and criminal checks on staff and volunteers.

There is one partial exemption. A preschool instructional program that runs up to 20 hours a week, where a child attends up to 15 hours a week, does not need a license. It must still notify the cabinet in writing and meet the center rules on background checks and tuberculosis screening.⁠³

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• February 13, 2025: amended versions of 922 KAR 2:090 (licensure) and 922 KAR 2:120 (health and safety) took effect. These are the versions quoted throughout this guide.⁠¹⁠²
• April 14, 2026: KRS 199.8911 created the Kentucky Child-Care Microcenter Program. A microcenter serves 4 to 24 children in a nonresidential setting for more than 3 hours a day. Only providers that have been licensed or certified for at least three years, are in good standing, and take part in the quality rating system may apply. The cabinet must issue regulations by July 1, 2027, and may not accept applications before that date. At most 10 microcenters may operate statewide, with no more than 2 in any county.⁠⁹ This is not a route for a first-time operator.
• 2026 amendments to KRS 199.896: the statute was amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 146 (effective April 14, 2026) and ch. 68 (effective July 15, 2026). The Legislative Research Commission note says the two acts were codified together without conflict, and that the changes apply to actions pending on April 14, 2026 and to actions on or after that date. The version in force includes the probationary support contacts described below and an hour of training every three years on children ingesting or inhaling controlled substances.⁠³ The statute page does not say which act added which provision, so ask the division which of its practices changed in 2026.

Pick a building the Fire Marshal and your zoning office will sign off on

The application cannot go in without two building approvals, so they come first. To qualify for a preliminary license, a center must have:⁠¹

• written documentation from the local authority showing it complies with local zoning
• approval from the Office of the State Fire Marshal or its designee
• a water and sewage system approved under local, county and state law
• written proof of liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence

The application checklist adds two conditions. The zoning approval and the State Building or Fire Marshal approval must each be dated no more than six months before you submit. The Fire Marshal approval must state the occupancy load and whether nighttime care is permitted. The capacity you request on the application “should match the occupancy listed on the Fire Marshal Report.”⁠⁴ The license itself sets the maximum number of children from the available space “as determined by the State Fire Marshal’s Office in conjunction with the cabinet,” and also from your program, equipment and staff.⁠¹

If you are building, adding on or doing a major renovation, 922 KAR 2:120 requires you to contact the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, the Fire Marshal’s Office and the cabinet before construction starts.⁠²

Space, water and fixtures

Climbing, swinging and sliding equipment needs a protective surface with a fall zone equal to the equipment’s height. Indoor climbing equipment needs at least 2 inches of protective surfacing. All plumbing must meet the State Plumbing Code. Firearms and ammunition must be stored separately, each locked, outside the child-care area. Smoking and vaping are allowed only in designated outdoor areas, never in front of a child.⁠²

The director: qualify before you file

The director’s paperwork goes in with the application: education records, proof of past employment, training verified through ECE-TRIS, National Background Check Program findings, and a tuberculosis test result.⁠⁴ Every director must be at least 21 and have a high school diploma or GED. The director may not hold any other job during operating hours, except directing more than one facility. The director also may not have had an ownership interest in a child-care program whose license or certification was denied or revoked.⁠¹

Qualifying experience must be verifiable and gained in a Department of Education school-based program, an early childhood program such as Head Start, or a licensed or certified child-care program.⁠¹

A Type II director may use any route above. A Type II director may instead meet two of these three: 12 hours of orientation and child development training; one year of full-time paid experience in one of those settings; six more hours of training in child day care program administration.⁠¹

Once you open, the director must:⁠¹

• name an adult staff person in charge whenever the director is away
• post a daily activity schedule for each classroom
• hold and document recurring staff meetings
• write an annual performance evaluation for each staff member
• run at least one parent or family activity each year

You must report a change of director, and name an acting director who meets Section 10, within one week.⁠¹

Background checks through the National Background Check Program

No preliminary or regular license will be issued until every required background check is complete. That covers you as the applicant, the director, every employee present while children are in care, and anyone with supervisory or disciplinary control over children.⁠¹ The checks run through the Kentucky National Background Check Program (NBCP) under 922 KAR 2:280:⁠⁵

1. Registry checks

   The provider checks the person’s photo ID and has them sign forms DCC-500 and DCC-501. The provider then enters them in the NBCP portal, which checks the state child abuse and neglect central registry, the National Sex Offender Public Website and the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry.

2. Fingerprints

   The provider pays by credit or debit card for a Kentucky State Police and FBI fingerprint check, plus an NBCP fee of up to $30 for processing and rap back. The cabinet absorbs these fees in whole or in part when federal child care funds are available. The person then has 30 calendar days to be fingerprinted at an authorized site.

3. Other states

   If the person has lived in another state in the past five years, that state’s criminal, sex offender and child abuse registry checks are also required, and the employer pays that state’s fees.

