What Are the Requirements to Be a Daycare Teacher in Wyoming?
Wyoming's child care licensing rules set no college degree or CDA minimum for daycare teachers: they set one staff standard.
Staff must be at least 16, with recurring background checks, a TB risk assessment on file before you start, and training before unsupervised care.
New staff complete pre-service training, facility orientation and Wyoming Early Learning Standards training within three months, then 32 training credits every two years once you work 24 or more hours a month.
Current pediatric and adult CPR and first aid are required of all staff.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
The Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS), Child Care Licensing, under Wyo. Code R. agency 049, Child Care Licensing chapters 1-10.
No education or degree minimum in rule: staff must be at least 16 and meet the Chapter 4 requirements before assuming responsibility for direct care.
The same staff standard as lead teachers: at least 16, with the Chapter 4 checks and training and current CPR and first aid.
Pre-service training, facility orientation and Wyoming Early Learning Standards training (8 credits) within three months and before unsupervised direct care.
32 training credits every two years — 8 core plus 24 elective — for staff working 24 or more hours a month providing direct care or counted in ratio.
Current DFS-approved pediatric and adult CPR and first aid with an in-person skills demonstration, required of all staff.
A fingerprint-based national criminal history check plus state checks every five years; Central Registry and sex offender registry checks every year.
Classroom roles in Wyoming, by the rule's own titles
- StaffRole
The Wyoming center rule's word for anyone who provides direct care or is counted in ratio: minimum age 16, with no separate lead- or assistant-teacher education ladder in rule.
Who licenses childcare centers in Wyoming?
Wyoming child care facilities are licensed by the Child Care Licensing program of the Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS).
The rules center teachers work under are the Child Care Licensing rules in Wyo.
Code R. agency 049, chapters 1-10, with the center chapters adopted 10/7/2016 and amended 2/2/2022.
Licensing reaches anyone caring for more than two children unless an exemption in state statute applies.
When a requirement on this page and the current rulebook disagree, the rulebook governs, so confirm specifics with DFS Child Care Licensing.
What qualifications does a lead teacher need in Wyoming?
Wyoming sets no separate lead-teacher education minimum: the center rules require no degree, no CDA and no college-credit floor for teaching staff.
The rules instead set one staff standard — the rule's word for anyone who provides direct care or is counted in ratio.
A staff member must be at least 16 years old and meet the Chapter 4 general requirements for background checks, health and training before assuming responsibility for direct care.
The state floor is not the hiring bar: read each job posting for the qualifications a center asks for.
“Minimum age of staff shall be 16 years.”
What does an assistant teacher need in Wyoming?
Wyoming's center rules do not set a separate assistant-teacher track in our research; an assistant teacher is staff under the same standard as any direct-care role.
That means at least 16 years old, the Chapter 4 background checks and health requirements, and the same pre-service and ongoing training.
The two-year, 32-credit training cycle applies to staff working 24 or more hours a month providing direct care or counted in ratio, while the three-month pre-service window applies to all staff.
“Before the director and any staff assume responsibility for direct care of children, the staff shall meet the requirements specified in Chapter 4, General Requirements.”
What training do you need before you start?
Within three months of a start date, and before taking unsupervised responsibility for direct care, all staff must complete approved pre-service training, facility orientation and Wyoming Early Learning Standards training worth 8 credits.
Pre-service training covers a defined list of topics: health and safety and emergency preparedness, fire safety, sanitation, first aid and CPR, medication administration, SIDS and safe sleep, infectious disease, mandatory reporting, shaken baby syndrome, food allergies and transportation.
The rule ties completion to both a deadline (three months) and a gate (no unsupervised direct care before it is done).
“Within three (3) months of a person's start date and prior to assuming responsibility for unsupervised direct care of children, all staff shall receive the approved pre-service training”
How many training credits do Wyoming childcare teachers need?
Staff working 24 or more hours a month providing direct care or counted in ratio must complete a minimum of 32 training credits in each two-year period, measured from the licensing date; directors must meet the same 32 credits regardless of hours.
The 32 credits split into 8 core credits — infectious disease, fire safety, sanitation, mandatory reporting, emergency preparedness, SIDS, safe sleep and shaken baby syndrome when infants are in care, and transportation — plus 24 elective credits in early learning, early childhood or child development.
No more than 50% of the required credits may come from videos, books or other written, pre-recorded materials unless other options are unavailable.
The rule states this requirement in training credits, not clock hours.
“shall complete a minimum of 32 training credits, to be completed within a two (2) year period based on the licensing date.”
CPR, first aid and health checks
All staff must hold a Department-approved pediatric and adult CPR and first aid certification and keep it current, with an in-person skills demonstration.
The health requirement starts before the first day: staff need a current tuberculosis risk assessment on the DFS Child Care Licensing form on file before starting, and a TB test within one month if the assessment shows high risk.
“All staff shall have a Department-approved pediatric and adult CPR and FA training and certification shall be kept current.”
How does the Wyoming daycare background check work?
Wyoming runs two tracks of checks.
The fingerprint track is a full fingerprint-based national criminal history record check plus state criminal history checks for Wyoming and every state a person has lived in for the past five years, repeated every five years.
The registry track is a child abuse and neglect Central Registry check plus national and state sex offender registry checks, repeated once a year.
The requirements reach staff, household members, substitutes and volunteers.
Ask the center director which forms and timelines apply to your start date, and confirm the current process with DFS Child Care Licensing.
“All staff, household members, substitutes, and volunteers shall complete a full fingerprint based national criminal history record background check”
Extra training for infant and toddler rooms
The infant-specific safety content sits in two places.
Pre-service training includes SIDS and safe sleep and shaken baby syndrome for every staff member.
The 8 core credits include the same topics when infants are in care, so a teacher working in an infant room revisits that content with each two-year training cycle.
How Wyoming STARS tracks your training
Wyoming STARS, the Statewide Training and Resource System, is the state early childhood registry: it approves all training and trainers for licensed child care providers and records completed training credits.
As of October 2026 the registry was migrating to a new learning management system and was temporarily not processing course requests or credits, per the notice on wyregistry.org — check the registry's current status before you schedule training.
“STARS approves all training and trainers for licensed child care providers.”
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Wyoming 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 Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS), Child Care Licensing publishes. For the rest of the picture in Wyoming, see daycare director requirements in Wyoming, early childhood education programs and scholarships in Wyoming, and childcare teacher pay in Wyoming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a college degree to be a daycare teacher in Wyoming?
No. Wyoming's center licensing rules set no education or degree minimum for teaching staff.
The state's requirements are the minimum age of 16, the Chapter 4 background checks and health requirements, pre-service training including the 8 credits of Wyoming Early Learning Standards training within three months of your start date, and 32 training credits every two years once you work 24 or more hours a month.
The state floor is not the hiring bar: read each job posting for the qualifications a center asks for.
Does Wyoming require a CDA for daycare teachers?
No. Wyoming's center rules set no teacher credential minimum, so the CDA is not a licensing requirement for Wyoming daycare teachers.
The training the state does require runs through DFS-approved pre-service training, the Wyoming Early Learning Standards credits and the 32-credit two-year cycle that applies once you work 24 or more hours a month, with training and trainers approved through Wyoming STARS.
Earning a CDA is optional under state rule; check each job posting for the qualifications a center asks for.
Can you start work at a Wyoming daycare before your training is done?
The rules give new staff three months from their start date to complete approved pre-service training, facility orientation and the 8-credit Wyoming Early Learning Standards training, and they require that training before anyone assumes unsupervised responsibility for direct care of children.
Ask the center director how supervision is scheduled during that window, and confirm current practice with DFS Child Care Licensing.
Do substitutes and volunteers need background checks in Wyoming?
Yes.
Wyoming's checks reach staff, household members, substitutes and volunteers: a full fingerprint-based national criminal history record check plus state criminal history checks for Wyoming and every state lived in during the past five years, repeated every five years, plus yearly child abuse and neglect Central Registry checks and national and state sex offender registry checks.
More Wyoming Resources
Sources
- Wyoming Department of Family Services — Child Care Licensing (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Wyoming Child Care Licensing Rules — definitions chapter (via Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Wyoming Child Care Licensing Rules — licensing procedures chapter (via Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Wyoming Child Care Licensing Rules — staff general requirements chapter (via Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Wyoming Child Care Licensing Rules — training chapter (via Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Wyoming Child Care Licensing Rules — center staff requirements chapter (via Cornell LII) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Wyoming STARS early childhood registry (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 Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS), Child Care Licensing.