Utah DHHS Office of Licensing, Child Care Licensing
Utah exempts residential child care for eight or fewer qualifying children under Utah Code 26B-2-405(1)(a)(viii), with two conditions in subsection (1)(b): no more than ten children under thirteen in the home at any time counting the provider’s own, and no more than two children under three. The exempt provider must still register with the Office of Licensing for a background check. From nine qualifying children, or more than ten children total in the home, Licensed Family Child Care under R430-90 is required and reaches sixteen children in care with two caregivers. Between them sits the optional Residential Certificate under R430-50, for eight or fewer qualifying children with one caregiver.
| Tier | Children | Age limits | Your own kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Certificate Child Careresidential certificate | up to 8 |
| Count |
| Licensed Family Child Carelicense | 9 to 16 |
| Count |
| Exempt provider (residential child care for eight or fewer qualifying children)exempt provider registration | up to 8 |
| Count |
Age limits and totals for every tier, with row-level citations, live on the Utah home daycare ratios page.
Care in the provider’s home for less than four hours a day or on a sporadic basis is outside the part under 26B-2-405(1)(a)(v). The rules define child care as care for direct or indirect compensation on a regularly scheduled, ongoing basis.
Care provided to a child by or in the home of a parent, legal guardian, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt is outside the part. Those children are not qualifying children, but they still count toward the ten-child total in the home.
Own children younger than four are qualifying children and count in care at all times. Own children four to twelve count in group size, and under Table 1 of R430-90-10 each such child present beyond four reduces the children in care a single caregiver may hold, to a ceiling of twelve present.
One caregiver for every three children under two, no caregiver with more than two children under eighteen months, and two caregivers whenever more than three children under two are present and more than six children are in care. The exempt tier is stricter: two children under three.
Eight qualifying children, and no more than ten children under thirteen in the home in total counting your own, with no more than two under three, per Utah Code 26B-2-405(1)(a)(viii) and (1)(b).
Yes. The exempt provider is subject to background checks under 26B-2-406 and registers with the Office of Licensing for that purpose under R430-50-3(3)(b).
An optional certificate under R430-50 for eight or fewer qualifying children, or up to ten including the provider’s own, with one caregiver for up to eight children in care.
Eight with one caregiver and nine to sixteen with two caregivers, per R430-90-10(1), subject to Tables 1 and 2 when the provider’s own children four to twelve are present.
Three under two per caregiver, and no more than two under eighteen months per caregiver, in both the certificate and the license rules.
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.