In-home child care in Florida is regulated by the Department of Children and Families under FS Chapter 402. A family day care home serves children from at least two unrelated families and is capped at a maximum of 10 children, including the caregiver's own preschoolers.
Florida Statutes 402.302(8) defines a family day care home as an occupied residence in which child care is regularly provided for children from at least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children. Capacity is limited by age mix, with a maximum of 10 children including the operator's own preschool-age children. Family day care homes must register annually with DCF (or be licensed where a county requires it). In residential Polk County, home child care must also fit within the home-occupation and zoning rules of the Land Development Code, and larger centers require commercial zoning approval.
Operating an unregistered or over-capacity family day care home violates FS Chapter 402 and can draw DCF enforcement, and exceeding home-occupation limits can trigger Polk County code-enforcement action.
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