Virginia child day center license: how a center gets licensed by VDOE

Does your program count as a child day center?

The Code of Virginia defines a child day center as a child day program for two or more children under 13 in a facility that is not the provider’s residence or any child’s residence, or for 13 or more children at any location.⁠¹ So a small preschool room in a church hall or office suite is a center from the second child. A home-based program that grows past 12 children becomes a center too. For care in your own home, see the Virginia licensed home-based child care guide.

Section 22.1-289.030 lists programs that are not child day programs at all, plus others that are child day programs but need no license.⁠² The ones founders ask about most:

• Single-focus instruction (computer science, sports clinics, music) with no child under six, and no child attending more than 25 days in any three-month period.⁠²
• Short instructional or recreational programs. No child under five may attend more than six hours a week, and no session for them may run over an hour and a half. Children five and older may attend up to six hours a week while school is in session, or 12 hours a week when it is not.⁠²
• Programs of 20 or fewer program days in a calendar year. If they serve children under six, they cannot run more than two weeks in a row without a week’s break.⁠²
• Drop-in child-minding at a commercial or recreational business, for up to three hours a day per child. The parent must be using the business and able to take the child back within 30 minutes.⁠²
• Employer child-minding on the business premises: no more than four children at a time, for no more than eight hours a day, and every parent must be an employee on site.⁠²

Most of these license-exempt programs still have duties. They must file an annual statement of intent with the Superintendent before operating, report serious injuries and deaths, and post a notice that they have no direct oversight by the Department.⁠² Most also need a CPR and first-aid certified person present, attendance records, an emergency plan, and safe sleep practices. VDOE inspects them only when it gets a complaint.⁠²

The religious exemption

A center run under the auspices of a religious institution may skip licensure by filing an exemption statement with the Superintendent before it opens, unless it chooses to be licensed.⁠³ It must show 501(c) status, or that its property is exempt from local taxation. It also needs health department and fire inspections within the prior 90 days for the first exemption and 180 days for later ones, and it must meet statutory ratios and background check rules.⁠³ The statutory ratios for school-age children are looser than the licensing standards: 1:20 for ages five to nine and 1:25 for ages nine to 12, against 1:18 and 1:20 in 8VAC20-780.⁠³⁠⁷ Staff may be as young as 16, if supervised by an adult.⁠³ A religious organization weighing the two routes should read § 22.1-289.031 in full. The license-or-exempt decision decides which inspections and standards apply.

What is changing: the proposed 8VAC20-781

The State Board of Education has proposed repealing 8VAC20-780 and replacing it with a new chapter, 8VAC20-781, under the same title. It was published in the Virginia Register with a public comment deadline of January 16, 2026.⁠¹¹ On 2026-10-12, the Legislative Information System still showed 8VAC20-780 as the rule in force, with no 8VAC20-781 text in the Administrative Code.⁠⁷ The sources reviewed do not show a final adoption date or an effective date. Ask your regional licensing office which text your inspection will use.

Changes in the proposal that affect someone opening a center now:⁠¹¹

• School-age ratio rises from 1:18 to 1:20, with a new cap of 100 school-age children per group.
• Director and lead teacher qualifications ease. Lead teachers would gain two new pathways: a career studies certificate with at least 12 college credits, or a VDOE-approved endorsement in a child-related field.
• The 10-hour preservice orientation would count toward the first year’s 16 training hours.
• New lead assessments for buildings built before 1978, plus stock epinephrine requirements and more detailed playground surfacing rules.
• Playground shade would be required from May through September, instead of June through August.
• One lifeguard per 25 children in the water. Field trips would need one CPR and first-aid certified staff member instead of two.
• The 35-square-foot indoor standard stays. The 25-square-foot allowance would apply to centers licensed before the new rule takes effect, and to later licensees in buildings approved before June 1, 2008, for children 16 months and older.

