Arkansas child care, camp and ratio rules

Child care licensing

Child care centers caring for six or more children from more than one family, licensed family homes (6 to 16 children) and out-of-school-time (OST) facilities serving only school-age children must be licensed by OEC; homes with fewer children can register. A program open more than 5 hours in any 24-hour period or more than 10 hours a week counts as a child care center.

After-school and recreation programs: Programs open no more than 5 hours a day or 10 hours a week, and programs that run no more than three weeks a year (such as summer Bible schools and camps), don't need a license. Recreational programs where children arrive and leave on their own for scheduled classes, practices, games or meetings are exempt, as are schools providing short before/after-school care (up to 20 hours a week) for their own K-12 students; church-run programs can apply for a church-operated exemption but must still meet the standards.

Licensing agency: Arkansas Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood (OEC), Child Care Licensing Unit

Sources: OEC Child Care Licensing; 20 CAR § 1025-401 Staff-to-child ratio (Code of Arkansas Rules); 20 CAR § 1027-101 OST definitions and license exemptions; 20 CAR § 1027-301 OST staff-to-participant ratio; 20 CAR § 1025-207 Church-operated exemptions; Minimum Licensing Requirements for Out-of-School Time Facilities (PDF)

Staff-to-child ratios in licensed centers

Rule: 20 CAR § 1025-401 (child care centers); 20 CAR § 1027-301 (out-of-school-time facilities, 1:18). Maximum group size is twice the one-staff ratio (buildings licensed before November 1, 2002 are grandfathered, and the limit doesn't apply to periodic or special group activities). In mixed-age groups, the youngest child's ratio applies. OST facilities serving only kindergarten and older use 1:18 with the same 2x group-size rule. Children 30 to 36 months may be placed in the group that best fits their development.

Work out your staffing with the ratio calculator

Summer camps

Summer day camps for school-age children are out-of-school-time programs and need an OEC child care license, which includes specific day camp rules, unless the camp runs no more than three weeks a year, stays under 5 hours a day and 10 hours a week, or is a drop-in recreational program. We found no separate state license for overnight (resident) camps in the Arkansas Department of Health's rules.

Camp agency: Arkansas Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood (summer day camps, through child care licensing)

Sources: 20 CAR § 1027-101 OST definitions (summer day camps; three-week exemption); OST Minimum Licensing Requirements, Section 1500 Day Camp (PDF)

Background checks

Owners, staff, and volunteers or others with routine contact with children need an Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry check before starting and every 2 years, plus an Arkansas State Police fingerprint check (including the state sex offender registry) and an FBI fingerprint check before starting and every 5 years; a National Sex Offender Registry check is also run, and anyone who lived in another state in the past 5 years is checked there too. New staff can start only after a satisfactory state police result and must be supervised by fully cleared staff until all checks are back.

Sources: 20 CAR § 1025-209 Child Maltreatment Central Registry checks; 20 CAR § 1025-210 FBI and State Police criminal records checks

Giving medication

Medicine may be given only with signed parent permission listing the date, drug name, dose and time, how long to give it and the reason; it must be in the original child-resistant container, unexpired and labeled with the child's name, and never given above the label dose. Medicines are kept locked, the staff member who gives a dose initials the permission slip and records date, time and dose, children with special health needs need a care plan, and staff orientation covers medication administration.

Free medication administration log

Sources: 20 CAR § 1025-1201 General health requirements (medication); Minimum Licensing Requirements for Child Care Centers (PDF)

Reporting child abuse

A long list of mandated reporters includes child care and day care workers, school employees, coaches and directors of athletic and non-athletic organizations, clergy, health care workers, and people working for nonprofit charitable organizations. They must immediately notify the Child Abuse Hotline when they have reasonable cause to suspect maltreatment (Ark. Code § 12-18-402); licensed child care owners, staff and volunteers are named as mandated reporters in the licensing rules.

Arkansas child abuse hotline: 1-800-482-5964 (Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline); non-emergency online reports at mandatedreporter.arkansas.gov (how to report). In an emergency, call 911.

Sources: Arkansas DHS: How to report child abuse and neglect; Child Welfare Information Gateway: Arkansas mandatory reporting (May 2023); 20 CAR § 1025-201 (child care staff are mandated reporters; hotline)