California Home Daycare Requirements

You need a California family child care home license to care for children from two or more other families in your home. Care for relatives is exempt. A small license allows up to 6 children (8 if two are school-age), and a large license allows up to 12 (14) with an assistant. Your own children under 10 count. Licensing starts with a $27.43 orientation and costs $73 or $140 a year.

This guide covers the whole path: who needs a license, the capacity rules, each licensing step and fee, the home inspection checklist, the extra rules for a large home, and your rights as a renter or HOA member. Each rule names its source in state law or a California Department of Social Services (CDSS) form. The rules were checked on October 6, 2026.

Do You Need a License for a Home Daycare in California?

You need a license as soon as you care for children from more than one family besides your own. The exemptions are in Health and Safety Code (HSC) 1596.792.

California's child care licensing law does not define or exempt "babysitting." The line that matters is the number of families. A San Diego mother posted online that she watched her own two children plus two siblings from one other family. That needs no license. A child from a third family would.

To hold the license, you must be at least 18 and live in the home you license (LIC 279A, 22 CCR 102369). A family child care home is care in the provider's own home (HSC 1596.78). Care anywhere else needs a center license.

How Many Children Can a Home Daycare Have in California?

A small home can care for up to 8 children and a large home up to 14, but the top numbers come with conditions. Your own children under 10 who live in the home count toward the total (HSC 1596.78). An infant is a child under 2 years old.

Sources: 22 CCR 102416.5, HSC 1597.44 and 1597.465.

To go above 6 in a small home, or above 12 in a large one, you must meet all four of these conditions:

1. At least one child goes to kindergarten or elementary school, and a second child is at least 6. Transitional kindergarten counts. For a school child under 6, get proof of enrollment and attendance within 30 days of the start of each school year.
2. You keep to the lower infant limit (2 in a small home, 3 in a large one) whenever the extra children are there.
3. You tell every parent in writing (form LIC 9150).
4. If you rent, you get the property owner's written consent (form LIC 9149).

A large home counts the assistant's own children under 10 too. If the assistant is not in the home, the small-home limits apply. A small home can never go above 8.

The same limits hold while you wait to upgrade. One Los Angeles County provider posted that she took a seventh child while her large-license application was still pending, then asked whether to hide that child from the inspector. Other providers told her to get back under her limit at once. Until the large license is issued, a small home follows small-home numbers.

How to Start a Home Daycare in California: The Licensing Steps

Licensing runs through six steps, and the order matters: CDSS returns incomplete applications, and it tells you not to get fingerprinted until it sends a facility number.

1. Take the orientation. CDSS offers the online orientation and in-person sessions, and live virtual sessions in several languages. Online it costs $25 plus a $2.43 processing fee, and it is not refundable. Online access lasts 30 days, and a Spanish version is available. An orientation counts toward an application for 12 months (LIC 279A).
2. Start your training. Your application needs proof that you finished, or enrolled in, the preventive health practices course. Mandated reporter training must be done before the license is issued (HSC 1596.8662). The full training list is below.
3. Send the application packet. The checklist on form LIC 279A lists the application (LIC 279), the children who live in your home (LIC 279B), a criminal record statement for every adult in the home (LIC 508), an emergency and disaster plan (LIC 610A), a statement on reporting child abuse (LIC 9108) and a sketch of your home and yard (LIC 999A). Add proof of the orientation, your training proof, TB clearances no more than a year old for every adult who lives in the home, and experience proof if you apply for a large license. Pay the fee by check or money order, as LIC 279A says, or electronically where CDSS offers it (a 2026 law allows electronic payment). A 2026 law (HSC 1596.868) also requires a fuller emergency and disaster plan with new applications. Ask your regional office whether form LIC 610A still covers it.
4. Get fingerprinted after you get a facility number. CDSS sends a facility number once it has your application. Then you and every adult who lives in the home book a Live Scan appointment.
5. Get the home ready and send back the readiness guide. Work through the checklist below. When the home meets every item, send back the Pre-Licensing Readiness Guide (LIC 9217), and not before. A licensing program analyst calls to set a date. This first visit is announced (HSC 1597.55a).
6. Large homes only: fire clearance and experience. A large license also needs a fire clearance and one year of experience. Both are covered in the large-home section below.

