How to Start a Daycare in Hawaii: Licensing Steps, Costs and Staffing

Child care licensing in Hawaii sits with the Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division child care licensing.

DHS licenses group child care centers and group child care homes under Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 17-892.2, licenses infant and toddler centers under chapter 17-895.1, and registers family child care homes under chapter 17-891.2.

The statute behind those chapters defines a family child care home as a private residence caring for three to no more than six unrelated children at any given time, and a group child care home as a facility caring for seven to twelve children.

The same statute's exclusions matter before you plan anything: care by close relatives and care for a child less than six hours a week sit outside Hawaii's child care law.

The child count and the ages you serve decide which of the four settings you run.

A family child care home is a private residence caring for three to no more than six unrelated children at any given time, and Hawaii registers these homes rather than licensing them.

A group child care home is a facility caring for seven to twelve children, licensed under the same chapter as centers.

A group child care center is licensed under chapter 17-892.2, and its ratio chart does not permit children under 24 months, so serving children under 2 in a center means the separate infant and toddler center license under chapter 17-895.1, whose ratio bands run from 6 weeks through 36 months.

Registered family child care homes cap at six children — the provider's own children aged 6 and older are not counted — with no more than two under 18 months at the same time, or up to four with additional adult help.

Our research documents the family child care application in detail and leaves the center sequence open.

A family child care registration application must include a physical examination and TB clearance for every household member, two written references, background check results and, if the home is in a condominium or townhome, the association's permission, and the provider must be at least 18.

DHS must issue a decision on a complete family child care application within 90 days, and an application not completed within nine months expires.

Our research did not document a Hawaii pre-licensing orientation, the center application packet or the inspection sequence for either setting, so ask DHS child care licensing for the current steps before you apply.

A group child care center director needs one of three routes: a bachelor's degree plus 2 years' experience with children (1 with the relevant age group), 60 college credits plus 4 years, or a CDA plus 4 years.

Center staff other than aides, volunteers, clerical and maintenance staff must be at least 18, and a child care aide must be at least 16 to count in ratio.

Teachers, assistant teachers and aides have their own routes, from an ECE degree down to a high school vocational child care course or the center's orientation course.

Every caregiver, substitute and volunteer completes DHS-approved initial health and safety training — 11 topics — within 45 days of hire.

Center caregivers complete at least 16 hours of DHS-approved training a year in at least two listed topic areas (substitutes 10; volunteers serving 10 or more hours weekly, 8).

HAR chapter 17-801 background checks bar applicants and staff with criminal, sex offender registry, child abuse or neglect, or adult abuse history posing a risk to children; the statute adds name inquiries into other states' child abuse registries for the past five years of residence.

Registered family child care caregivers complete the same 16 annual hours.

Group child care centers staff two-year-olds at 1:8 with a maximum group of 16, three-year-olds at 1:12 with 24, four-year-olds at 1:16 with 32, and five-year-olds and older at 1:20 with 40, and the center chart permits no children under 24 months.

An infant and toddler center staffs children 6 weeks to 12 months at 1:3 with a group of 6 or 1:4 with a group of 8, and the oldest toddler band, 18 to 36 months, runs 1:5 with a group of 10 or 1:6 with 12.

In a registered family child care home the cap is six children, with no more than two under 18 months at the same time, or up to four with additional adult help.

One staffing rule catches new operators: in a center with fewer than 50 children the director may teach and count in ratio, while at 50 or more the director may teach without counting in ratio, except for emergencies up to 10 hours a week or the first and last hour of a full-day program.

The fee is the open question: our research did not find a Hawaii application or license fee for any setting, so ask DHS child care licensing what the current fees are before you budget.

The rule does publish one deadline: DHS must issue a decision on a complete family child care application within 90 days, and an application not completed within nine months expires.

Our research captured no Hawaii startup-cost figures for a building, equipment or insurance, and it did not document a center licensing timeline, so treat the family child care decision window as the published clock and ask the agency about everything else.

Our research documents no Hawaii startup grant or facility fund for new operators; the documented supports sit on the workforce and quality side.

The Hawaii Early Childhood Educator Stipend, run by the Executive Office on Early Learning and the University of Hawaii, pays tuition stipends to students in qualified ECE certificate and degree programs across the UH system — a concrete point to offer when you recruit teachers.

T.E.A.C.H.

Early Childhood does not operate in Hawaii.

On quality, Hawaii DHS checked in its federal Quality Progress Report for FFY 2024 that the state does not have a QRIS or other system of quality improvement; instead, DHS pays higher subsidy rates to licensed centers and registered homes accredited by NAEYC, NECPA or NAFCC, so national accreditation is the quality lever a new operator can plan toward.

Our research did not document Hawaii zoning, fire or building-clearance steps for child care applicants.

One Hawaii-specific wrinkle is in the family child care rule: if the home is in a condominium or townhome, the registration application must include the association's permission.

Confirm zoning and fire requirements for your site with your local zoning and fire authorities and with DHS child care licensing before you sign a lease or submit an application.

The infant and toddler center chapter is the recent one: Hawaii's rules for infant and toddler centers, HAR chapter 17-895.1, took effect on November 3, 2023, so a checklist or blog post written before then predates the current infant and toddler center ratios and rules.

Confirm whatever source you are reading against the current chapter on the DHS website before you rely on it — including this page.