Home daycare licensing
The records a family child care inspector actually checks
Home daycare is licensed state by state, so the exact forms and retention periods vary. But the core set of records is remarkably consistent everywhere. Here's what to keep ready — and where to confirm the specifics for your state.
Who regulates your home daycare
There is no single federal licensor. Each state runs its own agency — California CDSS Community Care Licensing, Washington DCYF, Wisconsin DCF, Connecticut's Office of Early Childhood, Texas HHSC, and so on. A federal program, the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), sets a baseline that flows into state licensing and into the subsidy program. If you accept subsidy children, that agency adds its own attendance and billing documentation on top.
To find yours, start at the official federal resource childcare.gov, which links to every state's licensing agency, then confirm the exact forms and retention periods directly with that agency.
The core record set
Wording differs by state, but nearly every family child care license expects these.
Daily attendance (sign-in / sign-out)
The most universally required record: each child's name, date, time in and time out recorded at arrival and departure, and the signature or initials of the adult who dropped off or picked up. Subsidy programs also want a parent signature verifying attendance at least weekly.
Identification & emergency information
Emergency contacts, authorized pickups, the child's physician, and parent work and phone numbers — kept current for every enrolled child.
Immunization record (or exemption)
An up-to-date immunization record, or the state's valid exemption, for each child.
Allergy & special-needs information
What each child is allergic to and any special care needs — often the first thing an inspector checks.
Medication consent & administration log
When you give any medication: what, the dose, the time, and who administered it — with written parent consent on file.
Current roster of children in care
A current list of the children you care for, producible on request.
Incident / injury reports
A written record when something happens — child, date and time, what occurred, the action taken, and that the parent was notified.
Emergency & evacuation plan (+ drill log)
A written disaster and evacuation plan, often with a dated log of practice drills.
Background checks & health clearances
Criminal-record clearances for the provider and every household adult, plus items many states require such as TB testing and current CPR / first-aid certification.
Written policies / parent handbook
Your policies on illness, discipline, ratios, and hours — usually shared with families and kept on file.
Attendance is the one you can't afford to lose
Daily sign-in / sign-out is the most universally required — and audited — record, and it has to be on the premises and producible on the spot. Retention varies: about one year in Connecticut, about three years after a child's last day in Wisconsin, and commonly three years for subsidy. A paper binder that goes missing before an inspection is exactly the risk providers worry about.
DaycareFlow keeps attendance as digital records you can pull up by child and date — so the log an inspector asks for is a search, not a shoebox. Read more on the blog.
Keep inspection-ready records without the binder.
DaycareFlow keeps your children, attendance, and family info in one place — built for solo home daycare. Free during early access.
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