The Department of Planning and Budget’s economic analysis counted 2,629 licensed child day centers affected.⁠¹¹ If you are designing a building now, plan to the stricter of the two texts where they differ. Shade for five months, for example, costs little to build in.

The building: approvals, space and toilets

Your building has to be classified under the correct Use Group of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code. It must pass fire inspection under the Statewide Fire Prevention Code and get a health department inspection of sanitation, water, sewage and any food service.⁠⁸ It must meet every functional design requirement before VDOE approves the license. 8VAC20-821 encourages you to consult the department about building plans as early as possible.⁠⁸ In practice that means the functional design plan VDOE asks for as soon as you identify a location (step 4 below).⁠⁹

A building approved for school occupancy that houses a school during the school year is treated as meeting the building and fire approval requirement, but only for a center serving children two and a half or older.⁠⁷ For buildings built before 1978, you need a statement from a Virginia-licensed asbestos inspector and management planner before the first license. If asbestos is found, you also need a response plan and a posted notice.⁠⁷

Offices, hallways, restrooms, kitchens, storage rooms and closets do not count toward indoor space.⁠⁷ Your licensed capacity, the maximum number of children in care at any time, is printed on the license.⁠⁸ Urinals can replace no more than half of the required toilets in boys’ restrooms. You also need a separate space for ill or injured children.⁠⁷

Playground surfacing must meet the ASTM F1292-99 test standard, as referenced in the rule. Swings need flexible seats except in a separate infant or toddler area, and the playground needs shade in June, July and August.⁠⁷ After the first license, you must send in an annual fire inspection report and an annual health department approval.⁠⁷

Director, program leaders and the staffing pattern

Program director

The director must be at least 21 and qualify through one of four routes:⁠⁷

1. Graduate degree

   in a child-related field, plus six months of programmatic experience.

2. Bachelor’s degree or endorsement

   in a child-related field, plus one year of programmatic experience.

3. 48 semester hours of college credit

   (12 of them in child-related subjects), plus one year of programmatic experience.

4. Two years of programmatic experience

   , one of them supervising staff, plus one of these: a 30-semester-hour early childhood certificate, a qualifying child development credential, or Montessori certification.

A director without six months of administrative experience also needs a business-related college course, 10 hours of management training, or a child care management course covering planning, budgeting, staffing and monitoring.⁠⁷ A qualified director or backup director must be on site at least 50% of operating hours. That rises to 75% if any program leader qualifies only through the short-term-program route.⁠⁷ Short-term programs serving only school-age children may use a director aged 19 to 21, if a qualified person 21 or older supervises them daily.⁠⁷ Your application must include written confirmation of the director’s qualifications.⁠⁹

Program leaders, aides and volunteers

Program leaders must be at least 18 and have finished high school or the equivalent. They then qualify through a director pathway, a child-related degree or endorsement, three months of experience plus a certificate or credential, or six months of supervised experience plus 24 hours of training.⁠⁷ Each group of children needs a program leader or director regularly present, and a program leader may supervise no more than two aides. Aides must be 16; volunteers working with children must be 13.⁠⁷ Whenever children are present, there must be a qualified leader or director on the premises plus a second person, at least 16, who is immediately available.⁠⁷

Ratios and group sizes

In an ongoing mixed-age group, the youngest child’s ratio and group size apply to everyone.⁠⁷ During rest periods, the ratio for resting children may loosen to 1:10 for 16 to 24 months, 1:16 for two-year-olds and 1:20 for preschoolers. This applies only if staff stay in the room within sight and sound, a second staff member is on site and can be summoned without leaving, and normal ratios return once half the children are up.⁠⁷ Balanced mixed-age groups (a curriculum for children who enter at three to five) may run at 1:14 with a group cap of 28. The lead teacher needs eight hours of training in that model, and when three-year-olds are in the group the center needs extra staff on hand to hold 1:10.⁠⁷ Therapeutic programs serving children with special needs have tighter ratios, down to 1:3 for children with severe disabilities or serious medical needs.⁠⁷

