Kansas Office of Early Childhood
Kansas has two answers, and they do not match. The statute defines a child care facility as a place where a person has control or custody of one or more children under 16 who are not related to them and are left without a parent, and K.S.A. 65-501 makes running one without a license unlawful. The licensing agency then publishes a narrower practice: its CCL 008 sheet says licensing is not required for care of up to four unrelated children at 35 hours a week or less each, for irregular exchanges between friends and neighbors, for care in the child’s own home, or for care in a relative’s home. Past that line, one licensed tier, the family child care home, takes up to 12 children on age tables.
| Tier | Children | Age limits | Your own kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family child care home (also 'day care home' or 'group day care home')license | up to 12 |
| Count |
Age limits and totals for every tier, with row-level citations, live on the Kansas home daycare ratios page.
We read the licensing statute and the whole family child care regulation book looking for it. K.S.A. 65-501, the definitions in 65-503 and every regulation in K.A.R. 28-4-113 through 28-4-119b are silent on four children and on 35 hours. The allowance exists only in the department’s CCL 008 sheet, revised October 2025. It is what the agency says it will do, and the statute behind it starts at one unrelated child.
The same sheet states that licensure is required regardless of the motivation for providing care and whether or not there is advertisement of or payment for services.
The August 2, 2024 amendments merged the licensed day care home and group day care home into a single family child care home license, capped at 12 children by the Table I and Table II mixes in K.A.R. 28-4-114(e); the provider's own children under 10 count.
Licensing passed from KDHE to the Kansas Office of Early Childhood; the regulation book still carries KDHE's name and the statute changes effective July 1, 2026 are reflected in K.S.A. 65-503.
The agency sheet CCL 008 says up to four children unrelated to you at 35 hours a week or less each, and it also puts care in the child’s own home, care in a relative’s home and irregular neighbor exchanges outside licensing. The statute is stricter than the sheet: its definition of a child care facility begins at one unrelated child under 16 left without a parent.
Yes. K.S.A. 65-503(e)(1) defines a child care facility as a facility maintained by a person who has control or custody of one or more children under 16 years of age, unattended by parent or guardian, excluding children related to the person by blood, marriage or legal adoption. The statutory exemptions in 65-501 are state-run facilities, certain summer instructional camps, and educational activities a person provides for their own children. No headcount appears anywhere in the act.
No. The statute excludes children related to the provider by blood, marriage or legal adoption from the child care facility definition, and the policy counts only unrelated children.
Up to 12 children by the age tables in K.A.R. 28-4-114(e): the mix of infants and toddlers sets the group, with school-age slots on top, and the provider's own children under 10 count.
Not as a separate license since August 2, 2024; the family child care home license absorbed it, and the regulation lists the old names as synonyms.
K.S.A. 65-514 makes violation of the article a misdemeanor with a fine of 5 to 50 dollars, each day counting as a separate offense.
DaycareRules is an informational reference about home child care licensing rules in the United States. It reprints thresholds, capacity limits, ratios and citations from state statutes and regulations, together with the date each state was last verified. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and rules change. Confirm with your state licensing agency before acting on any number printed here.