Background:
Center
Ratio and Group Size
Appendix A to rule
5101:2-12-18 outlines staff/child ratios, age grouping, and maximum group size
for child care centers.
Family
Child Care Ratio and Capacity
Rule 5101:2-13-18
stipulates that licensed family child care providers shall care for no more
than six children at any one time. No more than three of those children may be
under two years of age.
Step
Up To Quality
Rule 5101:2-17-01 of the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) contains
the Step Up To Quality (SUTQ) program standards required for child care center
and family child care (FCC) programs to be star rated. SUTQ rated programs are required to meet the
standards at all times.
Publicly
Funded Child Care – Absent Days and Professional Development Days
An absent day is defined in rule 5101:2-16-01 of the Ohio
Administrative Code (OAC) as "any day that a child is authorized and
scheduled to be in the care of the provider, but is not in attendance, and
child care would have been provided had the child been present with the provider."
An absent day can only be used if the child care program is open on that
day. Currently, rule 5101:2-16-10 of the OAC allows a maximum of 10
absent days for each six-month period from January through June and again from
July through December.
A professional development day is defined in rule 5101:2-16-01
of the OAC as "a day in which a provider would normally provide child care
for currently enrolled and scheduled children, but has closed to the public so
that the provider and/or child care staff may undergo training meant to improve
their professional knowledge, competence, skill and effectiveness as child care
professionals." Currently, rule 5101:2-16-10 of the OAC allows two
professional development days per state fiscal year but prohibits professional
development days from being used on two consecutive calendar days or in two
consecutive calendar months.
New Policy:
In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, changes in policy are being implemented to allow programs to
meet the needs of the families impacted by the pandemic and school closings.
The Executive ban issued on March 12, 2020 to prohibit mass gatherings of 100
people or more in the state of Ohio does not apply to child care programs.
The following rules and policy changes are
effective as of March 13, 2020.
Rule 5101:2-12-18 "Group size and ratios
for a licensed child care center" Appendix A has been amended to update the ratio and group size
requirements for preschool and school-age children:
|
Age of Children
|
Maximum Child Care Staff Member/Child Ratio
|
Maximum Group Size
|
Young Infants (birth to less than 12 months) |
1:5 or 2:12 in same room
|
12
|
Older Infants (at least 12 months and less than 18 months) |
1:6
|
12
|
Young Toddlers (at least 18 months and less than 2 1/2 years) |
1:7
|
14
|
Older Toddlers (at least 2 1/2 years and less than 3 years) |
1:8
|
16
|
Young Preschoolers (at least 3 years and less than 4 years) |
1:16
|
32
|
Older Preschoolers (at least 4 years and not enrolled in or eligible to be
enrolled in kindergarten) |
1:18
|
36
|
All School-Agers (enrolled in or eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten
or above and less than 15 years) |
1:30
|
60
|
Rule
5101:2-13-18 "Group size and ratios for a licensed family child care
provider" has
been amended to allow each child care staff member in a family child
care home to care for up to twelve children at any one time. Each child care staff member can only care for
three children under two years of age. For this period, Type B providers are
automatically grandfathered to have a capacity of twelve children at any one
time.
Rule 5101:2-16-10 "Payment rates and
procedures for providers of publicly funded childcare services" has been amended to:
Increase the number of
absent days from ten days per six months to twenty days per six months.
Create twenty-one
pandemic days per fiscal year. A pandemic day is a day the provider is closed
in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In-home aides may not claim pandemic days.
The child care automated
system will be updated to reflect these changes.
Step
Up To Quality
While Ohio is in a state
of emergency to address the COVID-19 pandemic, SUTQ rated child care centers
and family child care home providers should focus on meeting licensing requirements
for health and safety. Additionally, the Ohio Department of Job and
Family Services will not be assessing SUTQ standards and submission
requirements with the exception of already submitted 1-star initial
registrations, 1-star rating renewals and already submitted annual reports for
3-, 4- and 5-star ratings.
Questions:
Please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at 1-877-302-2347,
option 4, if you have any questions about the new policy.