Training, health screening and certifications

• Before working alone, and within seven days: site-specific orientation on 11 topics. These include abuse reporting, safe sleep, shaken baby prevention, allergy response, medication policy and your emergency plan.⁠⁷
• Within 30 days: first aid and CPR orientation suited to the children’s ages.⁠⁷
• Within 90 days: the VDOE-sponsored orientation course.⁠⁷
• Every year: at least 16 hours of training, on top of orientation. Short-term programs require 10.⁠⁷
• CPR and first aid: at least one certified staff member in each classroom, and at least two on the premises and on field trips. CPR certification must include an in-person skills check. Nurses are exempt from the first-aid certificate.⁠⁷
• Medication: if you agree to give prescription medicine, the person giving it needs a Board of Nursing-approved course taught by a nurse, physician, physician assistant or pharmacist. They must retrain every three years. Any child with prescribed emergency medicine, such as an epinephrine auto-injector, must always be with someone so trained.⁠⁷
• Daily health observation: at least one staff member on duty must have had this training within the last three years.⁠⁷
• Tuberculosis screening: every staff member needs a negative screening completed within 30 days before employment, repeated at least every two years.⁠⁷

Background checks through Fieldprint and OBI

The applicant, and every partner, member, officer, director or agent listed on the application, must complete a sworn disclosure, fingerprinting, a Virginia Central Registry search, and criminal, sex offender and abuse registry checks from any state lived in during the past five years.⁠⁶ VDOE will not license anyone who has a barrier crime conviction under § 19.2-392.02, or a founded child abuse or neglect complaint, unless the Superintendent has granted a waiver.⁠⁶ Making a materially false sworn statement is a Class 1 misdemeanor.⁠⁶

After VDOE receives your application, it emails instructions for getting a Fieldprint facility ID from the VDSS Office of Background Investigations.⁠¹⁰ As of October 1, 2026, Fieldprint charges $66.23 per national fingerprint check, or $46.23 for volunteers. A Central Registry search through the OBI portal costs $12.⁠¹⁰ Staff need their national fingerprint result before employment. Since July 1, 2024, a new hire may start provisionally if they meet all of these conditions:⁠¹⁰

• a qualifying fingerprint result
• a completed sworn statement
• a Central Registry request on file
• any required out-of-state requests on file
• supervision at all times by fully cleared staff

There is one narrow allowance. A center may hire someone with a single misdemeanor under § 18.2-57 after 10 years have passed. This does not apply if the offense happened while they worked in a child day center or involved a minor.⁠⁵ If another state does not answer a request, document a written follow-up sent at least 45 days after the first request. Keep all background records for two years after a person leaves.⁠⁸

Applying to VDOE, step by step

Nobody may operate a center before receiving a license or a conditional license.⁠⁸ VDOE’s published sequence is:⁠⁹

1. Phase I Pre-Application Training

   An online overview of the process. VDOE calls it “highly recommended”.

2. Read the rules

   8VAC20-821, 8VAC20-780, the background check guidance and the 2026 Code excerpt.

3. Phase II Pre-Licensure Orientation

   Register through your regional Office of Child Care Health and Safety. This one is required. 8VAC20-821 makes a prelicensure orientation an applicant qualification, though the Superintendent may waive it or license you on condition you complete it.⁠⁸

4. Functional design plan

   Send it to the regional office as soon as you have identified a location.

5. Applicant Support Office Hours

   VDOE holds these monthly. Optional.

6. Initial application

   Upload it with all attachments through VDOE’s online portal, choosing “Child Day Center” and “initial application”. Aim to have a complete package in 60 days before your planned opening.

7. Facility inspection

   After steps 1 to 4 are done and the application is complete, a licensing inspector contacts you to schedule it.

