Connecticut Home Daycare Business Plan — Enrollment, Policies, and Parent Handbook

Start With the Capacity Math

Every business plan for a Connecticut home daycare begins with a single number: how many children you can legally enroll. Under a Small Family Child Care Home license, your base capacity is six — and that includes your own children who aren't in school full-time. During the school year, you can serve up to nine if the additional three attend school full-time.

If you have two toddlers of your own, your earning capacity drops to four paying families during summer and potentially seven during the school year. That math shapes everything downstream: your revenue projections, your pricing, and whether the business pencils out.

Connecticut limits you to two infants (under 18 months) at any time under a small family license. Infant care commands higher tuition — families pay over $18,000 per year on average for center-based infant care in Connecticut — but the two-slot ceiling means you can't build a business solely on infant enrollment.

Your Enrollment Documentation

The OEC requires specific records for every child before their first day of attendance. Your enrollment packet needs to collect all of these:

• Scheduled days and hours of care
• Parent/guardian names, addresses, and direct phone numbers
• Place of employment and work phone numbers
• Verified date of birth and formal enrollment date
• Emergency contact information
• Signed health assessment from a licensed physician, PA, or APRN (within prior 12 months for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers)
• Complete immunization records with month, day, and year of each vaccination
• Detailed allergy and medical condition disclosures with emergency intervention plans

These aren't optional extras — they're mandated by RCSA § 19a-87b-10. An OEC licensing specialist will check for them during inspections. Keep physical copies on-site and organized by child.

Building Your Parent Handbook

A parent handbook isn't required by statute, but it's the single most effective tool for preventing misunderstandings with families. Your handbook should cover:

Hours and holidays. Spell out your operating hours, your holiday schedule, and your policy on early drop-off and late pickup. Most providers charge a late-pickup fee — document it here.

Illness policy. When does a child need to stay home? Define your fever threshold, your vomiting/diarrhea policy, and your return-to-care requirements, using the applicable OEC guidance for your program.

Meals and snacks. If you're providing food, describe your approach. Meals served as part of family child care operations are subject to the OEC's child-care health and safety requirements; if you sell food separately to the public, check the applicable Connecticut food-sale requirements. List any foods you won't serve and ask families to disclose allergies in writing.

Discipline policy. Your handbook should prohibit corporal punishment, shaming, withholding food, and confining children in enclosed spaces, and describe what positive guidance techniques you use instead.

Payment terms. Tuition amounts, due dates, accepted payment methods, and your policy on missed payments. If you accept Care 4 Kids families, note that the parent is responsible for both the Family Fee and any difference between C4K rates and your private-pay rate.

The Financial Model

Your business plan needs realistic numbers in three categories.

Startup costs. The OEC application fee is $40. Fingerprinting runs $30–$225 depending on how many household members need screening. CPR/first aid certification costs $145–$200. Physical upgrades — outlet covers, safety gates, compliant cribs, fencing, lead water testing — can run $150–$1,500+ depending on your home's condition. Add your first insurance premium ($500–$2,000 for general liability).

Monthly revenue. Multiply your effective capacity by your weekly rate. If you serve four full-time toddlers and two school-age after-school kids, that's a different number than six full-time infants and toddlers (which you can't legally do alone anyway).

Monthly expenses. Food, supplies, insurance, training renewals, accounting, and your own self-employment taxes. As a sole proprietor, you'll pay both halves of FICA — plan for 15.3% of net earnings on top of income tax.

The Connecticut Home Daycare Process Guide includes a startup cost blueprint and capacity revenue calculator designed specifically for Connecticut's licensing tiers, so you can run the numbers for your exact situation.

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