CDSS's own video walks through the application:

How long does licensing take?

CDSS publishes no typical processing time, but the law sets two 30-day clocks. Once CDSS has all your application materials, it has 30 days to make the first home visit. It then has 30 days to grant or deny the license, as long as the home passed the visit and every person who needs a background check is cleared (HSC 1597.59).

The clocks are softer than they look. The state's definition of a completed application includes the home visit and, for a large home, the fire clearance (22 CCR 102352). For that fire clearance, the fire authority must do the final inspection within 30 days of your request, or of the date you ask CDSS for its final pre-license visit, whichever is later (HSC 13235(b)). Provider stories online describe waits of several months for a large license. A complete packet is the part of the timeline you control.

What a California Home Daycare License Costs

The state's own fees are small: $73 or $140 a year, plus a $27.43 orientation and a background check for each adult in your home.

Training courses, supplies and insurance are priced by the people who sell them, not the state. For the week-to-week running costs of a home daycare, see In-Home Daycare Costs: Weekly Breakdown. To set your rates, try the daycare rate calculator.

Training, Health Checks and Background Checks

Before you are licensed, you need 16 hours of health and safety training, mandated reporter training, a TB clearance and three vaccines. Every adult who lives in your home needs a background check.

You do not need a degree or college units for a family child care home license. Neither the application nor the Title 22 rules ask for them. A large license asks for one year of experience instead. For the courses other kinds of child care jobs need, see Certifications You Need to Open a Daycare.

California Home Daycare Inspection Checklist

The pre-licensing visit checks the same items as CDSS's Pre-Licensing Readiness Guide (LIC 9217). The analyst also works from a state pre-licensing tool that covers the home, supervision and paperwork. Use this list to get ready.

Inside the home

• The home is neat and clean.
• Fireplaces and heaters are screened so children cannot touch them.
• A fully charged fire extinguisher rated at least 2A:10BC.
• A working smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector (small homes: HSC 1597.455; large homes: HSC 1597.46).
• A working telephone.
• Poisons are locked up. Kitchen, bathroom and garage hazards are out of children's reach.
• Firearms are unloaded and locked up, or fitted with a trigger lock or the firing pin removed. Ammunition is locked away separately (22 CCR 102417).
• Stairs are gated if any child under 5 is in care.
• No baby walkers anywhere on the premises (HSC 1596.846). Bouncers and jumpers are not used for children in care and are kept out of reach.
• Toys and equipment are safe, with nothing on a recall list.
• No smoking or vaping in the home at any time, or anywhere children are present (HSC 1596.795).

Where infants sleep

• One crib or play yard for each infant who cannot climb out.
• Infants up to 12 months go to sleep on their backs, with no bumper pads or loose items.
• No infant is swaddled while in care, and no infant sleeps in a car seat.
• Someone checks sleeping infants in person every 15 minutes and writes down each check: the date, the child's name and the time.
• A written sleeping plan (form LIC 9227) for each infant up to 12 months. Source: 22 CCR 102425.

Outside

• The outdoor play area is fenced, or you have a written plan for how you supervise it.
• The yard is free of hazards, and play equipment is anchored.
• Pools, spas and ponds are covered or fenced. A pool fence is at least 5 feet high, with a gate that swings away from the pool and closes and latches by itself. A pool cover must be able to hold an adult and stay locked.
• An in-ground pool at a single-family home has more rules since January 1, 2025: a 60-inch enclosure with a self-latching gate that locks with a key, plus a safety cover or a pool alarm, a 17-inch life ring, a 12-foot rescue pole and a daily inspection log (HSC 1596.814).

Paperwork to have on hand

• Proof you control the property: a deed, a property tax bill or your lease.
• Background check clearances for every adult in the home, plus any assistant or substitute.
• Your emergency and disaster plan.
• For a large home, the fire clearance.

One rule the inspector will not check: square feet per child. Some websites say a home needs 35 square feet of indoor space per child. That is the rule for child care centers (22 CCR 101238.3). Family child care homes have no space-per-child rule. For the supplies to buy before the visit, see the daycare equipment list.

