Executive Summary
This memorandum provides an overview of state policies and licensing procedures related to day care operations. It also outlines current state practices regarding day care licensing including funding, staffing, structure, and timelines.
Kansas Legislative History (2020-present)
Since 2020, there have been four child care-related bills passed by the Kansas Legislature.
In the 2022 Legislative Session, HB 2237 was passed, allowing any income or privilege taxpayer to claim the Child Day Care Assistance Tax Credit, while also claiming 50.0 percent of expenditures paid to an organization providing child care to the taxpayer’s employees.
In the 2023 Legislative Session, HB 2094 was passed, requiring the Secretary for Children and Families (Secretary) to review the child support compliance of parents applying or receiving a child care subsidy upon application for the child care subsidy, after 12 months of continuous eligibility, and following such 12 months of continuous eligibility when the Secretary renews or redetermines a parent’s eligibility for the subsidy.
In the 2024 Legislative Session, SB 491 was passed, changing the fingerprinting and background check process for licensing processes statewide. Because day care providers are licensed, these changes impact the process of hiring employees or starting a home or center.
In the 2025 Legislative Session, HB 2045 was passed, establishing the Kansas Office of Early Childhood (KOEC), transferring certain responsibilities from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Department of Children and Families (DCF), and updating laws regulating child care centers and child care homes.
Day Cares in Kansas
As of June 2025, there are 4,200 licensed child care facilities in Kansas (PDF), serving 144,000 children between the ages of two weeks and sixteen years old. The average annual cost of child care for families in Kansas is $15,156. Day cares are licensed, surveyed, and certified by the KOEC, with the assistance of DCF.
Before KOEC took over day care licensing operations, KDHE enforced regulatory safeguards for the state. Through KDHE’s child care licensing program, they processed all day care license applications, assisted with inspection activity with local health departments, and maintained multiple web-based systems. As of July 1, 2026, these services are all operated by KOEC under 2025 HB 2045.
Funding
State Funds
The State uses three funds to cover the majority of the funding for child care and child care licensure in Kansas: the State General Fund (SGF), the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), and the Children’s Initiatives Fund (CIF).
CCDF is a federal program which combines discretionary and mandatory funds, authorized by the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act and the Social Security Act, into block grants. This funding requires a State maintenance-of-effort (MOE) to continue to receive federal funding. CCDF is used to support low-income working families, child care subsidies, and early childhood system improvements.
The Children’s Initiatives Fund is an appropriated special revenue fund which is used to benefit the physical and mental health, welfare, and safety of children in Kansas, with the funding coming through the appropriations from the Kansas Endowment for Youth (KEY) fund and is appropriated for programs and activities benefiting children.
Child Care Expenditures
In FY 2025, the State of Kansas spent $114.1 million all funds, including $15.4 million SGF, $93.4 million CCDF, and $5.0 million CIF, for child care expenditures. This includes direct costs related to child care and child care licensing and does not include other functions which are funded by the CCDF or the CIF. In FY 2026, the all funds total increased to an estimated $125.8 million all funds, or a 10.3 percent increase. This increase is mainly due to an increase of $11.8 million CCDF, or 12.3 percent, for a total of $105.2 million from the CCDF. The SGF total in FY 2026 was anticipated to decrease by $427,032, or 2.8 percent. The FY 2027 budget includes $136.5 million all funds for child care and child care licensing, including $14.9 million SGF, $116.3 million CCDF, and $5.0 million CIF. This is an anticipated increase of $10.7 million above FY 2026, or 8.5 percent, mainly due to an increase in CCDF of $11.1 million, for a total of $116.3 million CCDF in FY 2027.
The funding for each year is split into five programs:
- Child Care Subsidy Payments;
- Child Care Licensing;
- Regional Child Care Eligibility Determination and Case Management;
- Child Care Eligibility for Foster Care Kids; and
- CCDF Administration—Eligibility and Subsidy.
Child Care Subsidy Payments receives the most funding in each fiscal year, with $104.1 million all funds in FY 2025 and a budgeted $125.5 million all funds for FY 2027. Child Care Licensing receives the second most funding, with $5.8 million all funds in FY 2025 and a budgeted $6.3 million all funds for FY 2027. Regional Child Care Eligibility Determination and Case Management received $3.3 million, all from CCDF, in FY 2025 and has a budgeted $3.9 million, all from CCDF, for FY 2027. Child Care Eligibility for Foster Kids receives roughly $500,000 CCDF each year, and the CCDF Administration—Eligibility and Subsidy receives between $300,000 and $400,000 CCDF each year.
Staffing
While the KOEC is still in the process of structuring their staff operations and organizational charts, as of July 2026, the agency had determined a Deputy Director for Child Care Licensing and Finance (Deputy Director). Under the Deputy Director, the KOEC includes the Child Care Ombudsman, Child Care Subsidy Program Specialist, and four primary management roles: Child Care Assistance Integrity, Child Care Provider Enrollment Manager, Child Care Licensing Operations Director, and the Director of Systems and Field Services. Supported by 49 specialized staff members, these departments manage the child care licensing process from end-to-end. Their daily responsibilities include processing applications, background checks and fingerprinting, managing surveys, and collecting answers from day care providers.
Surveying Structure
The survey process is initiated by KOEC in four different pathways: initial application, annual inspection, when a complaint is filed, and for compliance reasons. KOEC can either do these surveys themselves or can contract licensing out to local health departments. There are currently seventeen local health departments under such contract, serving over thirty counties in the state. Local health departments apply for a licensing contract and request the amount of funding they will need for surveying. To decide the amounts awarded in the contracts, KDHE (now the KOEC) uses a funding formula that considers the size and population of the county. Each local contractor is required to submit routine reports with programming metrics, including survey timeliness reports.
Initial Application
The first time a survey is initiated is when a day care has applied for licensure. After the application is completed by the day care provider, the initial survey will be scheduled by a licensing specialist, and the day care will either be found to be compliant or noncompliant through a notice of survey findings (NOSF). If found compliant, a license or temporary permit will be issued. If found non-compliant, the licensing specialist will complete an unannounced follow-up visit.
Annual Survey
Day cares are also subject to annual survey inspections, which are unannounced visits by a licensing specialist. After this visit, a NOSF will be issued and the day care will either be found compliant, or another unannounced visit will take place. If a day care continues to be noncompliant during annual surveys, the KOEC will either review for further enforcement or complete a compliance survey.
Complaint Process
Day cares are also surveyed when a complaint is issued against their center. In these cases, a complaint is received and a licensing specialist may contact the complainant to gather more information. After this, the licensing specialist will perform an unannounced visit to interview staff of the day care and issue a NOSF. If the complaint is substantiated or any violations are citated, KOEC will review for further enforcements or perform a compliance survey. If the NOSF showed the day care complied, the complaint process would end.
Compliance Process
The final survey type is compliance, which is done after failure of an annual survey or a complaint survey. A licensing specialist will conduct an unannounced visit and issue a NOSF. If the facility is compliant, the process ends. If the facility is not compliant, KOEC repeats the compliance survey or reviews for further enforcement.