IdahoSTARS RISE Registration for Daycare Providers

Every home daycare provider seeking a state license in Idaho — whether you're licensing voluntarily or because you've crossed the seven-child threshold — uses the Registry of IdahoSTARS Eligibility, known as RISE, as the central licensing portal. It's where you upload documents, track background checks, log training hours, and ultimately submit your state licensing application.

The system isn't especially intuitive, and the first-time registration process has a few steps that aren't obvious from the website's landing page.

Creating Your RISE Account

Start at the IdahoSTARS website and navigate to the RISE Online Management System. You'll create two separate profiles: an individual profile (you as a person) and an organization profile (your daycare as a business entity).

Use the individual profile for your personal credentials and the organization profile for facility information, following the record-specific prompts in RISE.

During registration, you'll receive a 4-digit IdahoSTARS agency payment/employer code. Save this immediately. You'll need it when submitting background check applications through the DHW Background Check Unit portal, and losing it means calling IdahoSTARS support to retrieve it.

The PDS Online Orientation

Before IdahoSTARS will release the official state licensing application to you, you must complete the Professional Development System (PDS) Online Orientation. This is a 4-hour self-paced training module built into the RISE catalog.

The orientation covers Idaho's licensing framework, provider responsibilities, health and safety standards, and recordkeeping requirements. It's not a difficult course, but it is a prerequisite — no orientation completion, no application.

To find it: log into RISE, navigate to the training catalog, and search for "PDS Online Orientation" or "Licensing Orientation." The course is free. Once you complete it, IdahoSTARS emails the official state daycare licensing application to you.

What RISE Tracks After Licensing

RISE isn't just for the initial application. It becomes your ongoing compliance dashboard:

Training hours: Idaho requires 4 hours of approved child development training per year for standard licensees, or 12 hours annually if you're enrolled as an ICCP provider. RISE logs these automatically when you complete courses through IdahoSTARS-approved vendors.

Document storage: Upload your CPR/first aid certificates, fire inspection reports, health district clearances, and insurance documentation directly through the "My Documents" section. Inspectors review these during annual renewals.

License renewal: The state must send renewal forms 90 days before your license expires. Follow IdahoSTARS' current instructions for receiving the forms and submit updated documents through RISE.

Professional development: IdahoSTARS offers free professional development coaching, technical assistance, and grant opportunities through Quality Achievers (Idaho's voluntary quality rating system). All of these are managed through RISE.

Common Registration Problems

The most frequent issue providers report is confusion between individual and organization profiles. Follow the RISE prompts for background applications and facility documents, and confirm that each clearance or inspection record is visible in the record used for your licensing application.

Another common problem: creating multiple accounts. If you start registration, abandon it, and then create a new account with a different email, you'll have duplicate profiles that need manual merging by IdahoSTARS support.

The Idaho Home Daycare License guide includes a RISE setup walkthrough with screenshots and a document upload checklist organized by which profile each item belongs to. It also covers the sequence for linking your background check submissions to your RISE profile so clearances populate automatically.

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