Home daycare licensing / South Carolina
Home daycare licensing in South Carolina
What it takes to run a licensed home daycare in South Carolina — who regulates it, how many children you can care for, and what an inspector checks.
Who regulates home daycare in South Carolina
SC Department of Social Services (SCDSS), Division of Early Care and Education is the state agency responsible for licensing or registering home child care in South Carolina.
South Carolina keeps its Family Child Care Home tier tightly capped at 6 children — one of the lower solo-provider ceilings in the Southeast — with a distinct 7–12 'Group Child Care Home' category for anyone who wants to grow beyond that. Licensing sits with SCDSS, publicly branded 'SC Child Care Services,' which can confuse providers searching for the actual regulator. Background screening is unusually granular by age: household members as young as 15 are pulled into fingerprint-based checks, well below the 18+ threshold most states use.
Visit SC Department of Social Services (SCDSS), Division of Early Care and Education →License types and capacity
Family Child Care Home
Up to 6 children total in the residence, not attended by a parent/guardian — including children living in the home.
7–12 children moves you into the 'Group Child Care Home' tier under different rules.
Group Child Care Home
7–12 children
A distinct license category with its own facility/staffing rules.
Background checks
Fingerprint-based checks through the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for state criminal history and the FBI for national history, plus a Sex Offender Registry check. Household members age 15+ are checked as part of the operator's household; household members 18+ specifically complete SLED/FBI checks. Rechecked every 5 years.
Advantages of running a home daycare in South Carolina
- The 1–6 Family Child Care Home tier has comparatively light facility requirements versus the Group Child Care Home and Center tiers.
- SC Child Care Services centralizes forms, background-check instructions, and licensing guidance in one place.
- A clear, well-documented step-up path (6 → 7–12 → 13+) gives providers a visible growth track.
Risks and things to watch
- The 6-child hard cap is lower than many neighboring states' solo-provider ceilings.
- The agency's public identity split (SCDSS on paper, 'SC Child Care Services' in practice) trips up providers searching for official guidance.
- Household members as young as 15 require background checks, a lower age threshold than providers relocating from most other states will expect.
Practical tips for South Carolina providers
- Bookmark scchildcare.org's 'Licensing Requirements' and 'Background Check Requirements' pages directly.
- Plan any move into the 7–12 child Group Child Care Home tier well ahead of time, since it triggers a different regulation set.
- Get every household member's SLED/FBI paperwork started early — with a 15+ age threshold, teenage children also need clearance.
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 South Carolina compares:
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