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How to Start a Family Day Home in Virginia: License at 5 to 12 Children, $28 Fee, Zoning Permit Rules

How to Start a Family Day Home in Virginia: License at 5 to 12 Children, $28 Fee, Zoning Permit Rules

If you want to care for other families' children in your home, the first question is whether you need a state license. In Virginia, the answer depends on how many children you serve at one time. Once you care for five or more children, you need a license. With four or fewer, you may register voluntarily. This guide covers the rules in the order you will meet them: when a license is required, the registration option, fees, standards and background checks, zoning, and setup, including insurance and business paperwork.

A word on terms. Virginia's legal term is home-based child care, but most parents and providers call it a family day home. This guide uses both.

Informational content only: This article is not legal or tax advice. Rules change, and localities set their own requirements. Confirm anything that affects your plans with the agency named in each section. For complex situations, such as choosing a business structure, dealing with a lease or HOA, or handling tax questions, consult a qualified attorney or CPA.

What You Need Before You Start

Gather these items before you file anything. Some are for the state license, and others are for the business and zoning steps.

  • The home address and a simple sketch of the rooms children will use. This helps in conversations with the zoning office and the inspector.
  • A list of every adult (age 18 or older) who lives in or regularly works in the home. Each adult faces background check requirements.
  • Your locality's zoning information, plus any HOA covenants or lease terms that apply to the property.
  • Written emergency, medication, supervision, and safe sleep plans. You will need to read the standards first (see Step 4).
  • A parent disclosure statement covering the percentage of time per week that persons other than you will care for the children, and whether you carry liability insurance.
  • Proof of your liability insurance coverage, or a written answer from your carrier about whether your policy covers business care.
  • The license fee. The fee schedule lists $28, but confirm the amount and fee period on the Department of Education page before you pay.
  • If you form an LLC: $100 for Articles of Organization (Form LLC1011), and $10 if you want to reserve a name for 120 days.
  • Contact information for your city or county Commissioner of the Revenue, who administers the local business license tax.

Step 1: Confirm Whether You Need a License

Virginia's licensing statutes (Va. Code 22.1-289.02 and 22.1-289.015) set the rule. Home-based child care is a child day program in the provider's home, or in the home of a child in care, for one through 12 children under age 13. The count does not include the provider's own children or children who live in the home. The program applies when at least one child is in paid care.

A license is required when you serve five through 12 children. Plan for your maximum number of children at one time, not your average. Two other rules affect your count:

  • The under-two limit. Without a license or voluntary registration, you may serve no more than four children under age two. That count includes your own children and children who live in the home. A toddler of your own counts toward the limit.
  • The related-children exemption. If every child in your care is related to you by blood or marriage, you do not need a license. Neighbors' kids, friends' kids, and other unrelated children do not qualify.

You must also tell parents the percentage of time per week that persons other than you will care for their children. Put this in writing at enrollment so it is part of the parent file from the start.

Licensing is handled by the Virginia Department of Education, not the Department of Social Services. Start at the Department of Education's website at https://www.doe.virginia.gov/ and search for child day programs.

Step 2: Consider Voluntary Registration Under Five Children

If you plan to care for fewer than five children, you may register voluntarily instead of holding a license. Registration is optional, but it matters for the under-two limit. Without a license or registration, you may serve no more than four children under age two. A registered home is not bound by that limit in the same way, which can change how you plan your enrollment.

Ask the Department of Education how the registration process works, what forms it requires, and whether it charges a fee. This guide does not restate a registration fee, so confirm that figure on the agency page. Also read the standards to see which ones apply to a registered home.

Registration can also give parents a clearer picture of your operation. Many parents ask whether a provider is documented with the state, and a registered home can answer that question directly.

Step 3: Understand the Fees

The fee schedule at 8VAC20-821-150 lists $28 for a capacity of 1 to 12 children, per two-year fee period. A license for home-based child care may run up to three years under Va. Code 22.1-289.011 C, so the fee period and the license term do not line up exactly. Confirm the fee period and amount on the Department of Education page before you pay, because fee schedules can change.

If you join a family day system, the organization that approves member homes, the system pays a $140 fee. Ask the system whether it passes any costs on to you, and what it requires from member homes beyond the state rules.

Step 4: Meet the Standards and Background Checks

The operating standards are in 8VAC20-800. Read the full text before you finalize your daily schedule and household rules. The standards cover training, safe sleep, supervision, medication, and emergency plans, and they set the rules you will be inspected against. Do not rely on a summary, including this one, when you plan your program.

A few points stand out:

  • Substitute providers may work no more than 240 hours per calendar year.
  • Assistants who are 18 or older may not be alone with the children for more than 2 hours a day.
  • Liability insurance disclosure. You must tell parents whether you carry liability insurance of $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate. This is a disclosure rule, not a rule that makes the insurance itself mandatory. Parents will still expect a straight answer, so have one ready.

Background checks apply to you and to adults in the home. Virginia State Police and FBI fingerprint checks are required (Va. Code 22.1-289.034 and following). Certain criminal convictions, called barrier crimes, bar a person from the home. Separately, a person who is on the sex offender registry, or who has a founded child abuse finding, may not operate the home or live in it (Va. Code 22.1-289.041). Confirm the fees and processing times for these checks with the Department of Education before you schedule fingerprinting for anyone in the household.

Step 5: Check Zoning Before You Apply

Zoning is the step most people skip, and it is the one that can stop a project after you have paid for the license. Virginia's zoning statute (Va. Code 15.2-2292) draws a line based on the number of children you care for.

  • One through four children. The care must be treated as a residential occupancy by a single family. It may not face stricter conditions than other homes in the same zone.
  • Five through 12 children. A locality may adopt an administrative zoning permit process. If it has, the locality sends notice by registered or certified letter to adjacent owners, those owners get a 30-day window to object, and there is an appeal path.

Not every locality has adopted the permit process. Call the zoning office in your city or county and ask three questions: Does a permit apply to care for five through 12 children at my address? If so, what is the process and the timeline? Is there an objection window I need to plan around? Do not assume your locality requires the permit or bans it. Get the answer in writing if you can.

Zoning is not the only limit on your home. Check these private restrictions as well:

  • HOA covenants. Many homeowner associations restrict business use or increased traffic, and a local permit does not override them.
  • Rental leases. If you rent, your lease may prohibit business activity or child care. Get written permission from your landlord before you enroll anyone.

Step 6: Set Up Insurance, Business Paperwork, and Safety

Insurance

A standard homeowners or renters policy usually excludes business activity, and paid child care often falls into that exclusion. Call your carrier before you enroll anyone. Describe the care you plan to provide, including the number of children and their ages, and ask in writing whether it is covered. If it is not, ask what kind of policy or endorsement would cover it. Get quotes from the carrier rather than relying on estimates from a website or a forum.

Forming an LLC (Optional)

You can run a family day home under your own name without forming a separate entity. An LLC adds a separate legal layer, and whether that is worth the cost is a structure decision for your attorney or CPA.

If you form a Virginia LLC, you file Articles of Organization (Form LLC1011) with the State Corporation Commission. The filing fee is $100, and you can file online through the SCC Clerk's Information System at https://cis.scc.virginia.gov/. The name must include an approved ending such as LLC or L.L.C., and it must be distinguishable from names already on file. You can reserve a name for $10 for 120 days.

Virginia LLCs file no annual report. Instead, they pay a $50 annual registration fee to the SCC. The LLC must also keep a registered agent who is a Virginia resident with a Virginia street address, available during business hours. The agent must be a member of the Virginia State Bar, or a member, manager, officer, trustee, or general partner of the LLC. An entity cannot be its own agent.

If you operate under a business name that is different from your legal name, you must file an Assumed Name Certificate with the SCC for $10. The filing goes to the SCC, not the circuit court. Find the SCC's business resources at https://www.scc.virginia.gov/businesses/.

Local Business License (BPOL)

Virginia has no general statewide business license, and the State Corporation Commission issues none. The local license you may need is the Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL), a local license tax under Va. Code 58.1-3700 et seq. Each city or county administers its own BPOL, usually through the Commissioner of the Revenue.

Not every locality levies a general license. Va. Code 58.1-3704 lets a locality levy none. Stafford, Rockingham, Bedford County, Washington County, Montgomery County, Louisa, and Fluvanna are examples of localities without a general county license. Towns can also displace the county tax, so the rules can differ between a town and the county around it. Each locality sets its own rates and filing deadlines, so do not apply a rate from one place to another.

Population also sets a floor on what a locality may require. A locality with more than 50,000 people cannot require a license for gross receipts under $100,000. A locality with 25,000 to 50,000 people cannot require one for gross receipts under $50,000. A locality under 25,000 people has no statutory floor. Localities over 50,000 may waive the license for receipts up to $200,000, but confirm that waiver ceiling with your locality before you rely on it. Ask your Commissioner of the Revenue whether a family day home is subject to BPOL and at what gross receipts.

Safety Checklist

Before you enroll children, walk through the home the way an inspector would. Check the items the standards require: safe sleep arrangements, supervision plans, medication storage, and posted emergency procedures. Keep a first aid kit in an accessible spot, and keep a current emergency contact file for each child. Write down an evacuation plan and a severe weather plan, and practice them with your household. Look for hazards such as loose cords, unsecured cleaning products, and unlocked access to outdoor water. Fix them before the inspection, not during it.

The Order of Operations

Follow this sequence. Doing things out of order can cost time and money.

  1. Check zoning. Call the zoning office, read your HOA covenants, and check your lease before you spend money on forms or fees.
  2. Apply for the license. File with the Department of Education, including background check paperwork for every adult in the home. If you plan to register rather than license, follow the registration process instead.
  3. Finish the inspection. Fix anything the inspector flags, and keep records of the corrections.
  4. Enroll children. Give parents the required disclosures, including the percentage of time per week that others will care for their children and your insurance status.

Set up the business items (the LLC if you choose one, the Assumed Name Certificate if needed, and any BPOL registration) in parallel with the zoning and licensing steps. These run on their own timelines, and a delay in one should not hold up the others.

Tips and Common Mistakes

  • Counting only enrolled children. Plan for peak attendance, including siblings, drop-ins, and occasional care. The license threshold depends on how many children you serve at one time.
  • Forgetting your own toddler. Your own children under age two count toward the four-child limit for unlicensed care.
  • Assuming friends and neighbors are exempt. The related-children exemption covers only children related to you by blood or marriage.
  • Skipping zoning until after the license. A zoning objection or permit requirement can delay your opening, so check it first.
  • Assuming your homeowners policy covers you. Most do not cover paid child care without a call to your carrier.
  • Using old fee numbers. Confirm the license fee and fee period on the Department of Education page on the day you apply.
  • Borrowing a rate from another locality. BPOL rates and filing deadlines are set locally, and some localities have no general license at all.
  • Treating the standards as optional reading. Your inspection will be measured against them, so read them early.

What Results to Expect

Completing these steps typically leaves you with a home that meets the state's licensing or registration rules and a documented basis for your parent relationships. A license for home-based child care may run up to three years, which means the renewal cycle is a recurring task you should calendar from the start.

Timing is harder to predict. Your locality's zoning process, the Department of Education's review, and background check processing may each take longer than you expect, and the outcome of a zoning objection can change your plans. Build a buffer into your opening date rather than committing to a fixed date with parents.

Where to Confirm the Details

This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Verify current figures with the agencies named above before you make a decision, and consult a qualified attorney or CPA for questions about your specific situation.

Keep exploring: related Virginia guides