West Virginia Code of State Rules
Agency 78 - Human Services
Title 78 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BUREAU FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
Series 78-21 - Out-of-School-Time Child Care Center Licensing Requirements
Section 78-21-9 - Supervision of Children
Universal Citation: 78 WV Code of State Rules 78-21-9
Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 38, September 20, 2024
9.1. A center shall ensure that:
9.1.a. Staff provide
adequate supervision to children at all times;
9.1.b. Staff can account for children at all
times through a means to track children as they participate in the program,
take independent restroom breaks, as activities change, as transportation
occurs and takes action when a child is missing on or off the
premises;
9.1.c. Public restrooms
are in staff's line of vision if used by children participating in the program;
provided, that staff shall accompany children under nine years of age to public
restrooms that are adjoined to or located within locker rooms, shower rooms, or
other similar type facilities;
9.1.d. At no time is a Pre-K child without
adult supervision including restroom breaks;
9.1.e. When children are on the premises, at
least one staff member and one other facility staff member are
present;
9.1.f. In determining and
maintaining the staff-to-child ratio, the center shall not include any staff
member who is performing other duties such as maintenance or accounting, except
in an emergency situation when staff may be reassigned to supervise the
children; and
9.1.g. A student
intern that is at least 16 years old and not yet 18 years old may count in the
staff-to-child ratio provided the intern is in a field of study related to
child care as approved by the Secretary, works under the direct supervision of
at least a group leader and acts only in an aide capacity not having final
decision-making authority.
9.2. A center shall group children and consider their ages when determining the staff-to-child ratio as follows:
9.2.a. For programs that operate with Pre-K
children, the program shall ensure that:
9.2.a.1. A 1-12 staff-to-child ratio is
maintained; and
9.2.a.2. Group
sizes are limited to 24 for any group that mixes older children with a Pre-K
child.
9.2.b. For
programs that operate with school age children only, the program shall ensure
that:
9.2.b.1. A 1-16 staff-to-child ratio is
maintained;
9.2.b.2. The group size
is determined by the activity and is limited to facilitate staff/child
interaction and safe, constructive participation by children; and
9.2.c. During water activity such
as swimming, canoeing, and fishing the staff-to-child ratio is maintained at
1-8 for groups of school-age children and is maintained at 1-4 for any group
with a Pre-K child.
9.3. Groups of children must be distinct with staff persons knowing to which group they are assigned.
9.4. Staff-to-child ratio and group size are always maintained based on the age of the youngest child in the group.
9.5. During transportation, the center shall:
9.5.a. Maintain the staff-to-child
ratio;
9.5.b. Have a staff member
or volunteer accompany the driver when more than six children are being
transported and at least one of those children is kindergarten or
younger;
9.5.c. Ensure that no
child is left unattended on a vehicle;
9.5.d. Have a staff or designated responsible
person present outside the vehicle to supervise when children are loading or
unloading from a vehicle; and
9.5.e. Immediately upon unloading the last
child from a vehicle, or before parking the vehicle, the driver or the
designated staff member shall physically search the vehicle to ensure that all
children have been unloaded.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. West Virginia 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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