What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in Idaho?

Idaho daycare licensing is run by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (Daycare Licensing, in the Division of Welfare and Self-Reliance), under Idaho Code Title 39, Chapter 11 — the state's 'Basic Day Care License' law — and IDAPA 16.06.03, the Daycare Licensing rules.

A basic daycare license is required for a daycare facility serving 7 or more unrelated children, and Idaho's tiers put a daycare center at 13 or more children and a group daycare facility at 7 to 12.

One name to keep straight: IdahoSTARS, a University of Idaho program, runs the state's professional development system, but it is not the licensing agency.

Idaho's licensing provisions do not set a lead-teacher qualification in our research: the statute's staffing term is simply 'staff', defined as anyone 16 or older employed by a daycare facility to provide care and supervision.

No education requirement attaches to the role, so no high school diploma, college credits, CDA or degree is required by Idaho law.

What Idaho does require is the background check for all staff and, at daycare centers, the annual training and the pediatric certification for staff counted in ratio, covered in the sections below.

An individual center can still list its own asks above this state floor, so read each job posting.

Idaho's rule does not set a separate assistant-teacher qualification in our research.

Assistants are staff under the same definition — 16 or older, employed to provide care and supervision, with no education requirement — and the same state requirements reach them: the background check and, at daycare centers, the 4 hours of annual training and the pediatric certification for staff counted in ratio.

Idaho sets no credential ladder distinguishing the two roles, so any difference between an assistant and a lead teacher at a center comes from the employer's own requirements.

Our research did not confirm a pre-service training requirement for Idaho daycare staff: the provisions we reviewed set an ongoing training amount rather than a block of hours due before your first shift, and they do not name a required orientation for new hires.

Employers can set their own onboarding on top of the state floor, and at daycare centers the pediatric certification requirement reaches staff counted in ratio.

Ask the hiring director what training they schedule before your first day, and confirm pre-service expectations with Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Daycare Licensing.

At Idaho daycare centers, each employee must receive 4 hours of ongoing training in child development areas related to daycare in every 12-month period after their hire date.

The duty sits with the center's owner or operator, who must ensure each employee receives those hours.

The requirement sits in Idaho Code 39-1119, amended in 2025, which names daycare centers.

Idaho splits pediatric certification into two rules.

First, at Idaho daycare centers, every staff member counted in the staff-to-child ratio must hold current pediatric rescue breathing and pediatric first aid certification.

Second, at any licensed daycare facility, at least one adult employee with current pediatric rescue breathing and first aid certification must be on the premises whenever children are present.

On health checks, our research did not confirm an Idaho requirement for staff physicals, tuberculosis screening or immunizations — ask IDHW Daycare Licensing and your center what health documentation an employer keeps on file.

Idaho requires owners, operators and staff — and anyone age 13 or older who has unsupervised contact with children or is regularly on the premises of a daycare facility — to complete and pass an Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) enhanced criminal history and background check at least every five years.

Checks for minors include juvenile justice records.

Under the state's licensing rules, each individual who requests and obtains a Department background check is responsible for the cost of the check and the juvenile justice records check.

The requirement runs on that five-year cycle, so it repeats while you work in the facility.

Yes.

Idaho's staff definition starts at 16, so 16- and 17-year-olds can be employed to provide care and supervision, and the state adds no education requirement on top.

The background-check rule reaches minors too: anyone 13 or older with unsupervised contact or regularly on the premises must pass the IDHW check, and checks for minors include juvenile justice records.

Note the rule's separate floor for the on-premises requirement: at least one adult employee with current pediatric rescue breathing and first aid certification must be on the premises whenever children are present.

IdahoSTARS — run by the University of Idaho's Center on Disabilities and Human Development and funded by IDHW and CCDBG — operates Idaho's professional development system, including a statewide registry, an educational pathway, training approval and scholarships.

It is a contractor, not the licensing agency: licensing questions go to IDHW Daycare Licensing.

Our research did not confirm whether Idaho requires registry membership for daycare staff, and the qualification provisions we reviewed attach no education credential to staff, so ask IDHW and a hiring center whether a particular job expects registry membership.