Utah Residential Child Care Licensing Statewide

Utah Code Title 26B, Chapter 2, Part 4 governs Human Services Programs and Residential Certificates, including residential child care. Under Utah Administrative Code R381 series, Utah requires state licensure for residential child care serving more than a small number of unrelated children, with separate categories for residential certificates (up to eight children), family licenses, and group licenses. The Office of Licensing sets background-check, ratio, supervision, training, and physical-environment standards uniformly statewide. Utah Code 17-27a-505 and 10-9a-505 require municipalities and counties to treat licensed residential family child care as a permitted residential use, limiting local zoning authority to override state-licensed in-home daycare.

Operating an unlicensed residential child care above the allowed informal threshold is a misdemeanor and may trigger Office of Licensing closure orders and civil penalties.