How to Start a Daycare in Connecticut (2026)

Connecticut Daycare Licensing: Fees & Key Numbers

The statute-cited figures that shape your Connecticut launch budget and timeline.

Application fee

The initial license application fee for a family child care home is forty dollars ($40), per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-87b(d). For larger programs the licensing fee is collected prior to issuing the license: $500 for a child care center and $250 for a group child care home, per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-80(b)(2).

Annual renewal fee

License renewal fees equal the initial fees and all licenses run on a four-year term: $40 to renew a family child care home (Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-87b(d), which provides the fee "prior to issuing or renewing"); $500 to renew a child care center and $250 to renew a group child care home, each collected "prior to issuing or renewing a license for a term of four years" (Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-80(b)(2)).

Pre-service training

Connecticut does not prescribe a pre-service clock-hour figure; instead, before final approval of a family child care home license the applicant must verify current certification in first aid and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-87b-6(c) and Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-79, and child care centers/group child care homes must require new program staff to participate in employee orientation, per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-79-4a(a)(6); no minimum pre-service hour count is set.

Annual training

For child care centers and group child care homes, each program staff member must complete ongoing annual training that is at least one percent (1%) of the staff member's total annual hours worked (content per 45 CFR 98.41 on and after April 1, 2025), per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-79-4a(h)(2); Connecticut does not require licensed family child care home providers to complete a set number of annual continuing-education hours (only continuous first aid/CPR certification), per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-87b-6.

License-exempt threshold

A Connecticut license is required to provide child care to even one unrelated child on a regularly recurring basis; a private home caring for not more than six children (including the provider's own children not in school full time) is a "family child care home" that must be licensed. The only relevant no-license exemptions are informal arrangements among neighbors and formal or informal arrangements among relatives in their own homes within limited degrees of kinship by blood, marriage or court order (grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle), per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-77(a)(3) and the exemption at 19a-77(b)(4).

Family child care capacity

A family child care home may care for not more than six children (including the provider's own children not in school full time) without an Office of Early Childhood-approved assistant or substitute, or not more than nine children with such an approved assistant or substitute; during the regular school year up to three additional school-age children are permitted, per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-77(a)(3). There is an infant sub-limit: the provider may care for no more than two children under eighteen months of age at one time, increasing to up to six children under eighteen months when an approved assistant is present and assisting (Infant and Toddler Restriction, Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-87b-1 et seq.).

Indoor square footage

For child care centers and group child care homes first licensed after January 1, 1986, the operator must provide a minimum of thirty-five (35) square feet of total indoor usable program space per child (thirty (30) square feet per child for facilities licensed before January 1, 1986), plus access to a minimum of seventy-five (75) square feet of outdoor play space per child for the number of children using the space at any one time, per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-79-7a(f) and 19a-79-7a(h). Family child care homes have no numeric per-child square-footage requirement, only "sufficient indoor and outdoor play space" per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-87b-9(f).

Inspection schedule

The Commissioner of Early Childhood (or designee) shall make an unannounced visit, inspection or investigation of each licensed child care center and group child care home at least once each year (CGS Sec. 19a-80(b)(3)). At least once every two years the local health director (or designee) shall also inspect each licensed facility. Complaint investigations and follow-up inspections occur as needed, with corrective action plans for cited violations.

What You Need to Apply in Connecticut

Connecticut licensing requires these documents and forms at the initial application and inspection.

• ✓Child Care Center / Group Child Care Home Initial License Application — Connecticut OEC Division of Licensing
• ✓Licensure fee submitted with application/renewal (CGS 19a-80(b)(2): $500 center / $250 group child care home per four-year term)
• ✓Local building/fire official approval (written approval by local building inspector / local director of health / fire marshal submitted with the application)
• ✓Comprehensive background check / fingerprint submission package (state and national criminal history records check per CGS 29-17a, plus state child abuse registry check per CGS 17a-101k; initiated via OEC)
• ✓Health assessment / physician-signed physical examination form and immunization record for each enrolled child (RCSA 19a-79-5a(a)(2) and 19a-79-6a(e))
• ✓Enrollment and specific written parental permission forms, including written transportation authorization (RCSA 19a-79-5a(a)(1))

Starting a Daycare in Connecticut: FAQs

Do I need a license to start a daycare in Connecticut?

A Connecticut license is required to provide child care to even one unrelated child on a regularly recurring basis; a private home caring for not more than six children (including the provider's own children not in school full time) is a "family child care home" that must be licensed. The only relevant no-license exemptions are informal arrangements among neighbors and formal or informal arrangements among relatives in their own homes within limited degrees of kinship by blood, marriage or court order (grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, aunt or uncle), per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-77(a)(3) and the exemption at 19a-77(b)(4).

How much does it cost to get a daycare license in Connecticut?

The initial license application fee for a family child care home is forty dollars ($40), per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-87b(d). For larger programs the licensing fee is collected prior to issuing the license: $500 for a child care center and $250 for a group child care home, per Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-80(b)(2). Renewal: License renewal fees equal the initial fees and all licenses run on a four-year term: $40 to renew a family child care home (Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-87b(d), which provides the fee "prior to issuing or renewing"); $500 to renew a child care center and $250 to renew a group child care home, each collected "prior to issuing or renewing a license for a term of four years" (Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-80(b)(2)).

Who issues daycare licenses in Connecticut?

Childcare licensing in Connecticut is handled by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), Division of Licensing. You apply to this agency, pay the licensing fee, and schedule your inspection through them.

What training do I need before opening a daycare in Connecticut?

Connecticut does not prescribe a pre-service clock-hour figure; instead, before final approval of a family child care home license the applicant must verify current certification in first aid and in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-87b-6(c) and Conn. Gen. Stat. 19a-79, and child care centers/group child care homes must require new program staff to participate in employee orientation, per Conn. Agencies Regs. 19a-79-4a(a)(6); no minimum pre-service hour count is set.