Pennsylvania family child care home certificate of compliance, and the group home step up

Where the certificate starts: the fourth unrelated child

Pennsylvania licenses child care by counting children who are not related to the operator. DHS says any provider “operating a program for four or more unrelated children must be certified,” and it sorts certified care into three types: family child care homes, group child care homes and child care centers.⁠¹ Pennsylvania calls the license a certificate of compliance. The regulations define it as the document that “licenses the operation of a facility,” issued by a regional office to the legal entity running the home.⁠²

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Sources: DHS provider requirements⁠¹ and the definitions in Chapters 3290 and 3280.⁠²⁠³

Chapter 3290 covers part-day care for children 15 or younger. It does not apply to care by relatives or to care during religious services at a place of worship.⁠² “Relative” has a fixed list: parent, child, stepparent, stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.⁠² A neighbor’s child or a cousin is unrelated, so caring for three of your grandchildren plus four neighbor children puts you in a family child care home.

If you plan to grow past six, compare this guide with the Pennsylvania child care center certificate guide. Seven or more unrelated children always needs either a group home or a center certificate.⁠¹

Counting your own children

The two home tiers count your own children differently.

In a family child care home, the six-child cap applies to children “unrelated to either the legal entity or the staff person.” The related children of the operator or of the staff person “but not both” may be left out of the count at any one time.⁠² If you work alone, your own children do not use any of the six places. If you hire an assistant who brings her children, only one household’s related children can be excluded.

Infants and toddlers are capped separately. The home may care for no more than five “related and unrelated” infants and toddlers, and no more than two infants.⁠² Your own baby counts here. The rule spells out the mix:⁠²

Example: with your own 18-month-old at home, you can still enroll six unrelated children, but only four of the children in the house can be other infants or toddlers, and no more than two infants.

In a group child care home, the 12-child cap counts only unrelated children, but your related or foster children, and staff members’ children, count toward the staff:child ratios and the square-footage capacity.⁠³

Settle the house with your municipality first

DHS’s orientation page tells prospective family home operators to contact their local municipality about running a child care business in the home, and how soon they can get a certificate of occupancy, before even signing up for orientation.⁠⁶ That order matters because DHS will not grant the certificate until you provide a certificate of occupancy showing compliance with the Department of Labor and Industry rule at 34 Pa. Code 403.23.⁠²⁠⁵

Under that rule, a dwelling where care is given to 4 to 12 children for less than 24 hours stays an R-3 (residential) occupancy if it is used primarily as a private residence and the child care is accessory to that use.⁠⁷ The rule then sets fire protection by size:

• 4-6 children: a smoke detector on each floor and in the basement, a portable Class B fire extinguisher in the kitchen and other cooking areas, and R-3 exit requirements. A 10-year sealed lithium smoke detector is allowed if you keep proof and date of purchase in your fire drill log.⁠⁷
• 7-12 children: an interconnected smoke detector system, a Class B extinguisher in cooking areas, and R-3 exits.⁠⁷

Section 403.23 was last amended effective January 1, 2026 (55 Pa.B. 7701).⁠⁷ Philadelphia adds city paperwork: family and group homes in a residential building must submit Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections License #3397 and the Residential Day Care Inspection Checklist with the DHS application.⁠⁵

Orientation and the ten pre-service topics

Two training requirements must be finished before the certificate is issued.

1. DHS orientation

   You must complete orientation within 12 months before the certificate is issued, and it does not count toward your annual training hours.⁠² For family homes it has two parts: a free online module, “DHS Orientation: Opening a Family Child Care Home,” and an in-person session led by a regional certification representative. Both completion certificates must be less than a year old when you file, or the application is incomplete.⁠⁶ Orientation covers regulations, clearances, business papers, the certificate of occupancy, staffing, child care subsidy, Keystone STARS and Early Intervention.⁠⁶

2. The ten health and safety topics

   Since September 30, 2016, prospective operators must document training in ten federally prescribed topics.⁠¹ They are infectious disease and immunization, SIDS and safe sleep, medication administration, food and allergy emergencies, building and premises safety, shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials and biocontaminants, transporting children, and pediatric first aid and CPR.⁠² DHS’s online module covers nine. The tenth, pediatric CPR and first aid, has to be taken face to face.⁠¹ The application checklist requires the CPR and first aid course to be taught by a PQAS-certified trainer, and the same person must complete both the ten topics and CPR.⁠⁵ Training taken from September 30, 2016 forward counts.⁠²

Clearances for every adult in the house

At initial application, Chapter 3290 requires clearances for the applicant and for “each individual 18 years of age or older who resides in the child care facility at least 30 days in a calendar year.”⁠² DHS’s application checklist says what that means in practice:⁠⁵

• Pennsylvania child abuse history clearance, Pennsylvania State Police criminal history clearance, FBI criminal history (fingerprint) clearance, and National Sex Offender Registry verification.
• Out-of-state clearances for anyone who lives outside Pennsylvania or has lived outside it within the past 5 years.
• All clearances obtained within 60 months before you submit the application.
• The 30 days of residence need not be consecutive, so an adult child home for the summer is covered.
• A signed, witnessed and dated disclosure statement.

