Home daycare licensing / Virginia
Home daycare licensing in Virginia
What it takes to run a licensed home daycare in Virginia — who regulates it, how many children you can care for, and what an inspector checks.
Who regulates home daycare in Virginia
Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Office of Child Care Licensing is the state agency responsible for licensing or registering home child care in Virginia.
Virginia moved child care licensing out of the Department of Social Services and into the Virginia Department of Education in 2021, and rebranded the 'Family Day Home' as 'Licensed Home-Based Child Care.' A lot of older guides still say 'VDSS' and 'Family Day Home,' so knowing the current owner is half the battle. Virginia is also unusual in using a points system rather than a fixed ratio to decide when you need a second caregiver.
Visit Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), Office of Child Care Licensing →License types and capacity
Licensed Home-Based Child Care (formerly Family Day Home)
5 to 12 children, not counting the provider's own children or others who reside in the home.
Caring for 1–4 children is generally exempt — BUT if you care for more than four children under age 2 (including your own), you must be licensed or voluntarily registered.
Child-to-caregiver ratios
Virginia uses a point system rather than a simple ratio: each child is assigned points by age, and once a home exceeds 16 points the provider must add another caregiver. Younger children carry more points, so an infant-heavy group hits the threshold quickly.
Background checks
Fingerprint-based state and national criminal history checks plus a Child Protective Services central registry search for the provider and other adults in the home, through the VDOE licensing process.
Advantages of running a home daycare in Virginia
- The 12-child ceiling is generous for a home program, giving room to grow with a second caregiver.
- Sitting under the Department of Education positions home providers within the state's early-education system, not welfare services — a subtle but real credibility shift.
- The points system flexes with the ages you serve: a group of older children lets one provider care for more kids than a rigid ratio would allow.
Risks and things to watch
- Out-of-date information is everywhere: anything citing 'VDSS' or the old 'Family Day Home' program name predates the 2021 move to VDOE — always confirm against childcare.virginia.gov.
- The under-2 rule is a trap: even if you're under five children total, more than four under age 2 (counting your own) pulls you into mandatory licensing.
- The point threshold, not the headline number of 12, is what actually triggers the second-caregiver cost — model it before you enroll infants.
Practical tips for Virginia providers
- Do the points math for your specific age mix before enrolling — it tells you exactly when you'll need (and have to pay for) a second caregiver.
- When searching for forms, use 'VDOE' or 'childcare.virginia.gov' to filter out the pre-2021 VDSS documents that still rank in Google.
- If you only want a handful of kids, confirm you're truly exempt — the under-2 clause catches providers who assume 'four or fewer means no license.'
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 Virginia compares:
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