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.