At each renewal you must submit clearances for anyone who turned 18 or moved in since the last application. If you file a renewal after the certificate has expired, DHS requires fresh clearances for the legal entity and every resident adult.⁠² Separately, you may not let anyone into the home whom you know has been convicted of, or is awaiting trial on, charges involving child abuse, child neglect, physical violence or moral corruptness.⁠²

What goes in the application

You file with the regional office that covers your county.⁠² There are five: Western (Pittsburgh), Central (Harrisburg), Northeast (Scranton), and Southeast North and Southeast South, both in Philadelphia. The two Southeast offices split Philadelphia by ZIP code.⁠¹⁰⁠⁵ OCDEL’s checklist for a complete application lists:⁠⁵

1. Form CD 633

   , the Application for Certificate of Compliance.

2. Certificate of occupancy

   showing UCC compliance for use as a family child care home.

3. Clearances and disclosure statements

   described above.

4. Mandated reporter training certificate

   For a partnership, both partners must submit one.

5. Business papers if you incorporate or form an LLC

   , a fictitious name approval if you use one, and tax-exempt status if nonprofit. An individual family home owner can give a FEIN or Social Security number.

6. Civil Rights Compliance form (HS 2126)

   with supporting documents. OCDEL forwards it to DHS’s Bureau of Equal Opportunity, and no initial certificate can be processed until that bureau approves it.

7. Orientation certificates

   (online and in person) less than 12 months old.

8. Pre-service training documentation

   the ten topics and pediatric first aid and CPR.

The Safe Drinking Water Act verification on the checklist applies to centers only, not family or group homes.⁠⁵ If anything is missing, DHS returns the application in writing. If it is complete, the regional office tells you the next step in writing.⁠⁵ A complete application is what gets your initial inspection scheduled.⁠⁶ You will also need a health assessment for each person giving direct care or preparing food, signed by a physician, physician assistant or CRNP. It is submitted before the initial certificate, stays valid for 24 months, and must include tuberculosis screening at initial employment, by Mantoux skin test or, under a DHS policy statement, an interferon-gamma release assay blood test.⁠²

The first inspection and the provisional certificate

DHS makes an announced pre-certification inspection of the home before deciding on a certificate.⁠² Have photo identification ready: the operator or the designated staff person responsible for compliance must show it to the inspector.⁠² OCDEL’s checklist for new family homes lists the rules you must meet at that visit, including building codes, the emergency plan, training, clearances, outdoor hazards, electrical covers, toxics, water, heat sources, telephone, first-aid kit, paint, firearms, exits, space heaters, fireplaces and stoves, posted evacuation routes, fire detection, play equipment, high chairs, the refrigerator, water activity and pets.⁠⁸ Items marked as weather-dependent (outdoor hazards, heat sources, ventilation, play equipment, water activity) may not be assessable or correctable in bad weather.⁠⁸

What you receive is an “Initial Provisional Certificate of Compliance.”⁠⁸ If the inspector cites one of the listed items, no certificate is recommended until DHS verifies the fix. A violation of any other rule needs an acceptable plan of correction before a provisional certificate is recommended.⁠⁸ Under Chapter 20, a provisional certificate lasts no more than 6 months, and no more than four consecutive provisional certificates may be issued to a legal entity for one home.⁠⁴ Group homes get the same initial provisional certificate.⁠⁹

If a physical-site or equipment rule does not fit your house, you can ask for a waiver of only those sections. The request must reach the regional office before the inspection, and it must show how you will meet the regulation’s purpose.⁠²

Operating rules inspectors check

Several Chapter 3290 rules are specific to home care:

• Operator and staff. The operator must be 18 or older and must send proof of a high school diploma or GED no later than the second renewal application. Staff must be 18; volunteers 16 or older and always supervised.⁠² Operators who ran a registered family home as of September 22, 2008 are permanently qualified.⁠²
• Training. Each staff person needs at least 12 clock hours of child care training a year, and new staff must finish the ten health and safety topics within 90 days of hire.⁠² Someone trained in pediatric first aid and CPR must be on site whenever a child is in care.⁠²
• Supervision. If you are alone, you may use a monitor, camera or mirror to see and hear the children while you prepare meals or use the restroom, for a reasonable time, without leaving the premises. You must describe that practice in your supervision policies. For 24-hour care, the operator may not work more than 16 hours in 24 and must arrange a staff person.⁠²
• Fire drills and emergencies. Drills at least every 60 days, at varying times and fire locations, with evacuation of everyone in a single trip.⁠² The written emergency plan covers shelter, evacuation and parent reunification. You must run an annual drill and send a copy of the plan to your municipality and county emergency management agency.⁠²
• Firearms. Guns must be in a locked cabinet, ammunition locked separately, and parents told when weapons are in the home.⁠²
• Incidents. Notify the parent immediately and the regional office within 24 hours of an ER visit, hospitalization, death or a fire needing the fire department, then send a written report within 72 hours.⁠²

