Section 5104.033. Staff to child ratios

A child day-care center shall have at least two responsible adults available on the premises at all times when seven or more children are in the center. The center shall organize the children in the center in small groups, shall provide child-care staff to give continuity of care and supervision to the children on a day-by-day basis, and shall ensure that no child is left alone or unsupervised. Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, the maximum number of children per child-care staff member and maximum group size, by age category of children, are as follows:

Maximum Number of
Children Per	Maximum
Age Category	Child-Care	Group
of Children	Staff Member	Size
(a) Infants:
(i) Less than twelve
months old	5:1, or
12:2 if two
child-care
staff members
are in the room	12
(ii) At least twelve
months old, but
less than eighteen
months old	6:1	12
(b) Toddlers:
(i) At least eighteen
months old, but
less than thirty
months old	7:1	14
(ii) At least thirty months
old, but less than
three years old	8:1	16
(c) Preschool-age
children:
(i) Three years old	12:1	24
(ii) Four years old and
five years old who
are not school
children	14:1	28
(d) School-age children:
(i) A child who is
enrolled in or is
eligible to be
enrolled in a grade
of kindergarten
or above, but
is less than
eleven years old	18:1	36
(ii) Eleven through fourteen
years old	20:1	40

Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, the maximum number of children per child-care staff member and maximum group size requirements of the younger age group shall apply when age groups are combined.

(B)

(1) When age groups are combined, the maximum number of children per child-care staff member shall be determined by the age of the youngest child in the group, except that when no more than one child thirty months of age or older receives services in a group in which all the other children are in the next older age group, the maximum number of children per child-care staff member and maximum group size requirements of the older age group established under division (A) of this section shall apply.

(2) The maximum number of toddlers or preschool-age children per child-care staff member in a room where children are napping shall be twice the maximum number of children per child-care staff member established under division (A) of this section if all the following criteria are met:

(a) At least one child-care staff member is present in the room.

(b) Sufficient child-care staff members are on the child day-care center premises to meet the maximum number of children per child-care staff member requirements established under division (A) of this section.

(c) Naptime preparations are complete and all napping children are resting or sleeping on cots.

(d) The maximum number established under division (B)(2) of this section is in effect for no more than two hours during a twenty-four-hour day.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.128, SB 316, §120.01, eff. 1/1/2014.