Home daycare licensing / Colorado
Home daycare licensing in Colorado
What it takes to run a licensed home daycare in Colorado — who regulates it, how many children you can care for, and what an inspector checks.
Who regulates home daycare in Colorado
Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) is the state agency responsible for licensing or registering home child care in Colorado.
Colorado recently rebranded its licensing home from the Department of Human Services into a dedicated Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) — older guidance and links still point to the previous DHS Office of Early Childhood. The standout quirk is the '3-under-2' license variant: a provider can choose a standard 6-child Family Child Care Home or a version that trades group-size flexibility for a stricter under-2 sub-limit, tailoring the license to the age mix they actually serve.
Visit Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) →License types and capacity
Family Child Care Home (FCCH)
6 children from birth to 18; the provider's own children age 12+ do not count against this capacity.
A '3-under-2' variant allows 6 children with no more than 3 under age 2 (no more than 2 of those under 12 months).
Large Family Child Care Home (LFCCH)
7 to 12 children from birth to 18, with a maximum of 2 children under age 2.
Reaching this tier requires qualifying as an experienced provider and generally an assistant present.
Background checks
Fingerprint-based Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and FBI criminal history check for the applicant and every household member 18+, plus a separate TRAILS check (Colorado's child abuse/neglect database) for the same group.
Advantages of running a home daycare in Colorado
- The Large Family Child Care Home tier's 12-child ceiling with only 2 kids under age 2 gives room to grow revenue while keeping the most labor-intensive age group capped tightly.
- CDEC is a purpose-built early-childhood department rather than one program inside a broader social-services agency.
- The '3-under-2' FCCH variant lets a provider opt into a license shape matching their actual client mix instead of a one-size-fits-all 6-child cap.
Risks and things to watch
- Older bookmarks referencing the previous DHS Office of Early Childhood may be stale post-reorganization — confirm you're on the current cdec.colorado.gov domain.
- The Large FCCH's 2-under-2 sub-limit is easy to blow past if you're not tracking birthdates carefully.
- Two separate background-check fees apply per household member 18+ (CBI/FBI combined plus a separate TRAILS fee) — costs compound for multi-adult households.
Practical tips for Colorado providers
- Decide between the standard FCCH and the '3-under-2' variant based on your actual target client age mix before applying.
- Budget for both the CBI/FBI combined fee and the separate TRAILS fee per household member 18+ up front.
- Track your path to the Large FCCH's 'experienced provider' qualification early if 12-child capacity is your growth goal.
See the full record set every inspector checks for what to have ready regardless of state.
Curious about licensing in other states?
Home daycare rules — capacity limits, ratios, background checks — vary a lot from state to state. You might want to check how Colorado compares:
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