Colorado child care, camp and ratio rules

Child care licensing

CDEC licenses child care centers and school-age child care centers caring for five or more children, family child care homes, children's resident camps and neighborhood youth organizations under 8 CCR 1402-1. School-age child care centers include before- and after-school programs, extended-day programs, day camps and summer camps for ages 5 to 18 that run more than one week a year.

After-school and recreation programs: No license is needed for a class in a single skill (one subject, with no naps or other activities), religious instruction, short care (3 hours or less) while parents are on site at a church, store or business, occasional care, or programs already licensed and inspected by another state or federal agency (8 CCR 1402-1 §2.112). Nonprofit neighborhood youth organizations serving kindergarten through age 18 follow their own lighter rules (§2.700) instead of school-age center rules. The rules include provisions for school-age centers run by public school districts, and public schools are not on the exemption list.

Licensing agency: Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), Division of Early Learning, Licensing, and Administration

Sources: 8 CCR 1402-1 Child Care Facility Licensing Rules (Code of Colorado Regulations, eff. 2/14/2026); 8 CCR 1402-1 full text (PDF)

Staff-to-child ratios in licensed centers

Rule: 8 CCR 1402-1 §2.217(A)(14)-(15) (child care centers); §2.510(D)-(E) (school-age child care centers). A mixed preschool group of 2½ to 6 years can run at 1:10 with a group of 20; in other preschool mixes, the youngest child's ratio applies if more than 20% of the group is younger. Formal kindergarten class sessions in a center may run 1:25. In a school-age center, any time 4-year-olds attend after certain violations, the center must use 1:12 with a group of 24 for one year. Group size may be exceeded for meals, circle time and special activities, but room capacity may not.

Work out your staffing with the ratio calculator

Summer camps

Colorado licenses camps as child care. Children's resident (overnight) camps that run three or more consecutive 24-hour days for five or more children need a CDEC resident camp license (8 CCR 1402-1 §2.400), with counselor ratios of 1:6 for ages 5-7, 1:8 for ages 8-10, 1:10 for ages 11-13 and 1:12 for ages 14 and up. Day camps (at least 4 hours a day, mainly in one season or school breaks, ages 5-18) are licensed as school-age child care centers (§2.500), and seasonal outdoor adventure day camps fall under the resident camp rules.

Camp agency: Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), Division of Early Learning, Licensing, and Administration

Sources: 8 CCR 1402-1 §2.400 Children's Resident Camps and §2.500 School-Age Child Care Centers (PDF)

Background checks

Staff who care for or have unsupervised access to children need a CBI and FBI fingerprint check, a National Sex Offender Registry check, a Colorado child abuse and neglect (Trails) check, and criminal, sex offender and abuse registry checks in any other state lived in during the past five years, completed before working alone with children (someone with a cleared CBI or FBI check may work up to 90 days under supervision while the rest finish). FBI and Trails checks are renewed every five years. Resident camps and school-age centers may use out-of-state staff hired for less than 90 days without fingerprints or Trails checks if they sign a no-convictions statement, references are checked, and they are supervised at all times by fully cleared staff.

Sources: 8 CCR 1402-1 §2.120 (Trails child abuse and neglect checks) and §2.121 (criminal record checks) (PDF)

Giving medication

Any prescription or over-the-counter medicine needs both a written order from a health care provider with prescriptive authority and written parent consent; home remedies, vitamins and supplements may not be given, while sunscreen and insect repellent need only parent permission. Medicine stays in its original labeled container (OTC labeled with the child's name), is locked up except emergency medicine, is given only by staff with Department-approved medication administration training and current delegation from a child care health consultant, and each dose is recorded in a medication log.

Free medication administration log

Sources: 8 CCR 1402-1 §2.220 Medication (child care centers) (PDF)

Reporting child abuse

Listed reporters include school employees, health and mental health professionals, clergy, CDEC employees, and directors, coaches and athletic staff of private sports programs; the licensing rules also require every child care caregiver and staff member to report. Reports must be made immediately to the county human or social services department, local law enforcement, or the statewide hotline (C.R.S. §19-3-304; 8 CCR 1402-1 §2.126).

Colorado child abuse hotline: 1-844-CO-4-KIDS (1-844-264-5437) (how to report). In an emergency, call 911.

Sources: CO4Kids (Colorado Department of Human Services hotline); Child Welfare Information Gateway: Colorado mandatory reporting (May 2023); 8 CCR 1402-1 §2.126 Reporting child abuse (PDF)