Open the official state resources
Start with the state licensing information linked on this page. Find the office that regulates family or home-based child care in the county or region where you live.
Provider PathBy Holly’s Growing Minds StudioEspañolVT guide
VT home child care
How to start a home daycare in Vermont.
Use Vermont’s Child Development Division provider guidance to identify the requirements for your proposed family home or center. The “Using Regulated Child Care” booklet is written for parents and is not your provider application. Use Northern Lights at CCV for professional-development support; it explains how professionals use BFIS Quality and Credential Accounts. Confirm the current application and background-check instructions directly with CDD.
Source review: September 13, 2026
Reviewed the parent booklet and Northern Lights/BFIS professional-development support. Current CDD provider application and background-check replacement directions were not verified.
The parent booklet and Northern Lights resources were reviewed. Current CDD provider-start, application and background-check replacement directions remain unverified.
Individual courses, staff qualifications, local approvals and account submissions have not been certified by this review. Confirm those details with the responsible agency.
Free state paperwork guide
Forms & records for Vermont.
Vermont uses BFIS for licensing records and CDDIS for financial-assistance reporting. Home census and background-check paperwork support home registration; health forms come from the Department of Health.
- BFIS Licensing Applications and Reapplications
Manage licensing applications, reapplications, variances, incident submissions, and staff associations.
Official source ↗ - Family Child Care Home Census List
Identify every home resident, with the applicant listed first.
Official source ↗ - Current Record Check Authorization — Digital Form Guidance
Authorize and submit a child care background check using the current digital or PDF process.
Official source ↗ - Child Admission/Registration Form — Sample
Organize admission information for a child's file.
Official source ↗ - Evacuation Drill Record — Sample
Keep an organized record of evacuation practice.
Official source ↗ - Medical Immunization Exemption — Child Care and Schools
Document medically contraindicated or potentially detrimental vaccines and the exemption's expected duration.
Official source ↗ - Annual Immunization Status Report
Report enrolled children's immunization status to the Health Department.
Official source ↗ - CCDIS Attendance Reports and Provider Rate Agreements
Submit attendance and rate agreements, and review certificates, claims, and notices.
Official source ↗
Paperwork sources reviewed September 14, 2026. The full guide identifies provider types, use instructions, format choices, and review limits.
Your starting roadmap
Seven steps to organize the process.
This roadmap shows what most applicants need to ask about. It does not replace Vermont’s current packet, regulations or licensing representative.
Prepared byHolly
Teacher, former in-home provider, and family child care specialist with more than 35 years in early childhood.
Source standardReview scope matters
How Provider Path is researched →Targeted source review dated September 13, 2026. The source-review note identifies the scope and limits. Confirm your category and location before applying.
Confirm which provider type applies
Ask whether your program will be licensed, registered, certified or legally license-exempt. The answer can depend on capacity, children’s ages, relationship to the children and whether care happens in your own home.
Request the application and orientation
Ask how to receive the current application packet and whether orientation is required before applying. Follow the state’s order instead of completing training, fingerprints or home changes too early.
Build your paperwork and training file
Confirm the required identification, education, health records, references, household information, emergency plans, insurance, training and local approvals. Keep copies of every document and certificate.
Complete background checks as directed
Ask exactly who must be checked, which forms are required and where approved fingerprinting is completed. Requirements may include caregivers, substitutes, employees and household members.
Prepare the home for inspection
Use the current state rules to review exits, alarms, sleeping and play spaces, outdoor areas, pets, water safety, medications, supervision, emergency plans and any local fire, zoning or health requirements.
Submit, inspect and follow up
Submit the complete packet in the order your licensing office requires. Prepare for the home visit, correct any remaining items and wait for written approval before operating when a license or registration is required.
Questions for your first call
Write these answers down.
The first conversation with the licensing office can save you from paying for the wrong training, inspection or home changes.
- Which home child care category fits my planned capacity?
- Do I need orientation before receiving or submitting the packet?
- Which documents and training certificates are submitted together?
- Who needs background checks, and when should fingerprints be completed?
- Which local fire, health, zoning or business approvals apply?
- Is liability insurance required, and what coverage limit or proof must I provide?
- May I operate before final written approval?
Official starting links
Use current sources for the final answer.
Choose training for your setting and role.
Northern Lights at CCV supports professional learning and BFIS Quality and Credential Accounts. Keep BFIS as a separate professional-record task; it is not a substitute for CDD licensing approval.
Before enrolling, confirm the exact course, provider category, staff role, format, required topics and hours, completion deadline, renewal and accepted certificate. Check pediatric CPR and first aid separately; a general online child-development or health-and-safety course is not a substitute for the certification your agency accepts.
Family resources
Using regulated child care: booklet for parents
Information for families and finding care; use the provider guidance for an application.
Open resource ↗Professional developmentNorthern Lights professional-development support
Find professional-development guidance and confirm the exact course, format and certificate for your role.
Open resource ↗Provider supportUnderstand BFIS Quality and Credential Accounts
Find practical assistance and contact information for your next step.
Open resource ↗Rules and standardsVermont existing rules resource
Existing reference retained. Confirm the current rules and effective edition with the responsible agency.
Open resource ↗Background checksFederal background-check overview
Confirm the current provider-specific process, forms and timing with the licensing authority. This existing reference was not reverified in full.
Open resource ↗Inspection recordsVermont provider and inspection search
Use the state’s search starting point to understand monitoring records and how licensed programs are displayed.
Open inspection resource ↗Child care assistanceVermont subsidy resources
Find the state program that helps eligible families pay for care and ask how providers participate.
Open assistance resources ↗Meal reimbursementVermont CACFP finder
Start with the USDA and state directories for family day care home sponsors and program contacts.
Find food-program contacts →Insurance regulatorVermont insurance department
Verify companies and agents, find consumer help, and ask state insurance questions.
Open state regulator directory ↗Business protection guideHome daycare insurance questions
Check state requirements, home-policy exclusions, child-capacity eligibility, and provider options.
Open insurance guide →Program setupEquipment and supplier guide
Compare professional and budget sources, then track verified items, quotes, purchases, and recall checks.
Plan equipment purchases →After written approvalMarketing and enrollment guide
Build a clear program description and a responsible 30-day plan for filling openings.
Plan responsible promotion →