What WAC 110-300 actually requires, what Washington DCYF licensors check during unannounced inspections, and a printable compliance checklist for small and home-based daycares.

TL;DR

WAC 110-300 is Washington State's child care licensing chapter — the rulebook a Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) licensor uses when they walk into your daycare. It covers staff-to-child ratios, group sizes, staff qualifications, health and safety routines, documentation, and the corrective-action process when things go wrong. For a small or home-based daycare, the parts that matter most are classroom ratios, 30-day attendance and ratio documentation, and the inspection-day checklist. This guide walks through each in plain language and ends with a compliance checklist you can run before your next unannounced visit.

What is WAC 110-300?

WAC 110-300 is the Washington Administrative Code chapter that licenses, regulates, and inspects center-based and family home child care providers operating in Washington State. It sits under the authority of DCYF and replaced the older WAC 170-295 (center) and WAC 170-296A (family home) chapters when DCYF unified early learning regulations.

The chapter is organized into dozens of sections, but for day-to-day compliance most providers spend their time in five subject areas:

Staff-to-child ratios and group sizes (WAC 110-300-0355 and adjacent sections).
Staff qualifications, background checks, and ongoing training (WAC 110-300-0100 through 0140).
Daily health and safety routines — handwashing, diapering, safe sleep, medication, and food handling.
Records and documentation — attendance timestamps, immunizations, incident reports, and emergency contacts.
Facility, safety, and emergency planning — playground equipment, monthly fire drills, and evacuation routes.

If your inspection report ever cites a rule, it will almost always come from one of these five buckets.

The ratio rules every WA director should know cold

Staff-to-child ratios are the single most-cited compliance issue in DCYF inspections, and they are also the easiest to get wrong on a busy afternoon. The WAC 110-300 minimums for center-based care are:

Age band	Ratio (staff : children)	Maximum group size
Infants (birth – 11 months)	1 : 4	8
Toddlers (12 – 29 months)	1 : 7	14
Preschool (30 months – 5 years)	1 : 10	20
School-age (5+ years, K through 12)	1 : 15	30

Family home child care (regulated under the same chapter with separate capacity rules under WAC 110-300-0354) generally caps total capacity at 12 children, with limits on how many children under age two can be in care per qualified staff member.

Three rules inside WAC 110-300-0355 trip up small centers repeatedly:

Mixed-age rooms follow the youngest child's ratio. If you combine one 11-month-old infant into a toddler room during late afternoon pickup, the entire room must meet the 1:4 infant ratio while that child is present.
Naptime is not exempt. Sleeping children still count toward staffing ratios. Unannounced afternoon inspections frequently check whether staff breaks during naptime pushed a classroom out of ratio.
Presence means active supervision in the room. A teacher in the break room or hallway does not count toward the classroom's ratio unless a float teacher has signed into that classroom.

You can test mixed-age and classroom staffing numbers anytime using our free daycare forms and staff-to-child ratio calculator, or let Rawdly's live ratio compliance monitor calculate ratios per classroom automatically as children check in and out.

What a DCYF licensor actually looks at

There are two kinds of DCYF visits: scheduled (for initial licensing or renewal) and unannounced (the annual monitoring inspection). A typical unannounced visit follows a consistent sequence:

Walk in and observe (10–20 minutes). The licensor counts children and staff in each room, watches handwashing and diapering routines, checks food prep areas, and scans infant safe-sleep cribs.
Request the last 30 days of attendance and ratio records. Usually as a printout or PDF they can review on site. They spot-check that in-room ratios were maintained during drop-off, lunch, nap, and pickup windows, and that children present today are checked in on the roster.
Inspect medication logs and incident reports. Both must exist as written, signed records filed within 24 hours.
Verify immunization records. Each enrolled child must have a current Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS) matching the WA Department of Health schedule, or a valid exemption form.
Check the food handling area. Refrigerator temperatures, sanitizer test strips, food handler permits, and USDA CACFP meal pattern records if participating.
Walk the outdoor play space. Fall zones, equipment condition, fencing, latches, and sightlines.
Review staff files and emergency drill logs. MERIT training records, portable background checks, current CPR/First Aid cards, monthly fire drills, and quarterly disaster drills.

The documentation paradox

WAC compliance is not just about maintaining safe classrooms — it is about proving you did so on demand. With thousands of licensed providers across Washington, a licensor samples a 30-day window of records and infers the rest.

The records that must be producible in under two minutes:

Daily attendance with exact arrival and departure timestamps for every child and staff member.
Classroom ratio history showing staffing levels across the operating day.
Signed incident and injury reports for any injury, allergic reaction, or behavioral intervention.
Medication administration logs with written parent authorization.
MERIT training transcripts and background checks for all staff.
CDC / WA DOH immunization timelines for every enrolled child.

The 2026 WAC 110-300 self-audit checklist

Run through this checklist once a quarter so unannounced visits stay routine:

Ratio & supervision

Current staff-to-child ratio is compliant in every classroom right now.
You can export or print the last 30 days of classroom attendance and ratio history in under five minutes.
Naptime break coverage is documented with float staff check-ins.
Mixed-age morning and late-afternoon groupings follow the youngest child's ratio.

Children's records

Every child has a complete enrollment file, emergency contacts, and authorized pickup list.
Immunization records (CIS) are current or have a valid exemption on file.
Documented allergies and medical conditions are visible to classroom staff at mealtime.

Staff records

Every staff member has a current DCYF portable background check.
Annual 10-hour in-service training is recorded in MERIT.
Pediatric CPR, First Aid, and Safe Sleep (for infant/toddler staff) certificates are current.
Food Worker Cards are current for anyone preparing or serving meals.

Health, safety & incident logs

Handwashing and diapering procedure posters are posted at every sink and changing station.
Infant cribs meet safe-sleep standards (firm mattress, fitted sheet only, back-to-sleep).
All incidents from the past 90 days are documented, signed by staff, and counter-signed by parents.
Monthly fire drills and quarterly shelter-in-place / earthquake drills are logged with dates and times.

Subsidy & CACFP records

Washington State WCCC split-invoicing and attendance records match monthly DCYF SSPS claims.
CACFP menus and point-of-service meal counts are recorded daily by age band.

How small WA daycares automate WAC 110-300 compliance

Manual binders fail when a director is also teaching a classroom or covering a lunch break. Rawdly was built around Washington State's WAC 110-300 workflow:

Live classroom ratio monitor: Seeded with WAC 110-300 defaults and configurable per room, with instant breach alerts.
One-tap 30-day License Inspector PDF: Exports 30 days of attendance, ratio snapshots, breach events, and signature lines in a single inspector-ready PDF.
AI-drafted incident reports: Turn a 90-second staff voice memo into a structured incident report ready for director signature.
Washington State WCCC & CACFP built in: Split invoices between families and the state, export DCYF SSPS files, and check weekly menus against USDA CACFP meal patterns.

Rawdly is free for your first year (every feature included, no credit card required) and free forever for up to 10 children on the Freemium plan. Explore all compliance features or start your free year.

Disclaimer

This guide summarizes publicly available Washington State licensing rules for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Always consult the current text of WAC 110-300 and your assigned DCYF licensor for facility-specific requirements.

WAC 110-300 Compliance Guide for Small WA Daycares