Extra Rules for a Large Family Child Care Home

A large license needs three things a small one does not: an assistant whenever you go above small-home numbers, one year of experience and a fire clearance.

The assistant provider

An assistant must be at least 14 years old (22 CCR 102352). An assistant of any age needs a background check clearance, the flu, pertussis and measles vaccines, and mandated reporter training within 90 days. From October 1, 2027, assistants and substitutes also need the 16 hours of health and safety training, plus 12 hours of continuing education each year (AB 150 and AB 190, 2026).

One year of experience

You need one year as a licensed small family child care home operator, or one year as an administrator, director or teacher at a licensed child care center (22 CCR 102369). The CDSS director can waive it if you have enough other qualifying experience (HSC 1597.52).

The fire clearance

A large home needs a fire safety clearance from the city or county fire department, the local fire district or the State Fire Marshal (22 CCR 102371). A small home needs none. The 2025 California Building Code, in force since January 1, 2026, adds these rules for large family day-care homes:

• At least one manual fire alarm box (a pull station), listed and approved by the State Fire Marshal, loud enough to hear throughout the home.
• Smoke alarms listed and approved by the State Fire Marshal.
• Two exits from every story and basement, placed apart from each other, each big enough for a door at least 32 inches wide. A sliding door can be one of them. A basement used for care needs one exit straight outside.
• No care rooms above the first story, unless the home has fire sprinklers throughout and at least one exit straight outside.
• Gas water heaters and furnaces that sit open in the care area are guarded.

Small and large homes both need the 2A:10BC fire extinguisher.

The pull station can catch you out. One renter posted that she waited about three months for her fire marshal, then learned she needed a pull alarm she did not know how to install. A contractor quoted her thousands of dollars. She switched her application to a small license and was licensed within weeks. You can avoid that surprise: ask your fire authority for a preinspection. On request, it must visit, explain the rules and tell you in writing which fire safety rules it will enforce, for no more than its actual cost (HSC 13235(a)).

Renting, HOAs and City Rules

California law protects home daycares. A landlord, an HOA or a city cannot ban a licensed family child care home, but a renter must give the landlord 30 days' written notice before opening.

If you rent

• Give your landlord or owner 30 days' written notice before you start care (HSC 1597.41(d)). Form LIC 9151 is the notice. Keep a copy in the home.
• An owner cannot refuse to rent or sell to you because you run a family daycare (HSC 1597.41(b)).
• Your landlord can ask for a larger security deposit, but not above the legal maximum.
• Your landlord cannot raise your rent or evict you for running the daycare, according to the state Civil Rights Department.
• You need the owner's written consent only to go above 6 children in a small home or above 12 in a large one.
• The usual rules still apply. A landlord keeps the normal rights on noise, lease violations and nuisances (HSC 1597.41(g)).

If you have an HOA or CC&Rs

Any rule in a deed, CC&R or other property document that blocks a family daycare home is void (HSC 1597.41(a)). One condo buyer posted that her building's CC&Rs banned home businesses; other providers pointed her to this law. If a landlord or HOA breaks these rules, you can file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department at 800-884-1684.

Cities and counties

Since January 1, 2020, a small or large family daycare home is a residential use of the property, allowed by right everywhere homes are allowed (HSC 1597.45). A city or county:

• cannot charge a business license, fee or tax for it,
• cannot treat it as a change of occupancy,
• cannot require a use permit or an environmental review (CEQA),
• can apply only the rules it applies to every other home in the same zone.

The law covers a detached house, a townhouse, and a unit within a dwelling or within a "covered multifamily dwelling," rented, leased or owned (HSC 1596.78). The Civil Rights Department reads that to include apartments, condos, townhomes and duplexes. A large home in a multi-story building still cannot use rooms above the first story unless it meets the sprinkler exception in the fire section above. If a city asks you for a permit or a business license, point it to HSC 1597.45.

Do You Need Insurance for a Home Daycare in California?

You need one of three things: liability insurance, a bond, or a signed affidavit from every parent.

• Liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 total per year, or
• a bond of $300,000, or
• a file of affidavits signed by each parent, in place of the insurance or bond.

