Opening a child care center in Washington: the DCYF center early learning program license

Does your program need a center license?

The rule requires a license for any individual or entity that provides child care and early learning services to a group of children from birth through age 12, unless the statute exempts it.⁠² The statute defines a center by what it does, regularly providing early learning services to a group of children for periods of less than 24 hours. It applies “irrespective of whether there is compensation,” so a free church or employer program is covered too.⁠¹ Running an unlicensed agency is unlawful under RCW 43.216.295.⁠¹

RCW 43.216.010(2) excludes:⁠¹

• Relatives, including first cousins, step-relatives, adoptive relatives and their spouses, and legal guardians.
• Occasional care for a neighbor’s or friend’s children that is not run as a business. Advertising counts as running a business.
• Parents trading care cooperatively.
• Nursery schools that are mainly early childhood education for preschoolers where no child is enrolled regularly for more than four hours a day.
• Schools that run on a school-year schedule with an academic curriculum and accept only school-age children.
• Seasonal camps that operate three months or less in any 12 consecutive months.
• Care while the parent stays on the premises. This covers activities other than work, and up to two hours a day of work at certain nonprofit-run sites.
• Certain drop-in recreational programs for school-age children run by local affiliates of national nonprofits.

An exempt program cannot be licensed, but it can ask DCYF to certify it. Once certified, all licensing rules apply. Programs licensed by a tribe, certified by the Department of Defense, or approved by OSPI can be certified for subsidy payment without another inspection.⁠² Private schools that run early learning programs without state subsidy follow a narrower set of minimum health and safety standards rather than the full licensing rules.⁠¹

Three neighboring license types are easy to confuse with a center:

• Family home early learning program. Up to 12 children in your own residence, under the same WAC chapter. See the Washington family home guide.
• School-age programs. These have their own rule chapter, WAC 110-301.⁠¹⁰
• Outdoor nature-based child care. Children spend at least four hours a day, or 50 percent of the daily program hours if that is less, in an approved outdoor natural space. It is a separate agency type under WAC 110-302.⁠¹⁠¹⁰

A center can also be licensed inside a private residence. The rooms children use must either be used only for the program while children are present, or be separate from the family living quarters.⁠²

The director decides whether you can open

This requirement comes first because it can stop an application outright. A center licensee must either meet the center director qualifications personally or hire a qualified director before DCYF grants the initial license.⁠²

A center director must:⁠²

• Be at least 18.
• Have two years of experience teaching children in an age group the program enrolls.
• Have at least six months of administration or management experience, or a DCYF-approved plan.
• Complete the preservice requirements.
• Hold an ECE state certificate or equivalent by August 1, 2030. A director hired or promoted after the chapter took effect has five years from hire.

At the time of hiring or promotion, the director, assistant director and program supervisor must each already have one of the following approved and verified in DCYF’s electronic workforce registry (MERIT): an ECE state certificate or equivalent, or college quarter credits in early childhood education core competencies, scaled to your licensed capacity.⁠²

If your director does not meet the minimums, the center must employ an assistant director or program supervisor who does.⁠² One person can fill all three roles if qualified for each.⁠² The director, or a qualified designee, must be on site at least half of weekly operating hours, up to 40 hours a week.⁠²

Teaching staff have their own ladder:⁠²

• Lead teachers must be 18 and have a high school diploma or equivalent. They need an ECE initial certificate by August 1, 2030, or within five years of hire, whichever is later. They then need an ECE short certificate within two years after that.
• Assistant teachers must be 18 and have a high school diploma. They need the ECE initial certificate on the same schedule. An assistant can stand in as lead teacher for up to two weeks before you must send DCYF a plan.
• Aides may be 14 or older and must have a diploma or be enrolled in high school. They count in ratio only under continuous oversight of qualified staff.
• Regular volunteers count in ratio only after a background check, a TB screen and the required training.

Training to finish before the license

Applicants must register in MERIT before an initial license is granted. They must also complete DCYF’s child care basics training before being licensed.⁠² Within three months of hire, and before working unsupervised, staff must complete:⁠²

• Child abuse and neglect recognition and reporting training.
• Emergency preparedness training.
• Training on serving children experiencing homelessness.

