Delaware Early Care and Education
Licensing Review Project
En español abajo
Did you hear? The state of Delaware is preparing for a major update to child care regulations in 2026. Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (deaeyc) is partnering with Office of Child Care Licensing at Delaware Department of Education, inviting feedback in advance of OCCL’s regulatory revision process to make sure any upcoming changes reflect the real experiences of providers, families, and communities.
Thank you to everyone who completed the big survey! We heard from the child care workforce in licensed centers and family child care, from people in all the crucial roles creating great experiences for young children.
Want to tell us more - anonymously?
Did the survey close before you could get to it? Did you think of additional information you want to share with us after clicking submit? No worries, we have created a tell-us-more form that gives you another opportunity to share your thoughts, ideas or concerns. https://forms.gle/2rw7CMSrwjLNa3UVA
Want to tell us more - in a small group on Zoom?
If you are interested in participating in a focus group to share more about your experience, please tell us how to reach you. Focus groups will take place in December 2025. Focus groups will take place on Zoom, in English with live, simultaneous interpretation in Spanish. https://forms.gle/QfTnURd2HttCj44s5
¿Te enteraste? El estado de Delaware se prepara para una importante actualización de las regulaciones de cuidado infantil en 2026. La Asociación de Delaware para la Educación de Niños Pequeños (DEAEYC) se ha asociado con la Oficina de Licencias de Cuidado Infantil del Departamento de Educación de Delaware para invitarte a compartir tu opinión antes del proceso de revisión regulatoria de la OCCL. El objetivo es asegurar que los cambios reflejen las experiencias reales de los proveedores, las familias y las comunidades.
¡Gracias a todos los que completaron la encuesta! Recibimos comentarios de los profesionales del cuidado infantil en centros con licencia y cuidado infantil familiar, de todas las personas que desempeñan funciones cruciales para crear experiencias enriquecedoras para los niños pequeños.
¿Quieres contarnos más, de forma anónima?
¿Se cerró la encuesta antes de que pudieras completarla? ¿Pensaste en información adicional que quieres compartir después de hacer clic en "Enviar"? No te preocupes, hemos creado un formulario para que nos cuentes más y tengas otra oportunidad de compartir tus ideas, opiniones o inquietudes.
https://forms.gle/2rw7CMSrwjLNa3UVA
¿Quieres contarnos más en un grupo pequeño por Zoom?
Si te interesa participar en un grupo de discusión para compartir tu experiencia, por favor, indícanos cómo contactarte. Los grupos de discusión se llevarán a cabo en diciembre de 2025. Se realizarán por Zoom, en inglés, con interpretación simultánea en español. https://forms.gle/QfTnURd2HttCj44s5
Helpful Links
Regulations for Family and Large Family Child Care Homes
Part III Administration and Organization
14. Notification to OCCL .
15. Governing Body
16. Insurance Coverage.
17. Telephones
18. General Human Resources and Personnel Policies
19. Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Requirements.
20. Positive Behavior Supports
21. Food Service Policy
22. Breast Feeding.
23. Center Parent or Guardian Handbook
Part IV Staffing Requirements and Qualifications
24. Staff Qualifications
25. Substitutes, Volunteers, and Contracted Special Services Persons
26. Staffing
27. Ratios, Group Size, and Supervision
28. General Qualifications
29. Adult Health Requirements
30. Personnel Files
31. Owner’s File.
32. Orientation
33. Annual
34. Annual Professional Development Plan
35. First Aid and CPR Training
36. Staff Attendance
37. Staff Communication
38. Parent’s Right to Know
39. Enrollment.
40. Child Files
41. Child Health Appraisal..
42. Documenting Children’s Progress.
43. Children’s Attendance.
44. Observation.
From Delaware Department of Education
Review of Regulations: Request for Engagement of our ECE Community
Delaware Department of Education (DDOE)’s Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) is working in collaboration Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (deaeyc) on a statewide effort to review Delaware’s early care and education regulations for centers and family/large family child care.
The first phase of this initiative - going through the end of December 2025 - will engage child care providers and community stakeholders in conversation about existing health and safety regulations. Findings will help DDOE ensure that regulations remain clear, practical, and aligned with their intent, which is to protect children’s health, safety, and well-being while in child care programs of all sizes and types in Delaware.
DDOE will go over the full timeline for its regulation review initiative at the November 18, 2025 DECC meeting.
Please note: this is not an effort to deregulate child care in Delaware. This effort will maintain Delaware’s strong commitment to child health and safety. This first phase is not the agency’s public comment period; this is a provider-led effort before the agency drafts any revisions of the child care regulations in early 2026.
After December ends, deaeyc will continue engagement. The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) will use this information to revise its health and safety regulations prior to posting in the Registrar of Regulations for public comment.
Purpose of this first engagement phase
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Health and Safety: Reinforcing standards that protect children’s well-being while in child care environments.
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Clarity and Consistency: Reducing duplication and simplifying compliance across regulations.
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Accountability and Support: Ensuring fair and effective monitoring and enforcement.
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Accessibility: Expanding language access and improving online and print materials.
This phase focuses on regulatory content within the authority of the Delaware Department
of Education, particularly in areas directly related to health, safety, child and staff
supervision, and physical environment.
In this first phase, we will not yet address:
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Ratios or group sizes
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Staff qualifications, training, or professional development
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Overnight care, school-age-only centers, or public school exemptions
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Deregulation of child care
Next, DDOE will engage our community on the topics of “ratios/group size and staff qualifications, training, or professional development” after this survey and focus group series concludes. You will receive similar communication from DDOE its partners for this next phase of the initiative at the January 2026 DECC meeting.
Guiding Principles
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Transparency: Open sharing of drafts, updates, and findings.
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Collaboration: Engaging voices across Delaware’s early care community.
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Ensuring the process includes all child care program types and geographic regions.
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Practicality: Prioritizing regulatory clarity and real-world feasibility.
Delaware Association for the Education of Young Children (deaeyc) will be sending information about how to get involved this week!
Project Time Line
The Delaware Early Care and Education Licensing Review Project will unfold over a five-month period from October 2025 through March 2026, following a structured sequence of engagement, analysis, and reporting.
The project begins in October 2025 with a planning and preparation phase, during which deaeyc will develop outreach materials, finalize feedback tools, and coordinate engagement logistics with DDOE and OCCL.
In November and December 2025, deaeyc will lead online surveys and virtual focus groups designed to gather broad feedback from early care and education professionals, administrators, and families statewide.
Findings will be analyzed and synthesized during December 2025 through January 2026, resulting in draft recommendations that reflect the field’s experiences with existing licensing standards, compliance practices, and regulatory clarity.
In January and February 2026, deaeyc will facilitate public discussions—both in-person and virtual—to share the draft findings and collect final input to refine the recommendations.
Finally, in March 2026, deaeyc will present a comprehensive report of findings to the Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL). These findings will inform OCCL’s formal regulation-writing process, culminating in draft regulations that will move forward to public comment later that month.
