Starting a registered family child care home in Vermont

Registration, not a license, for the small home

Vermont law treats the home tier differently from every other kind of child care. Under 33 V.S.A. § 3502(a), a child care facility needs a license, but a family child care home needs a registration from the Department for Children and Families.⁠¹ The rules call the person who holds it the Family Child Care Provider (FCCP), and the rules define a “license” to cover both registered and licensed homes. CDD paperwork therefore says “license” even when you are applying for registration.⁠³

One rule set covers two tiers. The April 17, 2022 regulations, titled Registered and Licensed Family Child Care Homes, govern both the registered home (capacity under rule 6.2.1) and the larger Licensed Family Child Care Home (capacity under rule 6.2.2). Rules printed in a box in the PDF apply only to licensed homes. Registered homes are not subject to them.⁠³ As of 2026-10-12, CDD’s regulations page lists that 2022 document as the family home rule in force, alongside a September 24, 2024 memo that modified rules 2.3.1.2, 3.6.1.1, 5.1.3 and 7.4.4 from October 1, 2024.⁠¹¹ Nepali, Somali and Spanish translations are posted there too.⁠⁶

The home must be your own residence. The registration is issued only for the provider’s “own legal residence,” is valid only at that address, and cannot be transferred, assigned or sold.⁠³ If you move, sell or lease the home, the registration becomes void immediately.⁠³

When you cross the line

The threshold is counted in families, not children. Under § 3502(b)(1), you are exempt if you care for children of no more than two families other than your own.⁠¹ Rule 1.1 states the other side: care for children from more than two families besides your own must be registered or licensed.⁠³ So two neighbors’ children plus your own needs no registration. Adding a child from a third family does.

The statute also exempts some programs:⁠¹

• Hospitals and other establishments licensed by the Department of Health, and recreational or therapeutic programs, unless the child care is not incidental to their main purpose.
• Care run by religious organizations during or in connection with religious services or church-sponsored activities.
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers afterschool programs overseen by the Agency of Education, unless they ask to join the subsidy program.

The rules define a “child” as at least 6 weeks old and under 13.⁠³

Three other limits catch people:

• You can’t run a center too. Under § 3502(c), a licensed facility operator can’t run a family child care home, and a registered home operator can’t run a child care facility.⁠¹ The rules extend this to afterschool programs.⁠³ To expand outside your home, you give up the registration for a center-based child care and preschool program license.
• Foster care. You can’t also be a licensed foster parent without a Department variance. The one exception: at the Department’s request, you may give respite or temporary foster care to a child already enrolled in your home.⁠³
• Growing within the home. To move up to a Licensed Family Child Care Home, you need higher provider qualifications, 35 square feet of usable indoor space per child, and 75 square feet of outdoor play space per child.⁠³ Under § 3502(f), the Commissioner may grant ratio waivers or variances if licensure is applied for by a registered child care facility.⁠¹

How many children: Option 1 and Option 2

Every child in the home who is not with a parent counts toward the limits.⁠³ A registered home picks one of two capacity charts in rule 6.2.1:

On a one-adult day under Option 1, the chart allows up to six children who are not yet school age, with no more than two of them under 24 months. School-age children fill the rest of the 10 spaces. For example, two infants, four preschoolers and four school-agers is allowed.⁠³ The rules define “school age” as five or older and in kindergarten or above.⁠³

Summer rules work two ways. Under Option 1, during summer school vacation you may care for up to 10 children with no second adult. This applies only if every school-age child was in your care before May 1 of the preceding school year, or is a sibling of a younger enrolled child.⁠³ Option 2 is for taking on more school-agers in summer. You keep your original six children and add up to six school-age children, but the chart requires two staff once you go above six.⁠³

You personally must be present and counted in ratio for at least 60% of your hours of operation.⁠³ A second adult counted in ratio is a Family Child Care Assistant. Assistants must be at least 18 and meet one of three paths: a high school diploma or GED plus, within their first 12 months, the Fundamentals for Early Childhood Professionals course or 3 college credits in the core knowledge areas; or enrollment in or graduation from a State Board of Education approved Human Services Certificate Program.⁠³

Qualifications and training before the first child

To be a registered provider you must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or GED. You also need one of the following, earned before registration or within 12 months after it:⁠³

• A Vermont Early Childhood Career Ladder Level One certificate or higher
• The Fundamentals for Early Childhood Professionals course
• A current CDA credential
• A Child Care Certificate from Community College of Vermont
• 12 college credits in the Northern Lights Career Development Center core knowledge areas

Some training cannot wait:

1. Pediatric first aid and CPR

   You must have these before you are registered and must stay certified. A certified adult must be on the premises whenever children are present.⁠³ You send proof to Northern Lights at CCV, which uploads it to your BFIS Quality and Credential Account.⁠⁵