The disqualifying offenses include sex or violent crimes, listed felonies, and a drug-related felony if fewer than five years have passed since the person was fully discharged from sentence. They apply to staff and to adult household members of a Type II center.⁠⁵ The statute lets you hire a director or employee on probationary status while the criminal check is pending, provided you apply for the check no later than the day they start. Even so, the director must not leave someone alone with a child until the results are back.⁠³⁠¹

Applying: the order that works in Kentucky

1. Form the business

   A corporation or LLC must include a current certificate of existence or authorization from the Secretary of State. The checklist also asks for the articles (listing each board member’s, manager’s or member’s name, address and telephone number), the registered agent’s name and telephone number, and authorization letters for your designated representative and signatory, if applicable. A partnership sends a signed partnership agreement, a statement from each partner that the partnership is current, and proof that each partner is 21 or older.⁠¹⁠⁴

2. Get zoning and Fire Marshal approval

   Each must be dated within six months of the date you submit (see above).⁠⁴

3. Hire or qualify your director and run NBCP checks

   on the director, the owner or designated representative, and, for a Type II center, every adult in the household. Attach the list of household members the form asks for.⁠⁴

4. Get insurance and a food service permit if you need one

   You need at least $100,000 per occurrence of liability coverage. The application asks for your food service permit number if one applies, and whether you have applied for the food program.⁠¹⁠⁴

5. Write the required policies

   These are staff policies, job descriptions, an organization chart and chain of command, plus procedures for parents’ rights under KRS 199.898, the health and safety rules, and background checks. You also need a written evacuation plan; the cabinet posts a free template.⁠¹

6. Mail OIG-DRCC-01

   with copies of the attachments and the $50 fee. Send it to Office of Inspector General, Division of Regulated Child Care, 275 E. Main Street, 5 E-F, Frankfort, KY 40621. Incomplete applications delay processing until the division has everything, it will not process an application without the $50 fee, and the instructions say not to submit until you are ready for an inspection. A compliance analyst is assigned to you at (502) 564-7962 or [email protected], and email is the division’s main way of contacting applicants.⁠⁴

7. Inspection and preliminary license

   Once the cabinet approves the application, it issues a preliminary license for a probationary period of no more than six months. You may not care for children before you hold it.⁠¹

The official sources do not give a processing time for initial applications. The instructions on the division’s packet (form edition 8/2018, which 922 KAR 2:090 incorporates by reference) tell you to mail the original application, copies of the attachments and the fee. They do not mention online submission, so ask your compliance analyst whether the division now accepts applications another way before you mail anything.

The cabinet sends back the application and fee if anyone applying for a new license or change of ownership has an ownership interest in a cabinet-regulated facility that is under a fraud finding or fraud investigation. An owner whose earlier child-care license was denied or revoked, or surrendered during an investigation, must wait seven years and complete 60 hours of training. If licensed after that, the center spends two years on probation with inspections at least twice a year.⁠¹

The six-month preliminary license

The preliminary license expires six months after it is issued. During that time the cabinet monitors the center. At the end, it either approves a regular license or denies one for a reason listed in Section 17.⁠¹ Under KRS 199.896(27), a center on a preliminary license gets at least two support contacts a week from the cabinet or its designee, at least one in person, for the whole six months. The cabinet may not cite a violation during that period unless it was committed knowingly after clear instructions, or it posed an immediate threat to children.⁠³

Ratios, group sizes and staffing

The youngest child in a group sets both the ratio and the group size. Children of the director or staff count toward the ratio. In a Type I center, each group keeps its own defined area and its own assigned staff.⁠² A narrow exception applies during school hours to accredited mixed-age programs for children from 30 months to 6 years.⁠² Staff under 18 count toward the ratio only when working with a qualified staff member.⁠¹ Exceeding a ratio by 50 percent or more is a Type B violation (see the penalties section below).⁠⁸

Staff rules from 922 KAR 2:090 Section 11:⁠¹

• Staff hired after January 1, 2009 who supervise children (other than high school students) need a high school diploma, a GED or a Commonwealth Child Care Credential.
• Each staff member provides a negative tuberculosis result, or a health professional’s statement that they are free of active TB, before starting work and every two years after that.
• At least one person on duty with the children must hold current infant and child CPR and first aid certification (adult CPR and first aid for school-age programs).
• A Type I center must have two qualified substitutes available, and a Type II center one. If a Type II operator cannot provide care in compliance, the center must close temporarily and tell parents immediately.

Training hours

Each staff member who supervises children must complete:⁠¹

• 6 hours of cabinet-approved orientation within the first three months. Topics include the federal health and safety topics in 45 C.F.R. 98.41, recognizing and reporting child abuse, and developmentally appropriate practice.
• 9 hours of early care and education training during the first year, including 1.5 hours on pediatric abusive head trauma.
• 15 hours in each later July 1 to June 30 year.

