What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in Florida?
Florida does not require a daycare teacher to hold a college degree or a CDA.
What the state does require, under s. 402.305, Florida Statutes, and the DCF Child Care Facility Handbook, is that every child care personnel member starts the 40-clock-hour introductory training within 90 days of employment, completes 10 hours of in-service training each year and clears Level 2 background screening.
The credential rule belongs to the facility: in a licensed facility operating 8 or more hours per week, one staff member must hold an approved credential for every 20 children.
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At a glance
The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Child Care Regulation office; counties that license locally handle licensing in those counties.
No degree or CDA requirement for an individual teacher. The 40-hour introductory training, 10 in-service hours a year and Level 2 screening apply to all child care personnel.
No separate tier: Florida attaches its training and screening rules to 'child care personnel' rather than to a job title, so an assistant meets the same state minimums as a lead teacher.
Begin the 40-clock-hour introductory course within 90 days of employment and finish it within 1 year of starting the training, passing the competency exams at a weighted score of 70 or better.
10 clock hours (1 CEU) of in-service training every year, counted on the state fiscal year, July 1 to June 30.
Not an all-staff rule: at least one person with current first aid and one with in-person pediatric CPR — the same person may hold both — present whenever children are in care.
Level 2 screening with fingerprints: employment history, criminal history, sexual predator and offender registries, and child abuse registries for any state lived in during the preceding 5 years.
Classroom roles in Florida, by the rule's own titles
- Child care personnelRole
The state's term for the staff its rules attach to — the 40-hour introductory training, the annual in-service hours and the Level 2 screening apply to this term rather than to a job title.
- Child Development Associate (CDA)Credential
The credential the statute lists first for the facility-level staff credential requirement: one credentialed staff member for every 20 children in a facility operating 8 or more hours per week.
- Florida Child Care Professional Credential(FCCPC)Credential
Florida's own Birth Through Five child care credential, named in the statute beside the CDA for the staff credential requirement.
- Child Care Apprenticeship Certificate(CCAC)Credential
A Florida Department of Education apprenticeship certificate the handbook accepts as a Birth Through Five credential for the staff credential requirement.
- Early Childhood Professional Certificate(ECPC)Credential
A Florida Department of Education certificate the handbook accepts the same way as the CCAC for the staff credential requirement.
Who licenses childcare centers in Florida?
The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Child Care Regulation office licenses child care facilities and writes the staff rules under Florida's child care licensing statute and Rule 65C-22, Florida Administrative Code, with the Child Care Facility Handbook incorporated by reference into Rule 65C-22.001.
Some counties license child care facilities locally; in those counties the county agency handles licensing.
The statute attaches its requirements to 'child care personnel' rather than to a job title, so the training and screening rules below apply to teachers, assistants and aides alike.
What qualifications does a lead teacher need in Florida?
Florida sets no degree or CDA requirement for an individual lead teacher.
The credential rule works at the facility level instead: in a licensed facility operating 8 or more hours per week, one of the child care personnel must hold an approved credential for every 20 children — a CDA, a Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) or an equivalent.
The handbook scales it: facilities with 19 or fewer children, or operating fewer than 8 hours a week, are exempt from the staff credential rule; facilities with 20-39 children need one credentialed staff member, and facilities with 40-59 need two.
A credentialed staff member must also work at least 20 hours a week, excluding naptime.
Alongside the CDA and FCCPC, the handbook accepts a Florida Department of Education Child Care Apprenticeship Certificate (CCAC) or Early Childhood Professional Certificate (ECPC) as a Birth Through Five credential for this requirement.
“For every 20 children in a licensed child care facility, if the facility operates 8 hours or more per week, one of the child care personnel in the facility must have:(a) A child development associate credential;”
What does an assistant teacher need in Florida?
The Florida rule does not create a lighter assistant-teacher tier.
Its requirements attach to 'child care personnel' generally: the 40-clock-hour introductory course applies to all child care personnel, and Level 2 background screening applies to current and prospective child care personnel.
Assistant, aide or floater — the state requirements on this page are the same for every one of those roles.
A specific posting can still ask for more than the state minimum, so read it closely.
What training do you need before you start a Florida daycare job?
Every child care personnel member takes an approved 40-clock-hour introductory child care course.
You must begin the training within 90 days of employment and complete it within 1 year of starting, as evidenced by passing a competency exam.
The DCF Child Care Facility Handbook splits the 40 hours into 30 hours of Part I courses and 10 hours of Part II courses, with the competency exams passed at a weighted score of 70 or better.
A one-time early literacy and language development course of 5 clock hours (0.5 CEU) is due within 12 months of starting work in child care.
One more piece works in your favor: completing the 40-clock-hour course articulates into community college credit in early childhood education.
“Child care personnel shall successfully complete such training within 1 year after the date on which the training began, as evidenced by passage of an in-person or online competency examination.”
How many training hours do you need each year in Florida?
After the introductory training, Florida child care personnel complete a minimum of 10 clock hours or one CEU of in-service training annually.
The training year is the state fiscal year, beginning July 1 and ending June 30.
