Iowa Admin. Code r. 441-109.8 - [Effective until 7/1/2025] Staff ratio requirements
(1)
Staff requirements. Persons counted as part of the staff ratio
shall meet the following requirements:
a. Be
at least 16 years of age. However, a staff person under the age of 18 may not
be the sole provider on the premises of a child care facility.
b. Be involved with children in programming
activities.
c. At least one staff
person on duty in the center when children are present and present on field
trips shall be over the age of 18.
d. Staff persons under the age of 18 shall
not provide transportation to children in care.
e. If staff persons under the age of 18 are
providing child care services without an adult, they shall only provide care to
school-aged children.
(2)
Staff ratio. The staff-to-child ratio shall be as follows:
|
Age of children |
Minimum ratio of staff to children |
|
Two weeks to two years |
One to every four children |
|
Two years |
One to every seven children |
|
Three years |
One to every ten children |
|
Four years |
One to every twelve children |
|
Five years to ten years |
One to every fifteen children |
|
Ten years and over |
One to every twenty children |
a. Combinations
of age groupings for children four years of age and older may be allowed and
may have staff ratio determined on the age of the majority of the children in
the group.
b. Combinations of age
groupings for children between three years of age and five years of age may be
allowed with a ratio of one staff member to every 12 children.
c. Children between 18 months and three years
of age may be combined, if appropriate to the developmental needs of the child.
If a child under two years is in a combined age group, the staff ratio of one
to seven shall be maintained. Otherwise, staff ratio may be determined by the
age of the majority of the children in the group.
d. Every child-occupied program room shall
have supervision present in the room. Brief absences of a staff member may be
allowed for no more than five minutes when another staff person is
present.
e. During nap time, at
least one staff shall be present in every room where children are resting.
Staff ratio requirements may be reduced to one staff per room where children
are resting and staff ratio coverage can be maintained in the center. The staff
ratio shall always be maintained for children under two years of age.
f. When more than eight children are present
on the licensed premises or are being transported in one vehicle, at least two
adult staff shall be present. Only one adult is required when a center is
transporting children in a center-owned vehicle with parent authorization for
the sole purpose of transporting children to and from school. When a center
contracts with another entity to provide transportation other than for the
purpose of transporting school-age children to or from school, at least one
adult staff in addition to the driver shall be present if at least eight
children provided care by the center are transported.
g. Any child care center-sponsored program
activity involving five or more children conducted away from the licensed
facility shall provide a minimum of one additional staff over the required
staff ratio for the protection of the children.
h. For a period of two hours or less at the
beginning and end of the center's hours of operation, one staff may care for
seven or fewer children, provided no more than four of the children are under
the age of two years and there are no more than seven children in the
center.
i. For centers or
preschools serving school-age children, the ratio for school-age children may
be exceeded for a period of no more than four hours during a day when school
classes start late or are dismissed early or canceled due to inclement weather
or structural damage provided the children are already enrolled at the center
and the center does not exceed the licensed capacity.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
(1) Staff requirements. Persons counted as part of the staff ratio shall meet the following requirements:
a. Be at least 16 years of age. However, a staff person under the age of 18 may not be the sole provider on the premises of a child care facility .
b. Be involved with children in programming activities.
c. At least one staff person on duty in the center when children are present and present on field trips shall be over the age of 18.
d. Staff persons under the age of 18 shall not provide transportation to children in care.
e. If staff persons under the age of 18 are providing child care services without an adult , they shall only provide care to school-aged children.
(2) Staff ratio. The staff-to-child ratio shall be as follows:
| Age of children | Minimum ratio of staff to children |
| Two weeks to two years | One to every four children |
| Two years | One to every seven children |
| Three years | One to every ten children |
| Four years | One to every twelve children |
| Five years to ten years | One to every fifteen children |
| Ten years and over | One to every twenty children |
a. Combinations of age groupings for children four years of age and older may be allowed and may have staff ratio determined on the age of the majority of the children in the group.
b. Combinations of age groupings for children between three years of age and five years of age may be allowed with a ratio of one staff member to every 12 children.
c. Children between 18 months and three years of age may be combined, if appropriate to the developmental needs of the child . If a child under two years is in a combined age group, the staff ratio of one to seven shall be maintained. Otherwise, staff ratio may be determined by the age of the majority of the children in the group.
d. Every child -occupied program room shall have supervision present in the room. Brief absences of a staff member may be allowed for no more than five minutes when another staff person is present.
e. During nap time, at least one staff shall be present in every room where children are resting. Staff ratio requirements may be reduced to one staff per room where children are resting and staff ratio coverage can be maintained in the center . The staff ratio shall always be maintained for children under two years of age.
f. When more than eight children are present on the licensed premises or are being transported in one vehicle, at least two adult staff shall be present. Only one adult is required when a center is transporting children in a center -owned vehicle with parent authorization for the sole purpose of transporting children to and from school. When a center contracts with another entity to provide transportation other than for the purpose of transporting school-age children to or from school, at least one adult staff in addition to the driver shall be present if at least eight children provided care by the center are transported.
g. Any child care center -sponsored program activity involving five or more children conducted away from the licensed facility shall provide a minimum of one additional staff over the required staff ratio for the protection of the children.
h. For a period of two hours or less at the beginning and end of the center 's hours of operation, one staff may care for seven or fewer children, provided no more than four of the children are under the age of two years and there are no more than seven children in the center .
i. For centers or preschools serving school-age children, the ratio for school-age children may be exceeded for a period of no more than four hours during a day when school classes start late or are dismissed early or canceled due to inclement weather or structural damage provided the children are already enrolled at the center and the center does not exceed the licensed capacity.