Family child care providers offer care in their own home to one or more children who aren’t related to the provider. To ensure a safe environment, Maryland limits the number of children in a family child care home:
Family Child Care Home – A provider may care for up to eight children with no more than two under the age of two. The provider’s own children under the age of six are counted within the group of eight.
Large Family Child Care Home – A provider may care for between nine and 12 children with no more than four under the age of two. The provider’s own children under the age of six are counted within the group of nine to 12.
Anyone who is interested in starting a child care business in a home is required to take face-to-face orientation training. Orientation Training is provided by your regional Office of Child Care.
In addition, you also need to complete the following training requirements:
Family Child Care Provider Training Requirements
Preservice Training:
- First Aid/ CPR Certification: for the child age ranges for which you’ll be providing care.
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): (2 hours)
- Infant-Toddler Training: 45 clock hours if providing care for 3 or more children under the age of 2
- Emergency and Disaster Planning: (6 hours)
- Including All Children and the ADA: (3 hours)
- Medical Administration Training: (6 hours)-MAT is provided by licensed Maryland Registered Nurses who have completed Medication Administration Trainer training and are approved by the Nurse Consultant in the Office of Child Care’s Licensing Branch.
- Basic Health and Safety: (3 hours) Visit the Basic Health and Safety Training page for information and to register for this free course.
- 24 clock hours of approved training: Family Child Care Provider Pre-Service Training
- Supporting Breastfeeding in Child Care
Continued Training:
- 18 clock hours: During the first year of registration.
- 12 clock hours: By the end of each 12-month period after the first full year of registration.
Large Family Child Care Director Training Requirements
Preservice training:
- 90 clock hours: or the equivalent of approved early childhood coursework (45 hours child development and 45 hours curriculum planning), or hold the Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential
- 9 clock hours of communication training: 9 clock hours of approved pre-service training in communicating with staff, parents, and the public.
- Administrative training: 3 semester hours or their equivalent of approved administrative training.
- Infant-Toddler Training: 3 semester hours or the equivalent, related to the care of children younger than 2 years old.
- Supporting Breastfeeding in Child Care
- Including All Children and the ADA: (3 hours)
Continued Training:
- 12 clock hours – 6 Core of Knowledge and 6 elective
Fee Assistance:
- Application for Training Voucher
- Family child care provider Grant Application: The purpose of the program is to provide reimbursements to registered family child care providers for expenses necessary to achieve or maintain compliance with the requirements of Child Care Licensing. Family care providers providing service for eight (8) or fewer children may be awarded a grant of up to $1000.
H&H Child Care Training Center offers the 24 Hour Family Child Care Pre-Service Training ONLINE. Complete your pre-service requirement completely online through a self-paced platform. In addition, H&H offers training to fulfill requirements for infant and toddler training hours, 9 Hour Communication Course, Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), 6 Hour Medication Administration, First Aid and CPR, Including All Children and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Supporting Breastfeeding Practices in Child Care, and annual training requirements. Please visit our website to register for courses today.