California child care, camp and ratio rules

Child care licensing

Child care centers (including infant centers, preschool programs and school-age child care centers) and family child care homes must be licensed by CDSS under Title 22, Division 12 of the California Code of Regulations. A school-age child care center is any center, of any size, that provides less-than-24-hour care to school-age children in a group.

After-school and recreation programs: Before- and after-school programs run by a public or private school with its own qualified teachers are exempt, but an outside group running a program on a school site needs a license (22 CCR §101158). CDSS also lists exemptions from Health and Safety Code §1596.792, including public recreation programs run by the state, a city, county, special district or school district outside school hours for under 16 hours a week or 12 weeks or less a year, recreation programs run by groups like Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs or Camp Fire, programs open one day a week for four hours or less, and classroom-style instructional programs during school breaks totaling 30 days or less for school-age children.

Licensing agency: California Department of Social Services (CDSS), Community Care Licensing Division, Child Care Licensing Program

Sources: CDSS Child Care Licensing; 22 CCR §101216.3 Teacher-child ratio; 22 CCR §101516.5 School-age center ratio; 22 CCR §101158 Exemption from licensure; CDSS Title 22 child care center manual, Articles 1-2 (definitions; exemptions quoting HSC §1596.792)

Staff-to-child ratios in licensed centers

Rule: 22 CCR §101216.3 (preschool-age); 22 CCR §101516.5 (school-age child care centers). Preschool ratios are per teacher: 1 teacher can have 12 children, 1 teacher plus 1 aide can have 15, and a fully qualified teacher plus a qualified aide can have 18. In school-age centers, 1 teacher can have 14 children or 28 with an aide, and mixed-age groups follow the youngest child. California sets no maximum group size for these age groups. A school-age child is one in first grade or above, or any child in a program serving only kindergarten and older. Programs funded by the California Department of Education under Title 5 use different staffing ratios.

Work out your staffing with the ratio calculator

Summer camps

Organized camps (as defined in Health and Safety Code §18897) must send written notice to the local health officer at least 30 days before operating each year and meet Title 17 standards, including a camp director at least 25 years old with two seasons of camp supervisory experience, at least 1 counselor (18+ or a high school graduate) per 10 campers under 16, and a full-time health supervisor (17 CCR §30700-30753). Day programs that care for children may need a CDSS child care license unless they fit an exemption such as the public recreation or Scouts/Boys and Girls Clubs-type recreation exemptions.

Sources: 17 CCR §30700 Organized camp definitions; 17 CCR §30703 Notice of intention to operate; 17 CCR §30750 Health supervision; 17 CCR §30751 General and safety supervision

Background checks

Licensed child care staff, and most volunteers, need a criminal record clearance from both the California DOJ and the FBI (Live Scan fingerprints) plus a Child Abuse Central Index check before they work or are present in the facility; DOJ then sends CDSS any later arrests or child abuse reports. A clearance stays active while the person is linked to a licensed facility and lapses after 3 years without one. At organized camps, the director and all counselors need a satisfactory California DOJ criminal history check or a National Sex Offender Public Registry check, plus a voluntary disclosure statement, before any unsupervised contact with campers (17 CCR §30751).

Sources: CDSS background check process; 22 CCR §101170 Criminal record clearance; 22 CCR §101170.2 Child Abuse Central Index; 17 CCR §30751 (camp director and counselor checks)

Giving medication

If a center chooses to give medication, it needs written approval and instructions from the parent for each prescription and over-the-counter medicine, and must follow the pharmacy or product label. Medicines are stored out of children's reach with unaltered labels, marked with the child's name and date; the center must keep a written plan to record each dose and tell parents daily, and return unused medicine. At organized camps, a medical logbook records every dose, and camper medicine stays in its original labeled container (or comes with written instructions) and is locked up when unattended.

Free medication administration log

Sources: 22 CCR §101226 Health-related services (medication); 17 CCR §30750 Health supervision (camps)

Reporting child abuse

Mandated reporters include child care administrators and employees, administrators and employees of day camps, youth centers and youth recreation programs, school staff and school athletic coaches, and HR staff at businesses that employ minors. They must report immediately by phone to the county child welfare agency or police/sheriff and send a written report within 36 hours (Penal Code §§11165.7, 11166); licensed child care staff must take mandated reporter training within 90 days of hire and every 2 years.

How to report in California: No single statewide hotline; call the county Child Protective Services 24-hour line or local police/sheriff (how to report). In an emergency, call 911.

Sources: CDSS: Report child abuse (county numbers); Child Welfare Information Gateway: California mandatory reporting (May 2023); Child Welfare Information Gateway: California making and screening reports (Nov. 2021)