Missouri Code of State Regulations
Title 5 - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Division 25 - Office of Childhood
Chapter 300 - License-Exempt Child Care Facilities
Section 5 CSR 25-300.010 - Application for Certificates of License to Teach on the Basis of Certification by the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE)

(A) Adult is an individual eighteen (18) years of age or older;

(B) Caregiver is the facility director or other child care staff whether they are paid or volunteering;

(C) 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. Child care is a voluntary supplement to parental responsibility for the child's protection, development, and supervision;

(D) Child care provider or provider is the person(s) having the following responsibilities:

(E) 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; individuals residing in a family child care home who are eighteen years of age or older; and individuals residing in a family child care home who are under eighteen years of age and have been certified as an adult for the commission of an offense;

(F) Department is the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education;

(G) 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;

(H) Homeless children and youths-

(I) Infant is a child less than twelve (12) months of age;

(J) Kindergarten is a children's educational program offered to prepare children for the first grade;

(K) License-exempt child care facility or facility is a nursery school not operated by a religious organization or child care maintained or operated under the exclusive control of a religious organization, not including religious organization academic preschools or kindergartens;

(L) Local public health agency is an entity that enforces local public health codes and ordinances and provides other services related to public health;

(M) Nursery school is an educational program for preschool-age children that is operated for no more than four (4) hours per child per day;

(N) Parent means a child's biological parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, a step-parent, an adoptive parent, a legal guardian, a caretaker relative, or other person standing in loco par- entis for the child;

(O) Premises is a house(s), dwelling(s), or building(s) and the adjoining land of a license-exempt child care facility;

(P) Preschool-age child is a child two through five (2-5) years of age not enrolled in kindergarten;

(Q) Religious organization is

(R) Religious organization academic preschool or kindergarten is a child care program provided exclusively for four- (4-) and five- (5-) year-old children that is maintained or operated under the exclusive control of a religious organization;

(S) School-age child is a child five (5) years of age or older who is enrolled in kindergarten or above;

(T) Staff/child ratio is the number of caregivers required in rela- tion to the number of children in care;

(U) Toddler is a child twelve to twenty-four (12-24) months of age; and

(V) Variance is approval by the department for a provider not to be required to meet a specific requirement of the rules of this chapter