Missouri Code of State Regulations
Title 19 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES
Division 30 - Division of Regulation and Licensure
Chapter 62 - Licensing Rules for Group Child Care Homes and Child Care Centers
Section 19 CSR 30-62.010 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 19 MO Code of State Regs 30-62.010

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 18, September 16, 2024

PURPOSE: This amendment updates the existing definitions and terms used in the licensing rules for group child care homes and child care centers and adds new definitions for child care facility, child care staff member, group size, homeless children and youths, hourly care facility, legal entity, licensee, and Montessori school. This amendment also deletes the terms "review board" and "related," places the definitions in correct alphabetical order, and updates the term "day care" to "child care" in the chapter name and across several definitions.

(1) Adult is any individual eighteen (18) years of age or older.

(2) Caregiver is the child care provider or other child care staff member.

(3) A child care center or center, whether owned by a sole proprietor or other legal entity, is a child care program conducted in a location other than the provider's permanent residence, or separate from the provider's living quarters, where care is provided for children for any part of the twenty-four- (24-) hour day.

(4) A child care facility or facility is a family child care home, group child care home, or child care center.

(5) Child care provider, group child care home provider or provider is the person(s) licensed or required to be licensed under section 210.211, RSMo in order to establish, conduct, or maintain a child care facility. This person(s) shall have the following rights and responsibilities as determined by the division:

(A) Ultimate responsibility for making and implementing decisions regarding the operation of the facility; and

(B) Ultimate financial control of the operation of the facility.

(6) Child care staff member is a child care provider; persons employed by the child care provider for compensation, including contract employees or self-employed individuals; individuals or volunteers whose activities involve the care or supervision of children for a child care provider or unsupervised access to children who are cared for or supervised by a child care provider; or individuals residing in a family child care home who are eighteen (18) years of age and older.

(7) Day care or child care is care of a child away from his/her own home for any part of the twenty-four- (24-) hour day for compensation or otherwise. Day care or child care is a voluntary supplement to parental responsibility for the child's protection, development, and supervision. Day care or child care may be given in a family child care home, group child care home, or child care center.

(8) Department is the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

(9) Director is the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

(10) A family child care home or home, whether owned by a sole proprietor or other legal entity, is a child care program where care is given by a person licensed as a child care home provider for no more than ten (10) children for any part of the twenty-four- (24-) hour day. The provider may be licensed to operate no more than one (1) family child care home or group child care home.

(11) Graded boarding school is a public or private school which provides education in at least the first through the sixth grade and which provides lodging and meals for the pupils for the standard school term.

(12) A group child care home, whether owned by a sole proprietor or other legal entity, is a child care program where care is given by a person licensed as a group child care home provider for not more than twenty (20) children for any part of the twenty-four-(24-) hour day. A group child care home shall be in a location other than the provider's permanent residence or separate from the provider's living quarters. The provider may be licensed to operate no more than one (1) group child care home or family child care home.

(13) Group size is the maximum number of children assigned to a specific staff member or group of staff members, occupying an individual classroom or well-defined physical space within a large room.

(14) Homeless children and youths-

(A) Are individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and

(B) Include:
1. Children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; or are abandoned in hospitals;

2. Children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;

3. Children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

4. Migratory children who qualify as homeless because the children are living in the circumstances described above.

(15) An hourly care facility is a facility licensed exclusively for irregular, intermittent, hourly care.

(16) Infant is any child under twelve (12) months of age.

(17) Legal entity is the lawful or legally standing individual, corporation, sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, limited liability limited partnership, partnership, charity, and other forms of organization that has the legal capacity to enter into agreements, contracts, assume obligations, incur and pay debts, sue and be sued in its own right, and that is accountable for illegal activities.

(18) Licensee is an individual or other legal entity who has been granted a child care license by the Department of Health and Senior Services.

(19) Montessori school is a child care program that subscribes to Maria Montessori's educational philosophy and is accredited by the American Montessori Society or the Association Montessori Internationale.

(20) Night is the part of the twenty-four- (24-) hour day between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

(21) Nursery school is a program operated by a person or organization with the primary function of providing an educational program for preschool-age children for no more than four (4) hours per child per day.

(22) Premises is a house(s), dwelling(s), or building(s) and its adjoining land.

(23) Preschool child is any child two through five (2-5) years of age who is not in kindergarten.

(24) A religious organization is-

(A) A church, synagogue, or mosque;

(B) An entity that qualifies for federal tax exemption status as a not-for-profit religious organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; or

(C) An entity whose real estate on which the child care facility is located is exempt from taxation because it is used for religious purposes.

(25) School-age child is any child five (5) years of age or older who is in kindergarten or above.

(26) School system is a program established primarily for education and which meets the following criteria:

(A) Provides education in at least the first through the sixth grade; and

(B) Provides evidence that the school system's records will be accepted by a public or private school for the transfer of any student.

(27) Staff/child ratio is the number of caregivers required in relation to the number of children in care.

(28) Summer camp is a program operated from May to September by a person or organization with the primary function of providing a summer recreational program for children five (5) years of age or older, and providing no child care for children younger than five (5) years of age in the same building or in the same outdoor play area.

(29) Toddler is any child twelve to twenty-four (12-24) months of age.

*Original authority: 210.221.1(3), RSMo 1949, amended 1955, 1987, 1993.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Missouri may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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