Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a)
Children cannot be left without competent supervision at any time. Competent
supervision includes awareness of and responsibility for the ongoing activity
of each child. It requires that all children be within a teacher's range of
vision and that the teacher be near enough to respond when redirection or
intervention strategies are needed. Competent supervision must take into
account the child's age emotional, physical, and cognitive
development.
(b) The child day care
center must employ staff who will promote the physical, intellectual, social,
cultural and emotional well-being of the children.
(c) The child day care center must provide
supervision of the staff responsible for the care of children. Workloads and
assignments must be arranged to provide consistency of care to children and to
allow staff to fulfill their respective responsibilities.
(d) No person under 18 years of age may be
left alone to supervise a group of children at any time, including in an
emergency.
(e) A group teacher,
meeting the qualifications of section
418-1.13 of
this Subpart, is required for every group of children.
(f) An additional group teacher or an
assistant teacher is required when the number of children in the group dictate
that a second teacher be present to meet the teacher/child ratio.
(g) Whenever the child day care center is in
operation and the director is away from the premises, there must be a staff
person designated to act on behalf of the director, who is knowledgeable about
the programs operation and policies.
(h) A staff person who is qualified to
perform the duties of an absent staff member must be provided when needed to
comply with the applicable teacher/child ratios.
(i) In other than emergency situations such
as illness or accident, parents must be notified in writing two weeks prior to
any long-term absence of the teachers. This notice must include specific start
and end dates of the absence and who will be taking the teacher's place in the
day care program.
(j) When a child
care center is in operation, an adequate number of qualified teachers must be
on duty to ensure the health and safety of the children in care.
| Minimum Supervision Ratios
Based on Group Size for Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers |
| Age of Children |
Teacher/Child Maximum |
Maximum Group Size |
| under 6 weeks*** |
1:3 |
6 |
| 6 weeks to 18 months |
1:4 |
8 |
| 18 months to 36 months |
1:5 |
12 |
| 3 years |
1:7 |
18 |
| 4 years |
1:8 |
21 |
| 5 years |
1:9 |
24 |
| Minimum Supervision Ratios Based on
Group Size for School-aged Children |
| through 9 years |
1:10 |
20 |
| 10-12 years |
1:15 |
30 |
***Such care is only permitted pursuant to the
provisions of section
418-1.15(b)(30)
of this Subpart.
(k) The
supervision ratios are as follows:
(1) for
children under six weeks old who have been approved to attend day care by the
office:
(i) there must be one teacher for
every three children;
(ii) the
maximum group size is six children.
(2) for children between ages six weeks old
and 18 months old:
(i) there must be one
teacher for every four children;
(ii) the maximum group size is eight
children.
(3) for
children between ages 18 months old and 36 months old:
(i) there must be one teacher for every five
children;
(ii) the maximum group
size is 12 children.
(4)
for three year old children:
(i) there must be
one teacher for every seven children;
(ii) the maximum group size is 18
children.
(5) for four
year old children:
(i) there must be one
teacher for every eight children;
(ii) the maximum group size is 21
children.
(6) for five
year old children:
(i) there must be one
teacher for every nine children;
(ii) the maximum group size is 24
children.
(7) for a
child of school-age through the age of nine years old:
(i) there must be one teacher for every 10
children;
(ii) the maximum group
size is 20 children.
(8)
for children between the ages of 10 years old and 12 years old:
(i) there must be one teacher for every 15
children;
(ii) the maximum group
size is 30 children.
(l)
Group size and mixing different age
children within groups.
(1) Group size
refers to the number of children cared for together as a unit. Group size is
used to determine the minimum teacher/child ratio based upon the age of the
children in the group.
(2) Group
size must be maintained in common areas of the day care center building and
grounds.
(3) Groups of children may
not be mixed together to use outdoor play areas, exercise areas, gym rooms or
other common areas of the center unless, the space is large enough to
accommodate multiple groups which must be kept separate.
(4) Any child who is 18 months or older who
may not be developmentally ready to advance to the next age group setting may
be retained for a period of up to three months.
(i) A written agreement concerning this
retention between the parent and the center is required.
(ii) If this time period is expected to
exceed three months, the center, in consultation with early intervention or
special education staff and the parent, may exercise greater discretion in the
placement of the child with a developmental disability or delay based on
consideration of such factors as the child's developmental readiness,
appropriateness of the classroom environment, the level of care the child
requires and the needs of the other children in care.
(iii) A written assessment of the child's
need for further retention must be kept on file.
(5) In consideration of a child's
developmental readiness, appropriateness of the classroom environment, the
level of care the child requires and the needs of the other children in care,
the center may move a toddler to the next age group when that child is within
three months of their third birthday.
(i) A
written assessment of the child's developmental readiness is required to be
kept on file.
(6) When
preschool children ages three years to five years are cared for in one group
throughout the day, the teacher to child ratio and maximum group size
applicable to the age of the majority of children must be followed.
(7) Except for office approved continuity of
care classrooms, infants may never be mixed with other age groups.
