How to get a Maine family child care license

Who the state says may apply

Maine licenses the person, in the person's own home. To be licensed as a family child care provider you must be at least 18 years old and hold a high school diploma or equivalent.

The license is for the premises, not the idea of the business. A license issued for your home does not follow you to another address — and it is issued only after the inspections pass, never before.

Expect the department to visit without warning. It must make at least one unannounced inspection during the license term, between six and eighteen months after issuance.

18 years oldMaine requires a family child care provider to be at least 18 years old with a high school diploma or equivalent. — Maine DHHS, Children's Licensing and Investigation Services, retrieved 2026-09-29

6 to 18 monthsThe department must make at least one unannounced inspection of a licensed family child care provider during the license term, between 6 and 18 months after issuance. — Maine Legislature, 22 M.R.S. §8301-A, retrieved 2026-09-29

The order the checklist actually pushes

The state's pre-licensing checklist says the requirements may be completed in any order — but the starred items should be given priority. The stars sit on the four steps that can stop everything. The town's approval, the landlord's approval, the background checks, and the application with its fee and floor plan.

Start with the town and the landlord. The checklist is blunt: complete zoning or code approval if your locality requires it, or get proof in writing that a permit is not required. And if you rent, get the landlord's written approval. The zoning page covers what that letter needs to say.

The training can run alongside. Six hours of approved orientation, "Getting Started in Family Child Care," are required before the license is issued, through Maine Roads to Quality. CPR and first aid courses without a hands-on skills assessment are not accepted.

six hoursAn applicant must complete six hours of approved orientation training, "Getting Started in Family Child Care," offered through Maine Roads to Quality, to be issued a family child care license. — Maine DHHS, Child Care Licensing FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-29

The pre-licensing checklist requires landlord approval in writing if the home is rented or leased. — Maine DHHS, Children's Licensing and Investigation Services, retrieved 2026-09-29

The fingerprints, and everyone in the house

The background check is not only yours. It covers every current and prospective staff member, every household member over 18, and anyone whose activities involve caring for or supervising children or who has unsupervised access to them.

Fingerprinting is scheduled through IdentoGO, and the state police forward the prints. The department issues a Letter of Eligibility afterward, which your licensing specialist reviews with you.

The department pays for these checks from federal grant funds, so budget nothing for them — but budget time. The background check page lists every registry that gets searched.

household members over 18A comprehensive background check is required for the provider, all staff members, all household members over 18, and anyone with unsupervised access to children in care. — Maine DHHS, 10-148 CMR Ch. 34, retrieved 2026-09-29

Fees for the required criminal background checks are paid by the department from federal Child Care and Development Block Grant funds. — Maine Legislature, 22 M.R.S. §8302-A, retrieved 2026-09-29

The application, the fee and the floor plan

The application goes to the Department of Health and Human Services with the fee, a floor plan, and the authorization for release of personal history information. The check is payable to the Treasurer, State of Maine, and it is not refundable.

Answer the legal history questions completely. The checklist warns that inaccurate reporting may result in immediate denial of the application — a bounced check suspends the whole process until payment clears.

An incomplete application goes stale: one on which no action has been taken is void after sixty days. And the fee is not the only money on the table — the cost breakdown prices the whole first year.

$80The application fee for a provisional family child care license is $80, payable to the Treasurer, State of Maine, and non-refundable. — Maine DHHS, 10-148 CMR Ch. 33, retrieved 2026-09-29

sixty daysAn incomplete application on which no action has been taken by the applicant is void after sixty days. — Maine DHHS, 10-148 CMR Ch. 33, retrieved 2026-09-29

The two inspections before any license

Two inspections stand between an application and a license. After you submit, Children's Licensing and Investigation Services contacts the State Fire Marshal's Office to inspect your home. And licensing cannot proceed until the home passes.

Then your Child Care Licensing Specialist visits. The specialist inspects the entire home and grounds for safety, performs a lead hazards survey, and leaves you a list of everything pending. If all requirements are met, the specialist recommends licensure, subject to supervisory approval.

The home inspection checklist walks the specific standards — the square footage, the water tests, the pool and pet rules — before either inspector arrives.

The State Fire Marshal's Office must approve a family child care home before a license can be issued, and a request for the fire inspection is made once the application is submitted. — Maine DHHS, Child Care Licensing FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-29

Provisional first, biennial after

Every new program is issued a one-year provisional license first. After that, a family child care license runs two years at a time.

Open only after the license is issued. The rule states a license must be issued before a provider can begin providing day care to children. Once it is, two items follow immediately. File the State of Maine vendor form with your specialist, because a vendor code is required for any payment from the state, and enroll in Rising Stars for ME, the state's quality rating system.

Then set the renewal clock. Sixty days before expiry is the deadline that matters — the renewal guide shows what late costs.

one year, then twoAll new child care programs are initially issued a one-year provisional license, and a family child care license is then issued for a two-year period. — Maine DHHS, Child Care Licensing FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-29

A family child care license must be issued before a provider can begin providing day care to children. — Maine DHHS, 10-148 CMR Ch. 33, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions