How to Start a Daycare in Washington State: Licensing and Training

To start a daycare in Washington State, you apply for a license through the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), which regulates childcare under RCW 43.216.¹ The work breaks into five stages: choose a license type, register your business, complete training and background checks, prepare your facility and written policies, then submit an application and pass a pre-licensing inspection. Plan for several months from your first training enrollment to opening day.

Pick a License Type

Washington issues two main childcare licenses under WAC Chapter 110-300: Family Home Child Care and Child Care Center.² Your choice determines where you can operate, how many children you can serve, and what staffing you need.

A Family Home Child Care license lets you operate out of your residence, serving children from birth through age 12. The maximum is 12 children, but your ceiling depends on your experience and whether you employ a qualified assistant:³

Less than one year of experience: up to 6 children, with no more than 3 under age two.
One to two years, working alone: up to 8 children ages two through 12, with no more than 4 under age three.
One to two years, with a qualified assistant: up to 9 children from birth through 12, with no more than 4 under age two.
Two or more years, with a qualified assistant: up to 12 children from birth through 12, with no more than 6 under age two.

A Child Care Center license applies to programs in commercial or other non-residential buildings. Centers serve dozens or hundreds of children depending on square footage, group children into age-based classrooms, and follow their own staffing ratio tables under WAC 110-300. Mixed-age classrooms in a center base their ratio on the youngest child in the room, which catches new operators off guard because one infant in a preschool room drops the whole room’s allowed ratio.

Register Your Business

Before you apply for a childcare license, handle the business formation. If your gross income will be $12,000 or more per year, you plan to hire employees, or you operate under any name other than your full legal name, you must register with the Department of Revenue and obtain a Unified Business Identifier (UBI) number.⁴ Forming a corporation, LLC, or partnership means filing with the Secretary of State first, then submitting the business license application.

On the federal side, you need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS if you plan to hire staff or if you structure your business as a corporation, LLC, or partnership.⁵ Sole proprietors with no employees can use their Social Security number, but most daycare operators need an EIN once they bring on even one assistant. The online application is free.

Zoning for Home-Based Providers

If you plan to operate from your residence, Washington law is on your side. Under RCW 35.63.185, no city may prohibit a family daycare from operating in a residential or commercial zone.⁶ Cities can still require compliance with building, fire, and health codes, require you to notify immediately adjoining property owners before licensing, and set reasonable limits on hours of operation. They cannot outright block a family daycare in your home. Check with your local planning department for specifics like signage rules or safe passenger loading requirements.

Complete Training and Background Checks

Every person working in a licensed Washington daycare must have a profile in MERIT (Managed Education and Registry Information Tool), the DCYF workforce registry that tracks training, certifications, and employment history.⁷ You will need a MERIT account before most other steps.

Portable Background Check

Everyone with unsupervised access to children must pass a Portable Background Check. Start in MERIT, go to “My Applications,” and follow the background check link. The process includes fingerprinting and a criminal history review. Once cleared, the check is valid for five years and follows the individual to new employers or locations.⁸

Required Courses and Certifications

Before your facility can open, you and your staff must complete:

Child Care Basics (CCB), the foundational health, safety, and child development course required for all educators in licensed programs.⁷
DCYF licensing orientation for new applicants.
Pediatric CPR and first aid, current for all staff.
Food Worker Card for any staff involved in food preparation or handling.
Safe Sleep training if you serve infants and toddlers.
Bloodborne pathogen training for all staff working directly with children.

Certifications are recorded in the Health and Safety section of your MERIT profile. Keep them current; DCYF checks at licensing and at every subsequent inspection.

If you hire employees, federal law requires you to complete Form I-9 for each new hire. The employee fills out Section 1 on their first day, and you must examine their original identity documents and complete Section 2 within three business days.

Ready the Facility

Your facility must provide at least 35 square feet of usable indoor space per child in attendance, measured after excluding hallways, bathrooms, kitchens used exclusively for food preparation, and storage.⁹ That number sets your licensed capacity. A 700-square-foot playroom, for example, accommodates up to 20 children.

Outdoor play space must provide at least 75 square feet per child using the area at any one time.¹⁰ If your outdoor area cannot fit all enrolled children at once, you can propose an alternate plan to DCYF, such as rotating groups outdoors or using a nearby off-site area, but the department must approve it before you rely on it. Outdoor spaces must be securely fenced and hazard-free.

In a family home, ratios shift with the ages of children present. You need a second staff member anytime:³

More than 6 children are present and any child is under age two
More than 8 children are present and any child is under age three
More than 10 children are present and any child is under school age

An infant-only family home program (birth to 24 months) runs at 1 staff member per 4 children with a maximum group size of 8. This option requires at least two years of experience and two staff whenever more than four children are in care.

Write Your Required Policies

DCYF requires a written set of operational policies before licensing. Your licensor will review them at the pre-licensing inspection, and they govern how you handle daily situations and emergencies.

A parent handbook covering hours, fees, payment schedules, drop-off and pickup procedures, and behavioral expectations.
An emergency preparedness plan with specific responses to fires, earthquakes, lockdowns, and other threats, including evacuation routes, reunification procedures, and emergency contacts.
A health policy covering immunizations, illness exclusion criteria, medication administration, contagious disease protocols, and daily sanitation.

Draft these before you submit your application. Vague or incomplete policies are one of the most common reasons licensors send applicants back for corrections.

