Home daycare is licensed by the state, not Lehigh County. Caring for four, five, or six unrelated children requires a PA Department of Human Services certificate of compliance as a Family Child Care Home under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3290. Allentown zoning also treats it as a child-care facility.
Pennsylvania regulates home child care through DHS under 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3290. The chapter applies to homes providing out-of-home care at any one time to four, five, or six unrelated children age 15 or younger, and the operator must hold a valid certificate of compliance before opening. Care by relatives is exempt. Fewer than four unrelated children generally falls outside this chapter. In Allentown, a family child-care home is also a zoning use (a child-care facility), so operators should confirm zoning and building-occupancy requirements with the city in addition to the DHS certificate.
Operating a family child care home without a DHS certificate of compliance violates Article X of the Human Services Code (62 P.S. §§ 1001-1088) and can be shut down.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lehigh County, PA
Pennsylvania sets no numeric hoarding limit, but the state's animal-neglect law makes it a crime to keep animals without providing each one adequate food, wa...
Lehigh County, PA
Pennsylvania Game Commission regulations make it unlawful to intentionally feed bear or elk anywhere in the Commonwealth, including Lehigh County. Feeding th...
Lehigh County, PA
Home composting is permitted in Lehigh County; Pennsylvania's Act 101 encourages diverting yard waste. There is no county composting permit. Keep piles maint...
Lehigh County, PA
Lehigh County sets no rule on artificial turf. Whether synthetic grass is allowed, and any limits on impervious coverage or front-yard use, depends on your m...
Lehigh County, PA
No Lehigh County rule limits native plantings, and Pennsylvania encourages them. The catch is Allentown's 10-inch weed limit: a deliberate, maintained native...
Lehigh County, PA
Pennsylvania has no law restricting rainwater collection, and Lehigh County imposes none. Homeowners may install rain barrels and cisterns for non-potable us...
See how Lehigh County's home daycare rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.