Moving up to a group child care home

A group home certificate covers 7 to 12 unrelated children, or up to 15 if the program serves only older school-age children, and the definition expressly includes a facility in a residence.⁠³ It is a separate certificate: the family home certificate is tied to one legal entity, one location and one facility type.⁠² You need the orientation for centers and group homes, which also has an online module and an in-person session.⁠⁶ Chapter 3280 adds requirements a family home does not have:

• Liability insurance. Comprehensive general liability insurance covering everyone on the premises, with a copy kept on file. It is on the initial-inspection list.⁠³⁠⁹
• Qualified staff. A primary staff person must be present. One route is a high school diploma or GED plus 2 years of experience with children; others combine college credits or approved training.⁠³ Secondary staff need a diploma or GED, or at least an 8th grade education plus enrolled training or 2 years of experience.⁠³
• Ratios and group sizes. When the youngest child in a mixed group is an infant, the infant ratio applies to the whole group.⁠³
• Space. Indoor child care space allows one child per 40 square feet, not counting halls, bathrooms and kitchens. Play space is 65 square feet per child, 40 per infant and 50 per toddler.⁠³
• Fire protection. If the home stays an R-3 dwelling, an interconnected smoke detector system under the UCC; a group home in other premises is classified under the International Building Code instead.⁠⁷

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Group homes must also send two facility persons on any excursion, whatever the number of children.⁠³

Fees, term and renewal

DHS charges no fee for a child care certificate. Chapter 20’s fee table lists adult day care, maternity homes, several mental health and intellectual disability facility types and personal care homes, and says “no fee is required for a facility or agency not listed.” Child care facilities are not listed (as published on 2026-10-12).⁠⁴ The online orientation module is free.⁠⁶ The costs that remain are the ones other agencies and vendors set: clearances and fingerprinting, CPR and first aid courses, and local permits.

A certificate is issued for “a period not to exceed 12 months,” to one legal entity at one address. It cannot be transferred and is void without notice if the legal entity or the location changes.⁠² Chapter 20 asks for the renewal application at least 60 days before the certificate expires.⁠⁴ Each renewal also needs a health assessment signed within the previous 24 months.⁠² Besides the pre-certification visit, DHS makes at least one unannounced inspection a year and inspects unannounced on complaints.⁠² OCDEL uses a published Certification Inspection Instrument for renewal inspections of family homes, so you can check yourself against the same form.⁠¹¹

Getting paid through Child Care Works and joining Keystone STARS

Child Care Works, the state subsidy program, is run locally by Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRCs). The subsidy and the family’s co-pay go directly to the provider.⁠¹² Under DHS’s May 2026 income table, families qualify at incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and children are eligible until the day before their 13th birthday.⁠¹² A certified provider joins through a provider agreement with the ELRC. The agreement in effect since August 1, 2024 includes these terms:⁠¹³

• An owner cannot receive the subsidy for their own child cared for in the same facility.
• The provider gets a registration fee from OCDEL for each new subsidized enrollment.
• You may bill families the difference between the subsidy and your private rate.
• All staff need annual professional development on child development, unless enrolled in an early childhood or child development degree program.
• Anyone handling subsidy payments needs program accountability training within 90 days of hire.
• You must contact the ELRC before suspending or expelling a subsidized child.

Keystone STARS, the state’s quality rating program, requires “a current, full Certificate of Compliance.” Certified programs enter at STAR 1.⁠¹⁴ A home still on its initial provisional certificate has to earn its regular certificate before joining.

What is changing

The family and group home rules in force today were last broadly amended effective December 19, 2020 (50 Pa.B. 7133). Homes already certified before that date also had to complete the ten health and safety topics.⁠²⁠¹¹ OCDEL began rewriting the child care certification regulations in 2021. Its 2026 project update says formal public comment on the proposed rules is expected in spring 2027, with final publication around mid-2028 and one year for providers to comply after that.⁠¹⁵ Until a final rulemaking is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, Chapters 3290 and 3280 as quoted here are the rules your inspection will use.

Sources

1. 1
   Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Early Learning Provider Requirements Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin (Legislative Reference Bureau), 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3290, Family Child Care Homes Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin (Legislative Reference Bureau), 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3280, Group Child Care Homes Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin (Legislative Reference Bureau), 55 Pa. Code Chapter 20, Licensure or Approval of Facilities and Agencies Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, OCDEL, What Is a Complete Application? (Certificate of Compliance, CD 633) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Orientation Training for Child Care Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin (Legislative Reference Bureau), 34 Pa. Code § 403.23, Child day care facilities (Uniform Construction Code) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, OCDEL, Regulations for a New Family Child Care Home (initial inspection checklist) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, OCDEL, Regulations for a New Group Child Care Home (initial inspection checklist) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Regional Child Development Offices Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Child Care Regulations Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Child Care Works (CCW), Subsidized Child Care Program Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
13. 13
    Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning, via the Pennsylvania Key, ELRC Announcement 24-01, Updated Provider Agreements for Certified Child Care Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
14. 14
    The Pennsylvania Key (OCDEL quality initiative), Keystone STARS Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
15. 15
    Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning, via the Pennsylvania Key, Child Care Certification Regulation, Review, + Update (2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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