Line Up Insurance

Washington does not set a specific insurance minimum in the licensing WAC, but operating without liability coverage is a serious financial risk. Most providers carry general liability, which covers bodily injury and property damage claims on the premises. Professional liability adds protection against claims of an error in the care you provided, such as failing to follow a child’s allergy plan.

Abuse and molestation coverage is separate. Standard general liability policies often exclude these claims, so you need a dedicated rider or standalone policy covering allegations of physical, sexual, or verbal abuse, whether involving staff and a child or between children.

If you hire any employees, Washington law requires workers’ compensation insurance through the Department of Labor and Industries. Coverage is mandatory for virtually all employers in the state, purchased directly through L&I, which manages claims and pays benefits from the state fund.¹¹

Apply and Pass Inspection

When your training is complete, background checks are cleared, and the facility is ready, submit your licensing application through the WA Compass Provider Portal.¹² The portal collects your business structure, MERIT numbers, facility measurements, intended age ranges, staff information, and copies of your written policies.

Annual licensing fees vary by license type and capacity. Family home providers pay approximately $30 per year. Center fees start at roughly $125 for the first 12 children, with a per-child charge beyond that. Larger centers serving 100 or more children can face annual fees well above $1,000. These recur every year.

DCYF then assigns a licensor who becomes your primary contact. They check your application for completeness and schedule the pre-licensing inspection. On the walkthrough, the licensor verifies that indoor and outdoor spaces match your reported measurements, checks for safety hazards, confirms required equipment like fire extinguishers and first aid kits, and reviews physical copies of your parent handbook and emergency plans. Any shortfall produces a list of deficiencies with a deadline to correct before a follow-up visit.

Plan for Federal Taxes

Running a daycare makes you subject to self-employment tax on your net business income at a combined rate of 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security on the first $184,500 of net earnings in 2026, plus 2.9% for Medicare on all net earnings with no cap.¹³¹⁴ You report daycare income and expenses on Schedule C.

If you operate from home, the business-use-of-home deduction gives daycare providers a special break: you do not have to meet the “exclusive use” test that applies to most home offices. As long as the space is used regularly for daycare and you hold or have applied for a state license, you qualify.¹⁵ Under the simplified method, you deduct $5 per square foot used for daycare, up to 300 square feet. If the space is not used exclusively for daycare, you reduce the rate by the fraction of total hours it is used for childcare. The regular method uses actual expenses (mortgage interest, utilities, insurance, depreciation) prorated by the percentage of your home and time used for daycare.

Meal costs are a separate Schedule C deduction. You can deduct 100% of actual food costs for daycare children or use USDA standard meal and snack rates. For 2025, the standard rates in most states were $1.66 per breakfast, $3.15 per lunch or dinner, and $0.93 per snack, adjusted annually.¹⁵

Know Your Ongoing Obligations

ADA Compliance

Private daycare centers fall under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. You must make reasonable modifications to your policies and practices to include children, parents, and guardians with disabilities, though not changes that would fundamentally alter your program.¹⁶ Existing facilities must remove physical barriers where “readily achievable,” meaning without much difficulty or expense. Examples include grab bars, widening doors with offset hinges, or rearranging furniture. New construction after March 15, 2012 must fully comply with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Service animals are not pets under the ADA, so a “no pets” policy does not apply to a child or parent who uses one.

Food and Subsidy Programs

The USDA’s Child and Adult Care Food Program reimburses licensed providers for meals and snacks served to enrolled children. Public and private nonprofit centers, Head Start programs, and licensed family home providers are eligible. For-profit centers can participate if they serve a sufficient proportion of lower-income children.¹⁷

Washington’s Working Connections Child Care program pays providers directly on behalf of eligible low-income families. Accepting subsidy is voluntary, but participating expands the pool of families who can afford your care. You submit invoices through the Social Service Payment System provider portal or by phone.¹⁸

One catch: if your program receives any state funding, including WCCC subsidy payments, you must participate in Early Achievers, Washington’s quality rating and improvement system under RCW 43.216.085.¹⁹ Otherwise it is voluntary. The program provides coaching, training, mental health consultation, and financial support, and higher ratings are publicly visible to families comparing programs.

1
Washington State Legislature. Chapter 43.216 RCW – Department of Children, Youth, and Families
2
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Become a Licensed Child Care and Early Learning Provider
3
Washington State Legislature. WAC 110-300-0355 – Family Home Capacity, Ratio, and Group Size
4
Washington Department of Revenue. Apply for a Business License
5
Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
6
Washington State Legislature. RCW 35.63.185 – Family Day-Care Providers Home Facility
7
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. MERIT Workforce Registry
8
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Background Check Requirements
9
Cornell Law Institute. WAC 110-300-0354 – Indoor Early Learning Program Space
10
Washington State Legislature. WAC 110-300-0145 – Outdoor Play Space
11
Washington Department of Labor and Industries. Employers Guide to Workers Compensation Insurance in Washington
12
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. WA Compass Provider Portal
13
Social Security Administration. Social Security Tax Limits on Your Earnings
14
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax – Social Security and Medicare Taxes
15
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 587 – Business Use of Your Home Including Use by Daycare Providers
16
U.S. Department of Justice. Commonly Asked Questions about Child Care Centers and the Americans with Disabilities Act
17
Food and Nutrition Service. Child Day Care Centers
18
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Working Connections Child Care Subsidy Program
19
Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Early Achievers