2. Division-approved orientation

   You must complete it before you begin caring for children.⁠³ CDD suggests doing it while you apply. The Child Abuse and Neglect Mandatory Reporting Training is a separate course, and rule 7.1.3 also requires it.⁠⁵

3. Emergency preparedness training

   You have 365 days from opening to finish it, and it must include sheltering in place.⁠³

After you open, you need an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) within six months, updated every 365 days. You and every staff member except substitutes need 15 clock hours of professional development a year. First aid and CPR hours don’t count toward the 15.⁠³

Background checks for your whole household

Vermont screens the household, not just the provider. With the application you list everyone who lives in the home, with each person’s name, gender, date of birth, Social Security number and relationship to you.⁠³

• You: submit a Records Check Authorization form, then get fingerprinted after CDD sends you a Fingerprinting Authorization Certificate.⁠³
• Household members 16 and older: submit Records Check Authorization forms. Those who will be paid to help with the children, or left alone with them, are also fingerprinted.⁠³
• Frequent visitors: after you open, anyone 16 or older who is present more than five times in 365 days during your hours needs a record check.⁠³

CDD must finish clearances within 45 days after the Vermont Crime Information Center has all the paperwork. It may reuse a check done within the last five years.⁠³ Rule 2.3.7.3.8 lists who is barred. The list includes anyone with a substantiated abuse or neglect report under 33 V.S.A. chapters 49 or 69, anyone on a sex offender registry, people convicted of fraud, and people convicted of listed felonies and misdemeanors.⁠³ Only some of these can be waived by variance. They are fraud, a drug offense within the past five years, a misdemeanor involving violence or bodily injury, and “other information known to the Department.”⁠³ Record checks must be renewed at least every five years.⁠³

Getting the house ready: water, heat, lead and fire

The rules put several tests on your house before approval, and some must be dated within a set window. CDD’s resource guide says all documents must be complete 30 business days before you are registered.⁠⁵

You must also meet Vermont Division of Fire Safety requirements and the ADA.⁠³ Rules 5.10 and 3.6.2 then set specific requirements for the home:⁠³

• Floors used for care. Children stay on the ground floor unless another level has two separate exits to the outside. A basement used for care needs one exit directly outside, and bulkhead doors don’t count.
• Detectors. You need a working smoke detector on every floor, including the access corridor in an apartment building, plus one near where children sleep. Carbon monoxide monitors go outside the rooms where children sleep.
• Fire extinguisher. At least one dry-chemical extinguisher rated 2-A:10BC, mounted near an exit door, with a current inspection tag.
• Drills. Evacuation drills every month, with everyone out in under three minutes, and one drill a year during nap time.
• Weapons, tobacco and pets. Firearms must be locked, with ammunition locked in a separate place. Tobacco, e-cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs are banned when children are present. Pets must have the vaccinations the law requires.

Zoning. Under 24 V.S.A. § 4412(5), a home serving six or fewer children counts as a permitted single-family residential use. A home serving up to six full-time and four part-time children is a permitted use, but the town may require site plan approval.⁠² Above that size, the town may apply all of its bylaws.⁠² Under the rules, recording and submitting a zoning approval is a requirement only for licensed homes.⁠³

Applying through BFIS, step by step

CDD’s resource guide, revised November 15, 2024, describes three stages.⁠⁵

1. Read the rules

   CDD’s application page tells you to start with the family home regulations.⁠⁴

2. Send the preliminary request

   In BFIS, choose “Apply Online to Become a Registered Home Provider.” CDD says this request “is not an application.” It gives your Child Care Business Technician the basic facts. Within 10 business days you should get three emails, including instructions for your BFIS case.⁠⁵

3. Send the household paperwork

   Submit a Child Care Program Record Check Authorization form for each person in the home and each caregiver over 15, plus the Family Child Care Home Census List naming everyone in the home. Both go to the Child Care Business Technician for your town.⁠⁴

4. Finish the online application

   Enter the water results, heating inspection, lead-paint attestation, insurance, training and emergency plan in BFIS. You, any proposed staff, and household members 16 or older each need a BFIS Quality and Credential Account.⁠⁵

5. Pre-registration visit

   Your technician tells your licensor the file is ready. The licensor contacts you within three to four business days and schedules a visit within two weeks. A licensing field specialist checks the home against the regulations and may list extra steps to finish.⁠⁴⁠⁵

6. Decision

   The licensor sends a recommendation to a licensing supervisor, who makes the final review and sends an approval or denial letter. A denial must give the reasons and explain your right to appeal.⁠³⁠⁵

If you are not fully compliant yet but children are not at risk, CDD may issue a provisional registration. It lasts up to one year, cannot be renewed, and requires you to follow a written compliance plan the Division has approved.⁠³