This is the ongoing requirement for every staff member who finished the introductory course, teachers and assistants alike.
“child care personnel must complete a minimum of 10 clock-hours or one CEU of in-service training annually during the state’s fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30.”
CPR, first aid and health checks
Florida does not require CPR or first aid certification of every staff member.
The handbook instead requires at least one person with current first aid certification and one person with in-person pediatric CPR certification to be present whenever children are in care, and the same person can hold both.
Larger staffs carry higher minimums: the handbook scales the required counts to the number of supervising staff.
On health checks, the sources we read for this page did not confirm a pre-employment health examination or immunization requirement for child care personnel, so ask DCF Child Care Regulation or your county licensing agency what documentation it requires.
“The same child care personnel may satisfy both requirements.”
How does the Florida daycare background check work?
Florida screens child care personnel under Level 2 standards, the fingerprint-based standard in ch. 435, Florida Statutes.
The screening includes employment history checks, a search of criminal history records, sexual predator and sexual offender registries, and the child abuse and neglect registry of any state in which the person resided during the preceding 5 years.
If DCF cannot finish the screening within 3 business days, it issues a 45-day provisional-hire status while the required information is being requested, and the worker must be directly supervised by a screened and trained staff member during that period.
“include employment history checks, a search of criminal history records, sexual predator and sexual offender registries, and child abuse and neglect registry of any state in which the current or prospective child care personnel resided during the preceding 5 years”
Extra training for infant rooms: safe sleep and abusive head trauma
In a facility that offers care to infants, all child care personnel — not only the teachers in the infant room — must have training regarding safe sleep practices, preventing shaken baby syndrome and preventing abusive head trauma.
The handbook sets a 30-day deadline from hire for that training.
“All child care personnel who work in a facility that offers care to infants must have training regarding guidance on safe sleep practices, preventing shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma”
How old do you have to be to work in a Florida daycare?
The licensing statute sets two age lines.
No one under 21 may be the operator of a child care facility, and no one under 16 may be employed at the facility unless they are under direct supervision and are not counted in the personnel-to-child ratio.
Our research did not surface a separate minimum age for 16- and 17-year-old teachers or aides beyond that rule, so ask DCF Child Care Regulation or the county licensing agency how it applies to a specific teenage hire.
What has changed recently in Florida's child care rules?
Rule 65C-22.001, F.A.C. — the rule that incorporates the Child Care Facility Handbook — was most recently amended effective September 1, 2026, so the training details on this page come from the handbook as incorporated by that rule.
Florida's 2026 legislation (ch. 2026-140) also renamed 'family day care home' to 'family child care home' throughout the Florida Statutes; older pages and forms may still use the old wording.
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Florida licensing rules, agency pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state daycare teacher requirements series, current as of October 2026. It is not a substitute for the instructions the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Child Care Regulation publishes. For the rest of the picture in Florida, see daycare director requirements in Florida, early childhood education programs and scholarships in Florida, and childcare teacher pay in Florida.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a CDA to work in a Florida daycare?
No. Florida requires all child care personnel to complete the 40-clock-hour introductory training and Level 2 screening — no degree or CDA is required of the individual teacher.
The credential rule is the facility's to satisfy: in a facility operating 8 or more hours per week, one staff member must hold a CDA, a Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) or an accepted equivalent for every 20 children, and credentialed staff work at least 20 hours a week, excluding naptime.
How long does the Florida 40-hour child care training take to finish?
The course runs 40 clock hours: 30 hours of Part I courses and 10 hours of Part II, with the competency exams passed at a weighted score of 70 or better.
You must begin within 90 days of employment and finish within 1 year of starting the training.
The one-time 5-hour early literacy course is due within 12 months of starting work in child care.
Does every Florida daycare teacher need to be CPR certified?
No. Florida requires at least one person with current first aid certification and one person with in-person pediatric CPR certification to be present whenever children are in care — the same person can satisfy both — with higher minimums for larger staffs.
An individual center can still list CPR certification as a requirement in its job posting, so check the posting.
Can you work at a daycare in Florida while the background check is pending?
The statute provides a path: if DCF cannot finish the screening within 3 business days, it issues a 45-day provisional-hire status while the required information is being requested.
During provisional-hire status the worker must be directly supervised by a staff member who is screened and trained.
DCF Child Care Regulation administers the screening process.
What is the Florida Staff Credential?
It is a credential an individual staff member holds: a CDA, a Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) or an equivalent, including a Florida Department of Education Child Care Apprenticeship Certificate (CCAC) or Early Childhood Professional Certificate (ECPC).
The facility rule sets how many credentialed staff a center needs: in a licensed facility operating 8 or more hours per week, one for every 20 children.
Facilities with 19 or fewer children, or operating fewer than 8 hours a week, are exempt.
More Florida Resources
Sources
- Florida Statutes — child care facility standards (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- DCF Child Care Facility Handbook (incorporated by reference in Rule 65C-22.001, F.A.C.) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Rule 65C-22.001, F.A.C. (General Requirements) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
Sourced from the documents listed above. Verified October 2026. This is career and employer information, not licensing or legal advice. Confirm current rules with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Child Care Regulation.