Source: HSC 1597.531(a). A landlord or HOA cannot make you buy liability insurance because you plan to run a daycare, according to the Civil Rights Department. If you do carry insurance or a bond, a landlord or HOA can ask to be added to it, but only in writing, at its own cost, and only if that does not get your policy cancelled or not renewed (HSC 1597.531(b)).

Your homeowner's policy does not cover daycare liability. California law says that coverage comes only from a separate endorsement or policy. An insurer that cancels or refuses to renew your homeowner's policy only because you hold a family daycare license faces state sanctions, with narrow exceptions such as unpaid premiums or a big change in the risk (Insurance Code 676.1).

When You Are Away: Substitutes and the 20% Rule

You can be away now and then, for up to 20% of your care hours in a calendar month, unless CDSS decides otherwise (HSC 1597.63, added in 2026). A substitute adult takes your place. Before a substitute's first day, they need:

• to be 18 or older,
• a criminal record clearance,
• a current course card in pediatric first aid, pediatric CPR and preventive health practices,
• the flu, pertussis and measles vaccines.

Tell parents in writing before you use a substitute. In an emergency, tell them by the next business day.

After You Get the License

A California home daycare license does not expire. It stays in effect until it is forfeited, surrendered, suspended or revoked (22 CCR 102383). You keep it by paying the annual fee and following the rules.

• Annual fee. Due on each anniversary of your license. A late payment adds 50%, and unpaid fees can cost you the license.
• Inspections. Licensing visits every home, unannounced, at least once every three years. It also makes random visits to at least 30% of homes each year, visits every year if a home is on probation or a compliance plan, and visits after complaints (HSC 1597.55a).
• Advertising. Put your license number in every ad, flyer or listing you use to find families (HSC 1596.861).
• Incidents. Report a child's death, an injury that needs medical treatment, or an unusual incident to licensing by phone or fax by the next working day. Follow up in writing within 7 days (HSC 1597.467).
• What to post. Your license, the Parents' Rights poster, any Notice of Site Visit for 30 days, and any Type A citation for 30 days. Keep your records for 3 years (LIC 311D). Give parents the state's lead poisoning information sheet (PUB 515).
• Moving. A license does not move with you. A new home needs a new license, at half the application fee.
• Changing capacity. File form LIC 279 marked "Capacity Change" and wait for approval before you take more children. The change costs $25. Going from small to large also needs the experience, the fire clearance and a cleared assistant, and your annual fee becomes $140 once you are licensed for 9 or more.
• Public listings. Small-home addresses are confidential, so parents look you up on the CDSS facility search by your license number (HSC 1596.86). MyChildCarePlan.org lists every licensed provider without showing home addresses.

The Food Program for Home Daycares

A licensed home can be paid back for meals and snacks through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), but only by joining a sponsoring organization. CDSS runs the program in California.

Rates per meal for day care homes, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 (USDA, Federal Register). You can claim meals for your own children only if they are under 13, enrolled in your care, eat with the other children, and your household's eligibility is on file (CDSS).

State drink rules apply whether or not you join: no more than one serving of juice a day, no drinks with added sweeteners, and water readily available (HSC 1596.808). Since June 8, 2026, children 2 and older may also be served unflavored whole or 2% milk. Before that, only 1% or nonfat milk was allowed (PIN 26-08-CCP).

Taking Children With Child Care Subsidies

A licensed home can serve families whose care the state pays for. That money flows through other agencies, not the licensing office.

• CalWORKs Stage One child care runs through county welfare departments.
• Stages Two and Three run through Alternative Payment Programs, local agencies that contract with CDSS to pay providers (CDSS).
• From January 1, 2027, those agencies must pay you the full certificate or voucher amount, without taking out the family's fee (Welfare and Institutions Code 10290).
• Your local Resource and Referral agency lists providers for parents and helps new providers get started: 1-800-543-7793 or rrnetwork.org.

For what a home daycare can earn, see How Much Does a Daycare Owner Make a Month?

