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H 7799Children

State Affairs and Government - Licensing and Monitoring of Child Daycare Providers

This bill extends the validity of child daycare provider licenses from one year to two years.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 12, 2026Committee House Health & Human Services

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the licensing regulations for child daycare providers in Rhode Island. The primary change is the extension of the validity period for a child daycare license from one year to two years. The bill maintains the existing nonrefundable application fees: $500 for a child daycare center, $250 for a group family daycare home, and $100 for a family daycare home. Additionally, it clarifies that daycare programs located within already compliant elementary or secondary schools do not require separate fire, building, or radon inspections.

For younger readers

This law is about the rules for places that take care of children, like daycares. Before this law, the people running a daycare had to get a special permission slip, called a license, from the state every single year. This law changes the rule so they only need to renew that license every two years. This means less paperwork for the daycare owners, but they still have to pay a fee and make sure the building is safe for kids.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Child Daycare CentersFamily Daycare HomesDepartment of Human ServicesParents of young childrenSchool-based daycare programs
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Child daycare center license: $500/2 yrs, Group family daycare home license: $250/2 yrs, Family daycare home license: $100/2 yrs

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Reduces the administrative burden on childcare providers, potentially allowing them to dedicate more time and resources to child development and care rather than paperwork.
  • Lowers the frequency of application fees for providers, which could help stabilize operating costs and potentially mitigate tuition increases for working-class families.
  • Streamlines the licensing process for programs located in schools, facilitating the expansion of before and after-school care options for communities.
  • Extending the license renewal period to two years could reduce the frequency of comprehensive reviews, potentially delaying the detection of quality or safety issues.
  • Reduces the frequency of revenue collection for the state, which might impact the budget available for the Department of Human Services to conduct robust monitoring and oversight.
  • Longer intervals between licensing checkpoints might make it harder to enforce rapid compliance with evolving best practices in early childhood education.
For Conservatives
  • Reduces government red tape and bureaucratic interference for small business owners operating childcare facilities.
  • Effectively lowers the operational tax burden on businesses by requiring license application fees to be paid every two years instead of annually.
  • Eliminates redundant government inspections for daycare programs located in schools that have already met safety standards, promoting efficiency.
  • Reduces state revenue frequency, which could theoretically lead to calls for other tax increases to cover administrative costs within the department.
  • Retains the underlying structure of government licensing and fees rather than moving toward a more market-based or voluntary certification model.
  • If the reduced oversight frequency leads to a safety incident, it could result in a reactionary expansion of government regulations in the future.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 2 additions · 3 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 42-12.5-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-12.5 entitled "Licensing and Monitoring of Child Daycare Providers" is hereby amended to read as follows: 42-12.5-5. General licensing provisions. The following general licensing provisions shall apply:

(1) A license issued under this chapter is not transferable and applies only to the licensee and the location stated in the application and remains the property of the department. A license shall be publicly displayed. A license shall be valid for one year two (2) years from the date of issue and upon continuing compliance with the regulations, except that a certificate issued to a family daycare home shall be valid for two (2) years from the date of issue.

(2) Every license application issued pursuant to § 42-12.5-4 shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable application fee paid to the state of Rhode Island as follows:

(i) Child daycare center license — five hundred dollars ($500);

(ii) Group family daycare home license — two hundred fifty dollars ($250); and

(iii) Family daycare home license — one hundred dollars ($100).

(3) All fees collected by the state pursuant to subsection (2) of this section shall be deposited by the general treasurer as general revenues.

(4) A licensee shall comply with applicable state fire and health safety standards.

(5) The department may grant a provisional license to an applicant who is not able to demonstrate compliance with all of the regulations because the program or residence is not in full operation; however, the applicant must meet all regulations that can be met in the opinion of the administrator before the program is fully operational. The provisional license shall be granted for a limited period not to exceed six (6) months and shall be subject to review every three (3) months.

(6) The department may grant a probationary license to a licensee who is temporarily unable to comply with a rule or rules when the noncompliance does not present an immediate threat to the health and well-being of the children, and when the licensee has obtained a plan approved by the administrator to correct the areas of noncompliance within the probationary period. A probationary license shall be issued for up to twelve (12) months; it may be extended for an additional six (6) months at the discretion of the administrator. A probationary license that states the conditions of probation may be issued by the administrator at any time for due cause. Any prior existing license is invalidated when a probationary license is issued. When the probationary license expires, the administrator may reinstate the original license to the end of its term, issue a new license, suspend, or revoke the license.

(7) The administrator will establish criteria and procedure for granting variances as part of the regulations.

(8) The above exceptions (probationary and provisional licensing and variances) do not apply to and shall not be deemed to constitute any variance from state fire and health safety standards. However, if a request for a variance of fire inspection deficiencies has been submitted to the fire safety code board of appeal and review, DHS may grant a provisional license to terminate no later than thirty (30) days following the board’s decision on said variance.

(9) A license under this chapter shall be granted to a child daycare program without the necessity for a separate fire, building, or radon inspection, when said child daycare program is conducted at a Rhode Island elementary or secondary school that has already been found in compliance with said inspections, provided that an applicant complies with all other provisions of DHS regulations, or has been granted appropriate variances by the department.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.