Staff who directly care for children also need bloodborne pathogens training that meets Department of Labor and Industries requirements. It must be done before you are licensed or before they work with children, and repeated as L&I rules require.⁠²

If you will enroll infants, you also need shaken baby syndrome training and safe sleep training. Safe sleep training must be repeated every year and finished before you are licensed or before caring for infants.⁠² Directors, assistant directors, program supervisors and lead teachers must complete medication management training before giving medication.⁠²

Everyone counted in ratio needs adult and pediatric first aid and CPR, plus infant CPR if you serve infants. The course must include a live, hands-on skills check in front of a certified instructor. At least one certified person must be with each group.⁠² Anyone who prepares or serves food needs a food worker card from the local health jurisdiction.⁠²

Once someone has 12 months on the job, they owe 10 hours of in-service training a year. Directors, supervisors and teachers hired on or after August 1, 2019 must complete DCYF’s Enhancing Quality of Early Learning (EQEL) course within 36 months. After EQEL, directors complete 10 hours of child development and 10 hours of leadership training every 36 months.⁠²

Staff who do not care for children, such as cooks and office workers, still need a background check, a negative TB test and program policy training.⁠²

Background checks

First-time license applicants, every new employee and anyone else with unsupervised access to children must be fingerprinted. The prints go to the Washington State Patrol and the FBI. The clearance card or certificate must be kept on site.⁠¹ Each person pays the fingerprinting fees plus a DCYF administrative fee of $12.00 (as published on 2026-10-12).⁠⁵ Checks must be renewed at least once every three years.⁠⁵ DCYF’s process has you file a portable background check application in MERIT as part of pre-licensing.⁠⁴

Finding and fitting out the building

Washington’s center rules make two local approvals conditions of licensing. Before DCYF licenses a center, you must:⁠²

1. Get a certificate of occupancy

   It comes from the local building, planning or zoning department, or the local equivalent where none is issued.

2. Pass the state fire marshal’s inspection

   The state fire marshal must inspect and approve the space.

The rule adopts the Washington State Building Code. It also tells applicants to contact the agencies that regulate the program before licensing, such as Labor and Industries, the state fire marshal, the Department of Health and the local health jurisdiction, and to follow their direction.⁠²

Site and environmental checks

The site must be free of known environmental hazards and served by fire, medical and police response during your hours.⁠² Your application must include lead and copper test results for the drinking water.⁠² If you use a well, include E. coli and nitrate results no more than 12 months old. If you use septic, include an inspector’s or engineer’s report no more than three years old.⁠²

Sites in the Tacoma smelter plume in King, Pierce and Thurston counties need an extra step. You must sign an access agreement with the Department of Ecology so it can evaluate the soil for arsenic and lead.⁠²

Indoor space, ramps and handrails must meet the Washington Law Against Discrimination and the ADA.⁠²

How capacity is calculated

DCYF counts 35 square feet of usable indoor space per child. Add 15 square feet for each infant or toddler whose crib or playpen sits in the play or sleep area.⁠² The rule excludes these spaces from the count:⁠²

• Hallways used for evacuation.
• Bathrooms and diaper areas, including 24 inches around the changing table and sink unless there is a two-foot barrier.
• Laundry areas, closets and stairways.
• Floor space under office furniture.

Space under children’s tables and chairs counts. A gross motor room of 75 square feet per child can stand in for outdoor space, but it then does not count toward indoor capacity.⁠²

Outdoor play space must provide 75 square feet per child using it at one time. You can rotate groups or use an approved alternate plan if the yard cannot hold everyone at once.⁠² The yard also needs:⁠²

• Shade.
• A fence at least 48 inches tall, or as tall as local codes require, with no gap a 3.5-inch sphere can pass through.
• Self-closing, self-latching gates in place before licensing.
• Two exits, at least one of which does not lead back inside.

No wood treated with CCA, creosote or pentachlorophenol is allowed.⁠²

Plumbing scales with enrollment. Centers licensed under the current chapter need one flush toilet and one sink for every 15 children and staff. Children in diapers do not count until they start toilet training.⁠²

Capacity is not set by floor area alone. DCYF also weighs your staff’s education and training, the ages requested, your equipment and materials, your licensing history and the number of qualified staff you have.⁠² The license states the total capacity, the capacity of each room and the approved age range. Children of staff count toward capacity.⁠²

Fire and safety fixtures

• Smoke and CO detection. Centers follow building code sections WAC 51-50-0907 and 51-50-0915.⁠²
• Fire extinguishers. Rated at least 2A:10 BC, on every level children use, and within 75 feet of an exit.⁠²
• Backup alarm. A second way to sound an alarm besides the smoke detectors.⁠²
• Ongoing inspections. A fire safety inspection every year by a local government agency, and a monthly hazard check by staff.⁠²
• Weapons and drugs. Firearms and ammunition are banned outright on center premises. Cannabis use is banned on licensed space at all times.⁠²

Ratios and group sizes

Each classroom or defined space must stay within these limits (WAC 110-300-0356, as amended June 11, 2026):⁠²⁠³

WAC 110-300-0357 lets a center run approved mixed-age classrooms. Examples include birth to 36 months at 1:4 with a group of eight and two staff, and 36 months through kindergarten at 1:10 with up to 26 children and three staff. You must tell DCYF your mixed-age policy.⁠²