For questions about the rules, call the Licensor on Duty at 1-800-649-2642 (option 3) or email [email protected]. For application questions or translated forms, contact your area’s Child Care Business Technician.⁠⁴

Fees. 33 V.S.A. § 3502 and the April 2022 rules set no fee for registration.⁠¹⁠³ None of the CDD application page, the November 2024 resource guide or the regulations mentions an application fee, so no fee is documented in the official sources reviewed. The water tests and heating inspection are done by outside labs and inspectors, and their prices are not published by CDD. Ask your Child Care Business Technician to confirm in writing that CDD charges nothing to process the application.⁠⁴⁠⁵

Keeping the registration: anniversaries and renewal

A full registration lasts three years.⁠³ Each year counts on its own, though:

• Annual requirements. About 60 days before each anniversary, CDD sends an electronic notice. By the anniversary you must have completed the annual requirements, including professional development, proof of continuous insurance, lead-safe maintenance on pre-1978 homes, and record checks that are due.⁠³
• Repeat water test. If your first lead test was at or above the acceptable limit, a flush sample must be tested every 365 days.⁠³
• Renewal. CDD sends a renewal notice 60 days before expiration. It recommends applying at least 45 calendar days ahead. Renewal requires a heating inspection within the past 730 days, and a chemical retest of well or spring water every six years.⁠³
• Lateness. If your complete renewal is in on time, your registration stays valid until CDD decides. If it is late, the registration expires and you start over with a new application.⁠³
• Visits. Rule 2.3.9.4 requires a licensing visit at least once per renewal period. A memo effective October 1, 2024 added to rule 2.3.1.2 an unannounced licensing visit at least once every 365 days at each home.⁠³⁠¹¹ CDD staff, and local building, fire and health officials, may enter at reasonable hours.⁠³

Ongoing duties include:⁠³

• Post your registration and a copy of the regulations where parents can see them.
• Report in writing within 48 hours any fire that needed an extinguisher or the fire department.
• Send a Vermont Child Care Immunization Report to the Department of Health every 365 days.
• Offer parent conferences twice every 365 days.
• Include in your Emergency Response Plan a process for reunifying children with their families, which the October 2024 memo added to rule 3.6.1.1.⁠¹¹
• Substitutes need 4 hours of annual professional development, a change in the same memo to rule 7.4.4. Other staff still need 15.⁠¹¹

Getting paid: CCFAP and the incentive payment

Only licensed, registered, or approved relative providers can receive Child Care Financial Assistance Program (CCFAP) payments, so registration is what lets you serve subsidized families.⁠⁸ Registered homes have their own state rate table, below center rates.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

CDD calls these the most the State will pay a provider for a family receiving assistance.⁠⁹ For comparison, the full-time infant rate for a licensed center was $495.⁠⁹

Act 76 of 2023 also created the Annual Quality and Capacity Incentive Payment. As published on 2026-10-12, a registered or licensed family home gets a base rate of $100 per child. Bonus percentages are added for STARS participation, infants and toddlers, operating at least 45 hours a week, operating year-round, and specialized child care.⁠¹⁰ To qualify, a home must be open and serving children, intend to stay open through at least June 2027, accept or be able to accept CCFAP, and charge tuition to families.⁠¹⁰

Rule changes to watch

The family home rules took effect April 17, 2022. They applied both to new applications and to every provider already operating on that date.⁠³ By statute, the Department must review the rules at least every three years.⁠¹ As of 2026-10-12, CDD’s proposed-rules page says “None at this time.” The same page links a November 17, 2025 webinar and a separate “Registered FCCH Draft Revisions” document. That draft is a full rewrite with a blank effective date, and it differs from the 2022 text in places. For example, it sets 12 hours of annual professional development where the 2022 rules set 15. The comment period has ended, and the page says another will open during formal promulgation.⁠⁷ No date for filing or effect is published, so keep following the 2022 rules and the October 2024 memo until CDD posts final proposed rules, and ask your licensor when the draft is expected to be filed.

Sources

1. 1
   Vermont General Assembly, 33 V.S.A. § 3502, Child care facilities; school age care in public schools; 21st Century Fund Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Vermont General Assembly, 24 V.S.A. § 4412, Required provisions and prohibited effects (zoning) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Child Care Licensing Regulations: Registered and Licensed Family Child Care Homes (effective April 17, 2022) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Registered Family Child Care Home: Application Process Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Vermont Child Care Licensing Application: Resource Guide, Registered Family Child Care Homes (revised 11/15/2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Child Care Licensing Regulations Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Proposed Rules Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, CCFAP Information For Providers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Child Care Financial Assistance State Rates (effective July 13, 2025) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Annual Quality and Capacity Incentive Payment Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, Child Care Licensing Rules Memo for Family Child Care Homes (issued September 24, 2024, effective October 1, 2024) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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