What Changed in 2025 and 2026

• January 1, 2025: pool safety rules for homes with an in-ground pool (HSC 1596.814, see the checklist).
• January 1, 2026: the licensee's first aid or CPR training must cover anaphylaxis and epinephrine.
• January 1, 2026: providers may not collect citizenship or immigration information unless a law requires it. A request from immigration enforcement must be reported to CDSS and the Attorney General (HSC 1597.640).
• January 1, 2026: the 2025 California Building Code, with the fire rules for large homes above.
• June 8, 2026: whole and 2% milk allowed for children 2 and older.
• June 29, 2026 (AB 150): the substitute rule became 20% of care hours per calendar month. Mandated reporter training lost its limited-English exemption. Medication rules now cover all medicines, not only inhaled ones. A fuller emergency and disaster plan is required with new applications, and existing homes must comply by January 1, 2027. The plan covers 72 hours of self-reliance, lockdown and shelter-in-place, two relocation sites, drills every quarter (up from every six months), and training for staff and volunteers when they start and every year.
• August 2026: CDSS moved to a new licensing system. If the switch caused a late fee, ask your analyst or regional office to review it (PIN 26-12-CCLD).
• September 18, 2026 (AB 190): together with AB 150, from October 1, 2027, every staff member and substitute needs the 16 hours of health and safety training, and everyone covered needs 12 hours of continuing education each year.
• January 1, 2028: every pediatric first aid and CPR course must include anaphylaxis, and homes must follow the CDSS anaphylaxis policy (HSC 1596.7985).

CDSS summarizes the 2026 laws in PIN 26-11-CCP.

When You Need a Center License Instead

A family child care home license covers care in your own home, for up to 14 children. More children, or care in a building you do not live in, needs a child care center license with its own rules, including the 35-square-foot space rule. Start at the CDSS Child Care Licensing page. To compare the options, see Types of Childcare Businesses to Start. Other states work differently: see our Texas and Louisiana guides.

California Child Care Licensing Contacts

• CDSS Child Care Licensing Program: cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/child-care-licensing. Find your regional office (21 across the state).
• Orientation sign-up: CDSS orientation registration.
• Child Care Advocate Program (questions and concerns about licensing): (916) 654-1541.
• Resource and Referral agencies: 1-800-543-7793, rrnetwork.org.
• Housing complaints (landlords and HOAs): Civil Rights Department, 800-884-1684.
• License lookup: CDSS facility search.
• Food program: CDSS CACFP.

California Home Daycare FAQ

Q:

Can I babysit in my home without a license in California?

Yes, if you care for your own children plus the children of one other family, or only for children you are related to (HSC 1596.792). Children from a second other family mean you need a family child care home license before care starts.

Q:

How many infants can a home daycare have in California?

A small home can care for 4 infants with no other children, 3 infants within 6 children, or 2 infants within 7 or 8 children. A large home can care for 4 infants within 12 children, or 3 within 13 or 14. An infant is a child under 2.

Q:

How much does a home daycare license cost in California?

The orientation costs $27.43 online. The application fee is $73 for a home licensed for 8 or fewer children and $140 for 9 to 14, and the same amount is due every year. Each adult's Live Scan background check is $64 plus the Live Scan site's fee.

Q:

How long does it take to get a home daycare license in California?

CDSS publishes no typical time. Once it has all your application materials, the law gives it 30 days to visit your home and 30 days to decide after you pass the visit and everyone is cleared (HSC 1597.59). An incomplete application is sent back, and a large home also waits on its fire clearance.

Q:

Do I need a degree to open a home daycare in California?

No. A family child care home license needs no degree or college units. You need the 16 hours of health and safety training and mandated reporter training. A large license also needs one year of experience.

Q:

Can my landlord stop me from running a home daycare?

No. You must give 30 days' written notice before you start. Your landlord can ask for a larger security deposit, within the legal limit. Written consent is needed only to care for more than 6 children in a small home or more than 12 in a large one.

Q:

Can my HOA ban a home daycare in California?

No. Any CC&R or other property rule that restricts the use of a home as a family daycare home is void under HSC 1597.41(a).

Q:

Do I need a business license for a home daycare in California?

No. Since 2020, cities and counties cannot charge a family daycare home a business license, fee or tax, and they cannot require a use permit (HSC 1597.45).

Q:

How often does licensing inspect a home daycare in California?

At least once every three years, unannounced. Licensing also visits a random 30% or more of homes each year, every year for homes on probation, and after any complaint.