Under one condition a single staff member may be alone with the only group on site for up to an hour at the start or end of the day. A second background-cleared adult must be on site and available, or DCYF must approve another plan.⁠²

If you enroll any infant, you must contract with a child care health consultant. The consultant must be a licensed registered nurse with recent pediatric or public health experience, working under a DCYF-approved written agreement. They visit at least monthly while an infant is enrolled. If you cannot find one within 30 days of enrolling an infant, you must contact DCYF.⁠²

What goes in the application packet

The rule lists the contents of a complete packet. Applicant documents:⁠²⁠³

• The DCYF center application form.
• Your orientation certificate, or DCYF’s confirmation that you qualify for an orientation waiver.
• A Washington, tribal, county or city business license, if applicable.
• Liability insurance, if applicable (centers must carry day care insurance, as described below).
• Formation documents for an entity, if applicable.
• The license fee.
• Photo ID and Social Security card, or a sworn declaration that you have none.
• An EIN if you will hire staff.
• Education and employment verification.

Facility documents:⁠²

• A floor plan marking licensed and unlicensed space, exits and exit paths.
• The certificate of occupancy, if applicable.
• Septic and well documents, if applicable.
• The Tacoma smelter plume access agreement, if applicable.
• Lead and copper water results.

Program and staff information:⁠²

• Days and hours of operation, with closures and holidays.
• A list of people who need background checks.
• Resumes for the applicant, center director, assistant director and program supervisor.

Policies:⁠²

• Parent and program policies.
• Staff policies.
• An emergency preparedness plan.
• Health policies.

DCYF reviews these and returns them. The parent handbook must cover, among other things, a nondiscrimination statement, a family engagement plan, your curriculum philosophy, child guidance and restraint, an expulsion policy, and your ratios and classroom types.⁠² The emergency plan must cover what happens if parents cannot reach their children for up to three days. You must also practice drills: fire and evacuation every month, and an earthquake, lockdown or shelter-in-place drill every three months.⁠²

Day care insurance is mandatory for centers. Family homes can opt out with notice to parents, but centers cannot. You must show proof at licensure, at renewal and at any inspection that you carry day care insurance as defined in RCW 48.88.020 or are self-insured under chapter 48.90 RCW. Liability limits follow RCW 48.88.050, which sets at least $100,000 per occurrence for the state’s day care insurance association policy.⁠¹⁠⁹ If coverage lapses, you must post a notice at the center and tell parents in writing within 30 days.⁠¹

The licensing sequence, step by step

DCYF lays out the process in this order:⁠⁴

1. Contact the Pre-licensing Team

   Email [email protected]. Pre-licensors cover rules, funding, subsidy, business licenses, space and location, building code, site plans, handbooks and staff qualifications.

2. Get a STARS ID in MERIT

   MERIT is DCYF’s workforce registry.

3. Create an account on the DCYF training site

4. Complete the Licensing Orientation for Center Providers

   It is online in English, Spanish and Somali. Save the certificate for your application.

5. Reply to the Provider Portal email

6. File a portable background check application in MERIT

7. Receive pre-licensing services

8. Your application moves to a local DCYF licensing office

9. A licensor conducts the initial licensing inspection

10. Correct the items on the inspection report

11. DCYF issues the license

The rule’s timeline runs alongside these steps. Submit the complete packet at least 90 calendar days before your planned opening. The 90 days start only when DCYF has a complete packet, and incomplete packets are sent back.⁠² DCYF must inspect the space and approve every submission before issuing a license.⁠² By statute, DCYF must grant or deny within 90 days of receiving the application.⁠¹

If you cannot finish within 90 days, you can withdraw and reapply later. If you finished every step on time but an outside barrier held you up, DCYF waives the reapplication fee once. If you neither finish nor withdraw, the application is denied.⁠² The applicant must be at least 18.⁠²

Fees, as published

Worked from the rule’s formula, a 12-child center pays $125. A 24-child center pays $269, and a 50-child center pays $581 a year.⁠² The fee is nonrefundable and is due with the application. After that it is due each year 30 days before your license anniversary, by check, card or money order.⁠² The rule sets no separate application fee.

Initial license, then a license that does not expire

Your first license is an initial license. DCYF can issue it once you show you can meet the health and safety requirements, even before full compliance with every other rule. It lasts six months and can be extended for up to three more six-month periods, to a two-year maximum.⁠²⁠¹ During that time DCYF evaluates how well you follow the rules. If you comply, you receive a nonexpiring license.⁠²

A nonexpiring license stays active only if you file these documents at least 30 days before each anniversary of your first initial license:⁠²

• The annual fee.
• A declaration of your intent to continue and to follow the rules, including any change in hours.
• Background check renewals on DCYF’s schedule.