The attachments VDOE lists for an initial application are:⁠⁹

• an annual operating budget
• proof of building code compliance, such as a certificate of use and occupancy
• a fire inspection and a Report of Environmental Sanitation Inspection, each done within the last 12 months
• dimensioned floor plans and a site plan showing play areas, fences and parking
• asbestos statements for pre-1978 buildings
• director qualifications and an organizational chart
• daily schedules for each age group and a sample monthly menu
• a list of play equipment
• all forms (if they differ from the models), policies, procedures and brochures
• evidence of insurance
• a credit reference for the business entity
• your Phase II completion record
• a State Corporation Commission fictitious name filing, if you use a trade name, and your entity formation documents

Each person in the business entity section needs three reference letters. The letters must be dated within 12 months and come from unrelated people who have known the person for at least a month. Their background checks must be current: sworn statements within 30 days, other checks within five years.⁠⁹ Public agencies skip the references and credit reference.⁠⁹

You must also show financial responsibility, be at least 18, and disclose any license anywhere that was revoked, suspended, denied or surrendered.⁠⁸ The insurance the rule requires is public liability coverage for bodily injury of at least $500,000 per occurrence and $500,000 aggregate for each site. Public sponsors may self-insure.⁠⁷ An application still incomplete six months after VDOE received it is closed, and you start over.⁠⁸

If you cannot meet a standard yet, the Superintendent may issue a conditional license for up to six months while you show compliance.⁠⁸ A written variance request must show substantial programmatic or financial hardship and propose an alternative. You cannot make the change until it is approved, and approved variances are reviewed at least once a year.⁠⁸ If VDOE refuses a license, you generally must wait six months to reapply.⁠⁸

Fees, as published

Fees are nonrefundable, and VDOE dates your application from the day it receives the fee.⁠⁸ VDOE’s center page states that application fees are not being collected through December 2027, for both initial and renewal applications.⁠⁹ Fingerprint and registry fees are separate and paid by the provider (see above).⁠¹⁰

After you open: inspections, renewal and changes

By statute, every licensed child day program is inspected at least twice a year, and at least one of those visits is unannounced.⁠⁴ VDOE also investigates complaints.⁠⁹ The license is issued to a specific person and cannot be transferred. It shows the maximum number of children and their age range, and must be posted where the public can see it.⁠⁸ To change capacity, ages or other license terms, ask for a modification in writing. A new owner cannot take over by modification and must apply for a new license.⁠⁸

The license expires two years after its effective date.⁠⁸ Send VDOE a complete renewal application at least 60 days before expiry. The renewal includes fresh background checks for the licensee’s principals, and inspections during the term may be unannounced.⁠⁹⁠⁸ If you are briefly out of compliance at renewal, VDOE may issue a provisional license for up to six months.⁠⁸ On August 27, 2026, VDOE’s guidance document on notifying and reporting communicable diseases in licensed centers took effect.⁠⁹

Child Care Subsidy and VQB5

A licensed child day center can apply separately to VDOE to become a Child Care Subsidy Program vendor. If you buy a center that is already a subsidy vendor, you must file an initial vendor application using the change-of-ownership option.⁠¹² Publicly funded programs must take part in VQB5, Virginia’s quality measurement and improvement system.⁠¹² Subsidy vendors also go through fingerprinting through the same Fieldprint process as licensing.⁠¹⁰

Sources

1. 1
   Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System), Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.02, definitions Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System), Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.030, exemptions from licensure Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System), Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.031, child day center operated by religious institution exempt from licensure Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System), Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.018, inspections and interviews Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System), Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.035, employees and volunteers; national background check Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Virginia General Assembly (Legislative Information System), Code of Virginia § 22.1-289.036, background check upon application for licensure Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Virginia Administrative Code, State Board of Education, 8VAC20-780, Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Virginia Administrative Code, State Board of Education, 8VAC20-821, General Procedures for the Licensure of Child Day Programs and Family Day Systems and Background Checks Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Virginia Department of Education, Office of Child Care Health and Safety, Licensed Child Day Centers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Virginia Department of Education, Background Checks Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Virginia Register of Regulations, Proposed regulation: 8VAC20-781, Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Virginia Department of Education, Becoming a Child Care Subsidy Program Vendor Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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