Arapahoe County, CO Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

g. 1 sets a sliding cap on how many day care children can be present at once based on how many of the provider's own children aren't yet attending full-day school: a provider with none of their own young children can care for up to six day care children, a provider with one can care for five, and so on down to zero day care children permitted if the provider already has six or more children not in full-day school. A second table adds slots for school-age children during school hours.

Every day care home must carry proper licensing 'as may be required by Colorado Department of Human Services, and/or any other agency as may be required by Colorado laws', the county's zoning permission doesn't substitute for state child-care licensing. The code separately recognizes an 'Experienced Family Child Care Provider' tier (six consecutive years of Colorado licensing, 90 hours of training, no substantiated safety complaints or negative licensing actions in the prior two years, and 35/75 square feet of inside/outside space per child) and a larger 'Child Care Home, Large' tier, both of which require Special Exception Use approval from the Board of Adjustment rather than being permitted outright like a standard day care home.