Miss the deadline and the license expires. You then have to apply from scratch, with no right to a hearing.⁠² DCYF’s routine monitoring visits continue either way.⁠¹

What you must report

Report within 24 hours:⁠²

• A fire or structural damage.
• Abuse or neglect allegations involving staff or volunteers.
• A change of center director or program supervisor.
• A change of ownership or incorporation.
• Criminal charges against you or staff.
• Changes in hours.

A capacity increase needs DCYF approval in advance.⁠² Before moving or remodeling, notify DCYF and submit a new floor plan. A move needs a complete new application, filed no more than 90 days ahead. A center may not move until DCYF has inspected the new space.⁠²

If you fall out of compliance without posing an immediate threat, DCYF can issue a probationary license for up to six months, extendable for another six. Before doing so it must refer you to the child care resource and referral network for technical assistance.⁠¹ Separately, the law now sets a zero-tolerance policy for high-potency synthetic opioids or drug manufacturing equipment on the premises. Either one triggers an immediate summary suspension.⁠¹

Subsidy: Working Connections and Early Achievers

Washington’s child care subsidy program is Working Connections Child Care. If you take subsidy payments and serve children who are not yet school-age, you must join Early Achievers, the state’s quality rating system:⁠¹

1. Enroll

   within 30 days of your first subsidy payment.

2. Finish level 2 activities

   within 12 months.

3. Rate, or request a rating, at level 3 or higher

   within 30 months.

Providers who miss level 3 go into remedial activities. Those who still miss it lose subsidy eligibility.⁠¹ Ratings at levels 3, 4 and 5 earn tiered reimbursement, and the first rating is free.⁠¹ Early Achievers is voluntary for centers that do not take subsidy, and school-age providers are exempt.⁠¹

To receive DCYF awards such as the Early Achievers Quality Improvement Award, you need a Statewide Vendor number recorded in MERIT.⁠¹¹

Rates changed on July 1, 2026. Under SHB 2689, a provider’s subsidy base rate must match the rate region where it is located. An emergency rule also raised licensed center rates to the 85th percentile of the market, effective July 1, 2026.⁠⁸

What changed in 2026, and what is pending

• Mixed-age time. 2026 c 82 amended RCW 43.216.255. Centers may now combine age groups, at the ratio and group size of the youngest child, for up to 2.5 hours a day on a schedule the center sets. The limit is four hours if at least 90 minutes of that time is reserved for staff meal and rest breaks.⁠¹ DCYF put this into WAC 110-300-0356 by emergency rule WSR 26-13-050, effective June 11, 2026. That rule replaced the old limit of the first or last two hours of the day.⁠³ The codified WAC text online still showed the two-hour limit on 2026-10-12.⁠² An emergency rule lasts at most 120 days, which ran out around October 9, 2026, and we found no permanent rule or refiled emergency rule in the Washington State Register as of 2026-10-12. The statute sets the 2.5-hour and four-hour allowance regardless, so ask your licensor which text DCYF is applying to your classrooms before you build a schedule around it.
• Orientation waiver. The same emergency rule dropped the requirement that orientation be taken within 12 months of applying. It now waives orientation for anyone who completed it within five years, provided the content has not substantially changed and they have had no break in licensed child care work.⁠³ The same waiver is now in statute as RCW 43.216.263 (2026 c 82 s 2).⁠¹
• Drug-free premises. The emergency rule also requires providers to confirm the premises are free of high-potency synthetic opioids, drug manufacturing equipment and paraphernalia, and to report any found.⁠³ Permanent rulemaking on these ESHB 2219 changes began with a preproposal notice filed May 6, 2026.⁠⁷
• ECE certificate deadline. A permanent rule filed July 1, 2026 and effective August 1, 2026 implements E2SHB 1648. It moved the deadline for staff to hold an ECE initial certificate from August 1, 2026 to August 1, 2030.⁠⁶

Sources

1. 1
   Washington State Legislature, Chapter 43.216 RCW, Department of Children, Youth, and Families Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Washington State Legislature, Chapter 110-300 WAC, Foundational quality standards for early learning programs Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Washington State Register, Department of Children, Youth, and Families, WSR 26-13-050, emergency rules implementing ESHB 2219 (filed June 11, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Pre-Licensing & Licensing Process Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Washington State Legislature, Chapter 110-06 WAC, Background checks Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Washington State Register, Department of Children, Youth, and Families, WSR 26-14-116, permanent rule on provider qualifications under E2SHB 1648 (filed July 1, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Washington State Register, Department of Children, Youth, and Families, WSR 26-10-098, preproposal statement of inquiry on ESHB 2219 rules (filed May 6, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Washington State Register, Department of Children, Youth, and Families, WSR 26-14-115, emergency rules on Working Connections center rates (effective July 1, 2026) Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Washington State Legislature, RCW 48.88.050, day care insurance liability limits Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Become a Licensed Provider Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Apply For a Statewide Vendor Number Checked 12 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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