Residential Group Care Licensing

The Office of Licensing within the Office of Quality and Innovation is responsible for the statewide licensure of Florida's cared-caring agencies. The purpose of the licensure is to ensure a healthy and safe environment for children in child-caring agency settings and to improve the quality of their care through regulation and consultation. Licensure as a child-caring agency by the Department includes program and safety requirements.

The Office of Licensing strives to ensure that children placed in a licensed child-caring agency setting receives adequate care and supervision. The Office of Licensing’s mission is to ensure all child-caring agency settings are of quality standard through the incorporation of high level training, adequate policy and procedures, family engagement, suitable staff to youth ratio, and delivery of appropriate services/treatments to all children placed in the child-caring agency setting.

Qualified associations may register child-caring agencies under the provisions of Florida Statue 409.176.

Qualified Associations:
Florida Association of Christian Child Caring Agencies.

The Department does not license all residential group care settings in Florida. Other state agencies licensing residential group care settings include the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Agency for Persons with Disabilities.