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

West Virginia licenses child care centers under Legislative Rule 78CSR1, Child Care Centers Licensing, effective April 1, 2023 and issued under West Virginia Code §49-2-121.

The rule text still carries the old Department of Health and Human Resources header, but licensing now sits with the Division of Early Care and Education of the West Virginia Department of Human Services.

The director qualifications sit in the rule's staff qualifications section, and they scale with the size of the center: Type I covers centers with 30 or fewer children, Type II covers 31-60, and Type III covers 61 or more.

A child care center, for the rule's purposes, is care for 13 or more children; smaller home-based programs follow separate family child care rules.

The baseline is the same for every center: a director needs a minimum of a high school diploma or GED.

From there, the education credentials rise with the center's licensed size.

A Type I director (30 or fewer children) can qualify on a CDA or on 12 credits of early childhood education, each paired with 300 hours of experience.

A Type II director (31-60 children) can qualify on 28 college credits, at least nine of them in early childhood development.

A Type III director (61 or more children) needs an associate degree in early care and education, or one of three alternative degree routes: a related degree with 12 ECE credits and 90 practicum hours, a related bachelor's degree plus two years of experience, or a business or management degree with 12 ECE credits and 300 hours of experience.

The rule also says a Type III director may not have regular responsibility for a group of children.

Every West Virginia center director needs at least one year of relevant work experience, whatever the center's size.

Experience can also stand in for education at the two smaller center types: a Type I director qualifies with a total of 10 years of relevant work experience, and a Type II director with at least 15 years.

Several routes carry experience conditions of their own: the Type I CDA and 12-credit options each require 300 hours of experience, and the Type III business or management degree route requires 300 hours of experience.

The rule's director qualification lists name no standalone director credential; they scale combinations of credentials and experience to the center's type.

For a Type I center, the credential routes are the CDA or 12 ECE credits, each with 300 hours of experience.

For a Type II center, one route runs through West Virginia's own apprenticeship: the Registered Apprenticeship Certificate for Child Development Specialist, earned through the West Virginia Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialist (ACDS) — a four-semester program for people already employed in early childhood that combines classroom instruction and work experience.

ACDS certificate holders qualify as Type II directors and lead teachers under 78CSR1.

Management preparation appears in the training rule rather than in the qualification lists: a director takes six hours of management training within the first-year 15 hours.

Directors run on the same training clock as every other qualified staff member: 15 hours of approved training in the first year, and at least 15 hours every year after.

Within the first-year total, a director's six hours go to management training.

The rule also folds in credentialing: every qualified staff member must apply for credentialing on the WV STARS Career Pathway.

Separately from the training hours, center staff must hold current pediatric CPR certification and first aid training within three months of employment; after the first year, CPR and first aid sit in addition to the 15 annual hours.

Beyond training, the rule's staff-wide screening reaches the director too: a state and federal fingerprint-based background check through WV CARES, plus sex offender registry checks and out-of-state checks for anyone who lived elsewhere in the past five years.

When the director is not on site, a designated person-in-charge performs the director's duties, and the rule sets that person's floor at the teacher qualification: the person-in-charge shall be a qualified staff member with a minimum qualification of teacher.

The rule sets one qualification list for an assistant director or a lead teacher: be at least 21 years of age with one year of relevant work experience, plus one of the following — a CDA or 12 ECE credits (each with 300 hours of experience), two years of relevant work experience, the Registered Apprenticeship Certificate for Child Development Specialist, or 28 college credits including 9 in early childhood development.

WV STARS — the West Virginia State Training and Registry System — places early childhood professionals on Career Pathway levels by education and experience, credentials trainers, and offers scholarship and wage incentive programs for child care providers.

The center rule ties directors into it: every qualified staff member, directors included, must apply for credentialing on the WV STARS Career Pathway.

The terms of WV STARS' scholarship and wage incentive programs were not verified in our research.

West Virginia's current center rule, 78CSR1, took effect April 1, 2023, and it carries a sunset date: the rule is set to terminate and have no further force or effect on August 1, 2028.

Because the rulebook itself carries an end date, the director qualifications on this page can change; confirm the current text with the Division of Early Care and Education before you rely on a requirement or a deadline.