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

Rhode Island licenses child care through the Department of Human Services (DHS).

Centers and school age programs answer to 218-RICR-70-00-1, the Child Care Center and School Age Program Regulations for Licensure, with the latest version effective July 7, 2026.

Family child care sits under Rhode Island General Laws chapter 42-12.5 and the Family Child Care Home regulations DHS administers.

The statute draws the line where home licensing starts: a family day care home is a home caring for 4 or more children who are not relatives of the caregiver.

Rhode Island licenses three daycare settings, and the type you choose sets the rules that follow.

A family child care home needs a license once it cares for 4 or more children who are not relatives of the caregiver; under the 2026 family child care regulation a provider may care for up to 6 children alone or up to 12 with approved assistants.

A provider working alone may have no more than 6 children, no more than 2 under 18 months, and only 4 if all the children are under 3.

A group family child care home used to have its own regulation — DHS repealed it and folded group homes into the Family Child Care Home regulation effective August 9, 2026 — and it is licensed to serve up to 12 children with approved assistants.

A child daycare center is licensed separately under the center regulations, and its application fee is set by statute.

Rhode Island center applicants submit an individual digital application for each prospective location through RISES, with supporting documents and fees.

Statute sets the rhythm after that: new programs open on a 6-month provisional license, a center license is valid for one year and a family daycare home certificate for two years.

A family child care applicant must be at least 21 with a high school diploma or GED, and must complete DHS orientation, pre-service training, pediatric CPR (initial in person) and first aid, and a comprehensive background check before licensure.

What our research does not capture is what inspections a new application involves, and in what order — ask DHS what to expect for your setting type.

Rhode Island centers operate with an Administrator and, for programs serving infants through preschool, an Education Coordinator.

One Administrator route: a high school diploma plus 1 year of administration or business experience and 1 year in an early childhood program, paired with a full-time Education Coordinator (typically RIDE PreK-2 certification or a bachelor's in ECE plus supervised teaching experience).

With 1-2 classrooms one person may serve as Administrator, Education Coordinator and Teacher; with 8 or more, a combined Administrator and Education Coordinator must be full-time on site and not a teacher.

Teachers qualify several ways — a CDA plus 1 year or 12 ECE credits plus 3 months among them — and Teacher Assistants are at least 18 with a diploma or GED.

Center staff who work with children need an active RISES registry account plus pediatric CPR and first aid (online training is not accepted for initial CPR certification).

Year-round leadership and classroom staff need 24 professional development hours per calendar year, at least 4 in health and safety; staff under 20 hours a week need 12.

Comprehensive background checks run before duties start and again every 5 years.

Staffing starts from Rhode Island's center ratios and group sizes.

Infants 6 weeks to 18 months are staffed at 1:4 with a maximum group of 8, toddlers at 1:6 with a maximum group of 12, and school-age children at 1:13 with a maximum group of 26.

In a mixed-age room the ratio follows the youngest child, and the rule allows no ratio exceptions for infants.

Two or more staff must be on site at all times, at least one of them at Teacher or Program Leadership level, and outings tighten the numbers further: field trips run at ratios such as infants 1:2 and toddlers 1:4, and swimming is 1:1 for infants and toddlers.

A family child care provider working alone caps at 6 children with no more than 2 under 18 months.

The application fees are set in statute: $500 for a child daycare center, $250 for a group family daycare home and $100 for a family daycare home.

Build the renewal cycle into your budget too — a center license is valid for one year and a family daycare home certificate for two years, and new programs start on a 6-month provisional license.

Staffing costs ease while the current arrangement lasts: from May 5, 2021 through September 30, 2027 the Attorney General's office waives the comprehensive fingerprint fees for child care staff who file an employer affidavit.

Our research found no Rhode Island figures for build-out, equipment, insurance or other startup costs; those depend on your site and business plan.

The named supports in our research cluster around RIAEYC.

BrightStars, the state's tiered quality rating system, rates programs 1 to 5 stars, ratings last three years and participation is free — and because TEACH sponsorship requires a DHS-licensed employer with a BrightStars rating, holding a rating also supports your recruiting.

TEACH Early Childhood Rhode Island supports center teachers, assistants and family child care providers to study at CCRI and Rhode Island College, with associate and bachelor's models plus an Infant/Toddler Certificate scholarship; recipients work at least 30 hours a week with employer sponsorship in a DHS-licensed program that holds a BrightStars rating.

Child Care WAGE$ Rhode Island, also run by RIAEYC, pays education-based salary supplements to center educators and family child care providers from a time-limited federal Preschool Development Grant.

RISES, the portal center applicants file through, is also the workforce registry center staff maintain accounts in.

Our research did not confirm a Rhode Island startup grant or facility-funding program for new operators; start with DHS.