What Qualifications Do You Need to Be a Daycare Director in Hawaii?

Director qualifications are licensing rules, and in Hawaii they come from the Hawaii Department of Human Services (DHS) — its Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division runs child care licensing.

DHS licenses group child care centers and group child care homes under Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) Chapter 17-892.2 and licenses infant and toddler centers separately under Chapter 17-895.1; family child care homes are registered under Chapter 17-891.2.

The director qualification list our research transcribes sits in HAR 17-892.2-35(j) and is written for a facility licensed for 7 or more children.

An infant and toddler center is its own license, so an under-2 program does not sit under the group child care center rules.

Hawaii's director list pairs each education level with its own experience minimum, and the education rungs are a bachelor's degree, 60 college credits, or a CDA.

The rule our research transcribes names no ECE-credit subtotal for directors: the 60 credits are college credits, not 60 early-childhood-education credits specifically.

The classroom ladder in the same chapter is worded differently — Hawaii's teacher routes do name ECE credits and ECE certificate programs (HAR 17-892.2-35(k)).

A center hiring, or a teacher studying toward the role, can ask DHS how it reads the credit requirement on a specific transcript.

Experience steps down as education steps up: 2 years working with children on the bachelor's route, and 4 years on the 60-credit and CDA routes.

The rule text our research transcribes pairs the age-group requirement — 1 year with the relevant age group — with the bachelor's route.

Our research does not transcribe how Hawaii counts part-time work or experience outside a licensed center, so confirm with DHS what work history it credits before you apply or hire against a specific route.

The director routes our research transcribes are education-and-experience combinations, not a state-issued director credential — no separate Hawaii director credential appears on the list.

The one credential on the list is national — the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition, paired with 4 years of experience working with children.

The transcribed rule also names no administration or management coursework requirement for directors.

Confirm the current qualification list with DHS before you apply or hire.

The ongoing-training rule in Hawaii's center chapter is a caregiver standard: each caregiver staff member completes at least 16 hours of DHS-approved training every year, and substitutes complete 10 hours, while volunteers serving 10 or more hours a week complete 8.

Training must fall in at least two listed topic areas.

Our director facts do not transcribe a separate annual-hours total for directors or a renewal cycle attached to the qualification, so ask DHS what it currently expects of a director's training record.

Hawaii's rule does speak to coverage in the director's absence: substitutes for the director must meet the director qualifications (HAR 17-892.2-35(r)) — the same bachelor's (including 1 year with the relevant age group), 60-credit or CDA route with its experience minimum.

Our research does not transcribe a separate Hawaii assistant-director qualification or a formal designation process, so a center planning an assistant director role should confirm with DHS how that title is treated.

Yes, depending on the size of the center.

In a group child care center with fewer than 50 children, the director may teach and count in the staff-child ratio.

At 50 or more children, the director may still teach but does not count in the ratio — except for emergencies, up to 10 hours a week, or during the first and last hour of a full-day program.

Infant and toddler centers run their own limit: the director may count in ratio only when total infant and toddler facility size does not exceed 16.