(8) Except for office approved continuity of
care classrooms, children under three years of age may not participate in mixed
age groups except for limited periods of time at the beginning and end of the
child day care center's daily operation.
(9) When toddlers are cared for with
preschool children in a mixed age group at the very beginning or very end of
the day, the teacher/child ratio and maximum group size applicable to children
aged 18 months to 36 months must be followed.
(10) When preschool children are cared for in
school age groups at the very beginning or very end of the day, the
teacher/child ratio and maximum group size applicable to the youngest child in
the group must be followed.
(11)
Day care centers that have been approved to operate a school-age children
component in their day care center may only mix school age children with
pre-school children at the very beginning of the day and the very end of the
day. School age children may never be mixed with pre-school children for the
entire period of time they are in care at the center.
(12) When school age children are mixed with
pre-school children at the beginning and end of the day, toddlers may not be
mixed in these groups. School age children may not be mixed with children under
age three at any time.
(m) There must be a director, group teacher
or assistant teacher supervising all applicants, volunteers and persons in the
process of approval.
(n) The use of
any type of personal electronic media device for social or entertainment
purposes, including but not limited to, listening to music on headphones,
playing screen games, surfing the internet, sending e-mails, or making personal
calls while supervising children is prohibited. The use of mobile phones is
permitted as necessary to promote the children's safety and ensuring the
orderly operation of the program.
(o) The director must approve all plans for
field trips, including the type of activity, development needs of children and
whether there is the need for additional staff to provide adequate supervision.
Such plans must take into consideration the developmental needs of the
children.
(p)
Releasing
children from care.
(1) No child can
be released from the child day care center to any person other than his or her
parent, a person(s) currently designated in writing by such parent to receive
the child, or another person authorized by law to take custody of a
child.
(2) No child can be released
from the child day care center unsupervised except upon written permission of
the child's parent. Such permission must be acceptable to the child day care
center and should take into consideration such factors as the child's age and
maturity, proximity to his or her home, and safety of the
neighborhood.
(3) When
transportation is provided as a service by the program, no child can be
released from the day care program directly to the child's home or other
destination without first verifying that the parent or person(s) designated by
the parent to receive the child is present at that destination to receive the
child.
(q)
Visitor
control procedures.
(1) Each day care
center shall require any and all visitors to the facility to:
(i) sign in upon entry to the
premises;
(ii) indicate in writing
the date of the visit and the time of entry to the facility;
(iii) clearly state in writing the purpose of
the visit; and
(iv) sign out upon
departure from the facility indicating in writing the time of
departure.
(2) Each day
care center shall establish written rules and policies as are necessary to
provide for monitoring and control of visitors to protect the health, safety
and welfare of children in care.
(r)
Continuity of care.
The continuity of care model requires that the center
make every effort to establish and maintain a primary relationship between
teachers and children and their respective families over a period of years. In
the continuity of care model, infants/toddlers and their teachers stay together
until all children in the group are 36 months of age. The core concept in
continuity of care is the practice that assigns a child to one teacher who
becomes responsible for the child and for communication with the child's
parents. The teachers must develop positive relationships with each child
assigned to his/her care, tending to their physical and emotional needs and
working together with a second group teacher or assistant teacher in the group
who maintains this same relationship with another small number of children
assigned to her/him. While each teacher is assigned to a small number of
children, both are also responsible as a back-up for each other's assigned
children when a need arises to safeguard the health and safety of any child in
the classroom.
(1) For purpose of
maintaining a continuity of care model, centers may mix children six weeks of
age to 36 months of age in one classroom, in compliance with the provisions of
subdivision (r) of this section.
(2) The teachers assigned to the continuity
of care classrooms must receive instruction regarding the concepts of
continuity of care and develop positive relationships with each child assigned
to his/her care, tending to their physical and emotional needs.
(3) In order that infants and toddlers
develop consistent and significant positive relationships with teachers working
in continuity of care classrooms, teachers must be assigned to that classroom
and those children only, except that toddlers and their teacher participating
in continuity of care classrooms may participate in the center's plans for
supervision at the very beginning and very end of the daily operation as
permitted per subdivision (l) of this section.
(4) Continuity of care teachers will be
directly responsible for communication with the assigned children's
parents.
(5) While each teacher
working in a continuity of care classroom is assigned to a small number of
children in the classroom, the teachers are also responsible as each other's
back-up when a need arises to safeguard the health and safety of any child in
the classroom.
(6) Parents of
children who will be assigned to a continuity of care classroom must be
informed by the program about this model of care and agree in writing to
placing their child in the continuity of care group.
(7) The teacher/child ratio and maximum group
size in continuity of care classrooms must be applicable to the youngest child
in the group and consistent with subdivision (k) of this section.
(8) The center's continuity of care
programming, furnishings, equipment and size shall meet the developmental
appropriate needs of all the children in the room.
(9) All proposed models of continuity of care
must be submitted to the office for review and approval prior to
implementation.
(s) Day
care centers that do not offer care to infant and toddlers may enroll children
who will turn three by December 1st of that same year if the day care center
enrollment coincides with the start of the local public school year.
