What Are the Home Daycare License Requirements in Connecticut?
Connecticut licenses home daycares — family child care homes — through the Office of Early Childhood.
A private home needs a license before it regularly cares for children, and the base license covers up to 6 children, or up to 9 with an approved assistant.
Applicants must be at least 20, hold current hands-on first aid and CPR certification before approval, and clear a comprehensive background check that includes every adult living in the home.
The $40 license runs four years, with an unannounced OEC inspection at least once a year.
Verify before you rely on this
At a glance
The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) licenses family child care homes.
A private home providing regular care of 3 to 12 hours a day, beyond informal neighbor arrangements and care by listed relatives.
Family child care home (up to 6 children, up to 9 with an approved assistant); group child care home (7 to 12); plus a pilot large family child care home endorsement (up to 12).
6 children, or up to 9 with an approved assistant, plus up to 3 school-age children during the school year.
20 years old.
Not found in the licensing rules we read — confirm training hours with OEC.
$40 for the initial license and for renewal; $15 for an assistant or substitute approval.
Home child care license types in Connecticut
- Family child care homeLicense
A private home caring for up to 6 children, or up to 9 with an approved assistant — the $40, four-year license this page covers.
- Large family child care home (pilot endorsement)License
A pilot endorsement, capped at 30 providers per fiscal year, letting an eligible provider care for up to 12 children with adequate staffing; the pilot expires June 30, 2029.
- Group child care homeLicense
Connecticut's license for 7 to 12 children (or a family-home-size program outside a private home), at a $250 fee per four-year term.
Do you need a license to run a home daycare in Connecticut?
Connecticut requires a family child care home license from the Office of Early Childhood before a private home regularly cares for children.
The statute's frame for regular care runs 3 to 12 hours per 24-hour period on a regular basis.
The law does not reach informal arrangements among neighbors or care by a grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle in their own homes.
Beyond those exclusions, running a home daycare in Connecticut means holding a family child care home license.
“Informal arrangements among neighbors and formal or informal arrangements among relatives in their own homes”
License types and capacity in Connecticut
Connecticut's statute defines three child care license types, and the one for a private residence is the family child care home: a private home caring for up to 6 children, or up to 9 with an approved assistant.
A program of 7 to 12 children is a group child care home, and a program of more than 12 children is a child care center; the group child care home license carries a $250 fee per four-year term.
Inside the family child care license, the provider may care for no more than two children under 18 months at one time, including the provider's own children, or up to six children under 18 months with an approved assistant present.
During the school year, a home may add up to 3 school-age children who are in school full-time, and more if they are the provider's own children.
Provider qualifications and training in Connecticut
A Connecticut family child care applicant must be at least 20 years old.
Before OEC approves a license, the applicant must hold current hands-on first aid and CPR certification, submit a medical statement signed within the past 12 months, and provide three references from people who have known them for at least three years.
On ongoing training, our research did not confirm an annual training-hour figure for Connecticut family child care providers; check with OEC about the training hours that apply to license holders.
Background checks for you and your household
Connecticut requires comprehensive background checks for each family child care applicant, each staff member, assistant and substitute, and each household member aged 18 or older.
That household reach mirrors the federal CCDF rule, under which any individual residing in a family child care home who is age 18 and older counts as a child care staff member who needs the check.
Federal rules set what a comprehensive check covers: an FBI fingerprint check, a National Sex Offender Registry search through the National Crime Information Center, and state criminal, sex offender and child abuse and neglect registry checks for the current state and every state lived in during the past 5 years.
Confirm the exact steps OEC uses — and where to be fingerprinted — with the agency.
“Any individual residing in a family child care home who is age 18 and older.”
Home inspection requirements
OEC makes an unannounced inspection of a licensed family child care home at least once a year.
Our research did not catalog what the agency reviews during that visit; OEC's family child care pages are the place to confirm what a home needs before and after licensing.
How to apply, fees and timeline
The initial application carries a $40 fee and the license is issued for a four-year term; renewal applications carry the same $40 fee.
