Licensed or exempt: Maine's home day care line
When does Maine require a license for child care in my home?
The two-child line, as the department applies it
Maine's licensing rule is direct: no person may provide child care for more than two children who are not the provider's own and do not live in the provider's home, without a license from the department.
The department's current guidance draws the same line. A provider is not required to be licensed when caring for no more than two children, if the provider is a Maine resident and does not reside in the same household as the children in care.
Two is the safe planning number. The third child who is neither yours nor a resident of your home is the one who makes the rest of this site apply to you.
more than two childrenMaine's family child care rule states no person may provide child care for more than two children who are not the provider's children or residents of the home without a license. — Maine DHHS, 10-148 CMR Ch. 33, retrieved 2026-09-29
Maine DHHS guidance states a provider is not required to be licensed when caring for no more than two children, as a Maine resident not residing in the same household as the children in care. — Maine DHHS, Child Care Licensing FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-29
The 2025 statute change, and the gap it left
The legislature moved the statutory text in 2025. The current definition exempts a provider who is caring for children living in their own home and no more than three other children. Or four if at least two of them are siblings — provided no more than three of the total children in care are under two years of age.
That is wider than the rule the department still enforces. The licensing rule dates to 2022 and still sets the line at two children, and the department's FAQ, last revised in 2023, says two as well.
Treat the conflict as a question for your licensing specialist, not a loophole. Until the department updates its rule, the two-child line is the one its staff apply, and the statute's wider exemption has not reached the guidance anyone is inspected against.
PL 2025, c. 135As amended in 2025, 22 M.R.S. §8301-A exempts a provider caring for children living in the home and up to three other children — four if two are siblings — with at most three under age two. — Maine Legislature, 22 M.R.S. §8301-A, retrieved 2026-09-29
What exempt status still requires
Exempt from licensure is not exempt from everything. A home provider caring for one or two children whose care is paid for by state or federal funds is subject to a separate statute. The provider and each covered staff member must pass a criminal background check meeting the federal standard.
The same statute obliges the department to supply those providers with health and safety information. Communicable disease control, immunization requirements, physical premises safety — and training information covering first aid, CPR and early care.
And the department keeps its authority to inspect the premises of a person providing that care. "Exempt" narrows the license requirement; it does not remove the department from the home.
A home provider of one or two publicly funded children is not required to be licensed but is subject to 22 M.R.S. §8302-B, including a required criminal background check. — Maine Legislature, 22 M.R.S. §8302-B, retrieved 2026-09-29
Exempt providers can still be paid by the state
License-exempt status does not close the public money channels. The department's own FAQ states that license-exempt providers are eligible to receive Child Care Subsidy Program funds and Child and Adult Care Food Program funds.
That eligibility is why the exempt route is worth setting up correctly rather than drifting into. A provider with two subsidized children stays exempt, but the background check applies, and the food program has its own participation paperwork. The food program page covers it.
The subsidy side has its own rate tables, published by county and by provider type. The subsidy page shows what licensed homes charge across the state, which is the context for what any provider can ask in parent fees.
Maine DHHS guidance states license-exempt providers are eligible to receive Child Care Subsidy Program and Child and Adult Care Food Program funds. — Maine DHHS, Child Care Licensing FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-29
What operating unlicensed costs, per day
The penalty for operating an unlicensed child care program is not less than $500 and not more than $10,000 per day. Each day is a separate offense. A week over the line is seven penalties, not one.
That number prices the decision. Care for a third non-resident child while "getting the paperwork started" is the exact conduct it attaches to, because the license must be issued before care begins, not applied for.
If you are over the line, the licensing guide is the path back, and the capacity page tells you how far over it you are allowed to go once licensed.
$500 to $10,000 per dayThe penalty for operating an unlicensed child care program in Maine is not less than $500 nor more than $10,000 per day, and each day constitutes a separate offense. — Maine DHHS, Child Care Licensing FAQs, retrieved 2026-09-29
Questions
Do my own children count toward the two-child limit?
No. The line counts children who are not the provider's own and do not reside in the provider's home. Your own children and children living with you sit outside it. Once licensed, though, your own children under four do count toward the staffing ratios.
Does watching relatives' children require a license in Maine?
Only if they do not live in your home and there are more than two of them. The rule turns on residence and count, not family relationship. Three nieces who live elsewhere put you over the line even if nobody charges their parents.
If the 2025 statute allows three or four children, can I take a third now?
Ask your licensing specialist before you do. The licensing rule the department enforces still says more than two children requires a license, and its guidance has not been updated to match the amended statute. The department's staff, not the text alone, determine what you are inspected against.
Can a license-exempt provider hire an assistant?
The exemption is written around a person caring for one or two children in their home. Anyone whose activities involve the care or supervision of those children triggers the background check requirements that attach to publicly funded care. Read the background check page before the first shift.