Training is verified in the cabinet’s database. No one may log more than 15 hours in a 24-hour period, or repeat an online course within five years.⁠¹ KRS 199.896 sets a lower floor of 6 hours a year. Within that, it requires 1.5 hours on abusive head trauma every five years and 1 hour every three years on children ingesting or inhaling controlled substances.⁠³

Running the program: rules inspectors check

• Postings: the license; each statement of deficiency and plan of correction from the current license year; your rates and every separately charged service; the ratio and group-size table; the daily program.⁠¹
• Records: a child’s immunization certificate within 30 days of enrollment, a parent-signed record on the first day, daily arrival and departure times, staff files and an annual staff professional development plan. Keep all records for five years.⁠¹
• Drills: fire drills monthly. Earthquake, tornado, shelter-in-place and lockdown drills quarterly. Document every drill.⁠²
• Night care: if you offer nontraditional hours (7 p.m. to 5 a.m. weekdays, or Friday 7 p.m. to Monday 5 a.m.), no child may spend more than 16 hours in the center in any 24-hour period. One staff member is assigned to each sleeping room. Type I staff stay awake on duty; a Type II operator stays awake until every child is asleep.⁠¹⁠²
• Discipline: corporal physical discipline, including spanking, shaking and paddling, is prohibited by statute.⁠³
• Access: the cabinet and parents of enrolled children have unannounced access during operating hours. Denying or delaying access leads to adverse action.⁠¹ All cabinet inspections are unannounced.⁠³
• Reporting: the following go to the cabinet within 24 hours: communicable disease, injuries that need medical care, fires and other emergencies, and accepted abuse or neglect reports naming staff. A child’s death must be reported within one hour.⁠¹
• Changes needing prior approval: ownership, location, capacity, hours, age groups served, nontraditional hours, transportation and square footage. Request them in writing, signed by every owner. There is no fee.⁠¹

Renewal, deficiencies and penalties

A regular license expires one year from its effective date. Send form OIG-DRCC-06 with the $25 renewal fee one month before the anniversary. The cabinet renews the license with a validation letter. A license that expires lapses, and a lapse cannot be appealed.⁠¹⁠³

When inspectors find a violation, you get a written statement of deficiency. You then have 15 calendar days to submit a corrective action plan, and the cabinet answers within 30 days. A violation that poses an immediate threat must be corrected within five working days.⁠¹ Civil penalties under 922 KAR 2:190 (effective June 17, 2025) work as follows:⁠⁸

• Type A violations cause harm or create imminent danger. Examples are a missed background check, falsified records, or moving without approval. The penalty is up to $1,000 per occurrence.
• Type B violations create risk without imminent danger. Examples are lapsed CPR certification, poor supervision, or exceeding ratios by 50 percent or more. The penalty is $250 per occurrence.
• Credits: you can earn a $50 credit for having no Type A or B violations in the prior three years, and another $50 for a timely, accepted corrective action plan.

You may appeal an adverse action or civil penalty within 20 days under KRS Chapter 13B, and you may also ask for informal dispute resolution.⁠³⁠¹ The statute lets the cabinet revoke a license after more than two directed plans of correction within three years. It may also revoke after a disqualification from the child-care subsidy program for fraud.⁠³

Getting paid: CCAP and All STARS

Kentucky’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) pays licensed centers per child per day, up to the maximum rates in the DCC-300 chart. The chart sets separate categories for Licensed Type I and Licensed Type II centers, full and part day, and age group. When funds are available, you can earn add-ons beyond the maximum rate:⁠⁷

• $5 a day if you are accredited (NAEYC and other listed bodies)
• $10 a day for nontraditional-hours care
• $5 a day for a child with special needs

CCAP never pays more than you charge the public. Before your first CCAP payment, you must sign the DCC-94B provider agreement and complete the cabinet’s billing training. After that, repeat the billing training once each state fiscal year.⁠⁷

The quality rating system, Kentucky All STARS, is tied to licensure. A center that receives public funds must join All STARS when it gets its preliminary license, starting at Level 1. A center that takes no public funds is enrolled too, unless it files the DCC-433 opt-out request. You apply separately for Levels 2 through 5. Levels 3 to 5 include an on-site environment assessment, and a rating certificate lasts about three years.⁠⁶ All STARS participation also matters later: it is one of the conditions for applying to the microcenter program after 2027.⁠⁹

Sources

1. 1
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 922 KAR 2:090, Child-care center licensure (effective 2-13-2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 922 KAR 2:120, Child-care center health and safety standards (effective 2-13-2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS 199.896, License requirement for child-care centers (effective July 15, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Office of Inspector General, OIG-DRCC-01, Initial Child-Care Center License Application and instructions Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 922 KAR 2:280, Background checks for child care staff members, reporting requirements, and appeals Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 922 KAR 2:270, Kentucky All STARS quality-based graduated early childhood rating system (effective 6-17-2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 922 KAR 2:160, Child Care Assistance Program (effective 11-18-2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, 922 KAR 2:190, Civil penalties (effective 6-17-2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS 199.8911, Kentucky Child-Care Microcenter Program (effective April 14, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

Was this information accurate? Report an errorPrint or save as PDF