The application bundle is the set of requirements above: an applicant at least 20 years old, current first aid and CPR certification, a medical statement signed within the past 12 months, three references, and comprehensive background checks for the applicant and every adult in the household.
Our research did not confirm how long OEC takes to process an application, so ask the agency about the current timeline.
“An application for initial licensure pursuant to this section shall be accompanied by a fee of forty dollars and such license shall be issued for a term of four years.”
Hiring an assistant for a Connecticut family child care home
An assistant is the lever that grows a Connecticut family child care home: capacity rises from 6 children to up to 9 with an approved assistant, and the limit on children under 18 months rises from two to up to six with an approved assistant present.
Assistants and substitutes need OEC approval, and that application carries a $15 fee.
An approved assistant is also covered by the comprehensive background check requirement.
What OEC otherwise requires of an assistant — training or experience — our research did not confirm; ask the agency before you hire.
The large family child care home pilot (2025–2029)
Since July 1, 2025, a Connecticut public act has let OEC run a pilot endorsement for large family child care homes: eligible providers may care for up to 12 children, including their own children, provided they have adequate staffing.
OEC may issue endorsements to up to 30 providers per fiscal year over the four-year pilot, which expires June 30, 2029.
Applications opened July 15, 2026.
The staffing rules behind the endorsement were not detailed in what we read; OEC's large family child care pages carry the current pilot rules.
“This endorsement will permit eligible family child care providers to care for up to 12 children, including their own children, provided they have adequate staffing.”
What This Page Does, and Doesn’t, Cover
This page summarizes the Connecticut licensing rules, agency pages and other sources listed below, as read for this state-by-state home daycare license requirements series, current as of October 2026. It is not a substitute for the instructions the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) publishes. For the rest of the picture in Connecticut, see daycare licensing steps in Connecticut.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many children can you keep in your home in Connecticut without a license?
The statute we read sets no headcount below which a home is exempt.
It requires a family child care home license for a private home providing regular care — 3 to 12 hours per 24-hour period — and its stated exclusions are informal arrangements among neighbors and care by a grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle in their own homes.
Confirm whether a specific arrangement needs a license with the Office of Early Childhood.
How much does a home daycare license cost in Connecticut?
The initial family child care home application carries a $40 fee, the license is issued for a four-year term, and renewal applications carry the same $40 fee.
Approving an assistant or substitute carries its own $15 application fee.
Those figures come from the Connecticut General Statutes; OEC administers the licensing process and can confirm the current amounts before you apply.
Do you have to be 20 to run a home daycare in Connecticut?
Yes.
A Connecticut family child care applicant must be at least 20 years old.
Before OEC approves the license, the applicant also needs current hands-on first aid and CPR certification, a medical statement signed within the past 12 months, and three references from people who have known them for at least three years.
How many infants can a Connecticut home daycare take?
A family child care provider may care for no more than two children under 18 months at one time, counting the provider's own children.
With an approved assistant present, the limit rises to up to six children under 18 months.
Base capacity is 6 children, or up to 9 with an approved assistant, and homes may add up to 3 school-age children during the school year.
What is the Connecticut large family child care home pilot?
Since July 1, 2025, a Connecticut public act has let the Office of Early Childhood issue pilot endorsements for large family child care homes, allowing up to 12 children, including the provider's own, provided staffing is adequate.
OEC may issue endorsements to up to 30 providers per fiscal year over the four-year pilot, which expires June 30, 2029; applications opened July 15, 2026.
More Connecticut Resources
Sources
- Connecticut General Statutes (child day care licensing chapter) (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Connecticut Office of Early Childhood — Family child care home statutes and regulations (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Connecticut Office of Early Childhood — Licensing for family child care homes (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Connecticut Office of Early Childhood — Large family child care homes (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Connecticut Office of Early Childhood — Summary of changes to the child care regulations (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45 (CCDF background checks) (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 Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC).