How to transfer your Childcare worker licence to Vermont (2026)

Childcare workers in Vermont are listed on a state registry rather than licensed: the Vermont child care licensing agency. This page says what a childcare worker licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Vermont, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Child care workers are not licensed, but every state requires a background check through its own child care licensing agency and a set of training hours before you can work unsupervised; the check does not transfer, the training sometimes does. The CDA credential is national and carries over to Vermont.

How long: two to six weeks for the background check. Fee: nothing to about $50; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• CDA credential if you hold one
• Training certificates (CPR, first aid, safe sleep)
• Immunisation records

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Vermont already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming you can start before the background check clears; you cannot work unsupervised

Who hires childcare workers in Vermont

Childcare workers in Vermont are hired by child care centres, preschools, Head Start programs and school-age programs. The metros with the most of that work are Burlington, South Burlington and Rutland. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Vermont openings page.

For the money side: the median childcare worker in Vermont earned $37,830 a year ($18 an hour) in May 2024 across 1,120 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Vermont has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 8.75%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Vermont also has a program that pay people to move in: New Relocating Worker Grant (up to $7,500 for moving costs, for people who move to Vermont for a job with a Vermont employer; funded in rounds, closes when the money is gone). Each has a residence condition and a funding round.

Everything about Vermont, on one page

The Vermont page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Vermont employers hiring from out of state.