Pasco County, FL Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)
Key Facts
- Licensing trigger
- County licensing ordinance, or a resolution of the board of county commissioners
- Unlicensed homes
- Register annually with the state department
- Introductory course
- 30 clock hours, passed by competency exam, before caring for children
- Annual training
- 1 continuing education unit or 10 clock hours each year
- Early literacy training
- 0.5 continuing education unit, completed one time
- Household screening age
- Family and residents over 12 years old
- Utility rates
- Licensed homes pay residential rates, never commercial
Summary
Family child care homes in Pasco County operate under Fla. Stat. § 402.313. A home is licensed only if a county licensing ordinance already covers it or the Board of County Commissioners passes a licensing resolution. Every other home registers annually with the state department, finishes a 30-clock-hour course before caring for children, and completes 10 clock hours of training each year.
(1) Family child care homes shall be licensed under this act if they are presently being licensed under an existing county licensing ordinance or if the board of county commissioners passes a resolution that family child care homes be licensed. ... (4) Operators of family child care homes must successfully complete an approved 30-clock-hour introductory course in child care, as evidenced by passage of a competency examination, before caring for children. (5) In order to further develop their child care skills and, if appropriate, their administrative skills, operators of family child care homes shall be required to complete an additional 1 continuing education unit of approved training or 10 clock hours of equivalent training, as determined by the department, annually. ... (12) Notwithstanding any other state or local law or ordinance, any family child care home licensed pursuant to this chapter or pursuant to a county ordinance shall be charged the utility rates accorded to a residential home. A licensed family child care home may not be charged commercial utility rates.
Full Breakdown
Section 402.313(1) puts family child care homes on one of two tracks. A home is licensed when it is already licensed under an existing county licensing ordinance, or when the board of county commissioners passes a resolution that family child care homes be licensed. Every other home is not subject to license and must register annually with the state department. A home can also volunteer to be licensed under subsection (1)(b).
Registration under subsection (1)(a) requires eight items: the home's name and address, the operator's name, the number of children served, proof of a written plan naming a competent adult who can substitute for the operator in an emergency (with that person's name, address and telephone number), proof of screening and background checks, proof of passing the 30-hour course competency examination, proof that immunization records are kept current, and proof of the required continuing education units or clock hours. The course covers state and local child care rules, health, safety and nutrition, identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect, child development, observation of developmental behaviors, and early literacy and language development for children from birth to 5 years of age. Registered homes appear in a directory the department publishes annually under subsection (2).
Screening under subsection (3) reaches past the operator. It covers any member of the operator's family over the age of 12 years and any person over 12 living in the home. Residents between 12 and 18 are not fingerprinted but are screened for delinquency records.
Training does not end with the first course. Subsection (4) requires the 30-clock-hour introductory course before the operator cares for children. Subsection (5) adds 1 continuing education unit or 10 clock hours every year. Subsection (6) adds a one-time 0.5 continuing education unit in early literacy and language development, and the year it is completed it fulfills the 0.5 unit or 5 clock hours of the annual training. Under subsection (7) the operator completes a health and safety home inspection self-evaluation checklist every year, signs it, and gives it to parents as certification that basic standards are met.
Two provisions protect the home itself. Subsection (12) overrides any other state or local law or ordinance and bars commercial utility rates for a licensed home. Subsection (13) directs the department to set minimum standards by rule for homes that a county ordinance or resolution requires to be licensed.
Violations & Fines
Section 402.313 prints no fine, misdemeanor or fee schedule of its own, so the consequences are administrative. A home that has not produced the registration proofs, such as the course examination result, background screening or current immunization records, has not met the annual registration that subsection (1)(a) requires. The department tracks complaints against family child care homes and their resolution under subsection (10)(c), and a county that licenses homes enforces the department's minimum standards under subsection (13).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Pasco County family child care home need a county license?
What training must the operator finish?
Who in the household has to be screened?
Can a utility charge a licensed home commercial rates?
What do parents receive from the operator?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pasco County
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Pasco County to another location·View the Florida home business overview
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