Iowa child care, camp and ratio rules

Child care licensing

A facility giving child care or preschool to 7 or more children must be licensed as a child care center or preschool unless it is registered as a child development home; home-based providers are regulated through child development home registration (Iowa Code §237A.1; 441 IAC 109).

After-school and recreation programs: Iowa's definition of child care leaves out school-run instructional programs (prekindergarten and up), recreation or social programs run by a city or other political subdivision for school children 5 and older, after-school or summer-only programs for enrolled students 5 and older that charge only a nominal membership fee or nothing, special activity programs (sports, music, scouting, and similar) meeting under 4 hours a day, nationally accredited camps, and classes under 2 weeks held during school breaks (Iowa Code §237A.1(2)).

Licensing agency: Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS), Child Care Licensing

Sources: 441 IAC 109 Child care centers (rule 109.8 staff ratio); Iowa Code §237A.1 Definitions and exclusions; Iowa HHS: Child care licensing

Staff-to-child ratios in licensed centers

Rule: 441 IAC 109.8(2). Iowa's bands: 5 to 10 years 1:15; 10 years and over 1:20. Mixed groups of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds may run at 1:12, and mixed groups of children 4 and older (or 5 and older) use the majority age. Younger: 2 weeks to 2 years 1:4, 2 years 1:7. There is no fixed group size; it is set with the state fire marshal and printed on the license (441 IAC 109.8(3)). Staff counted in the ratio must be at least 16.

Work out your staffing with the ratio calculator

Summer camps

Iowa has no state youth camp license; the Iowa Code has no youth camp chapter. Nationally accredited camps are excluded from child care licensing, but a non-accredited day camp serving 7 or more children may need a child care center license unless another exclusion applies, such as a city recreation program for school children or a summer-only program with only a nominal fee (Iowa Code §237A.1).

Sources: Iowa Code §237A.1 Definitions and exclusions; Iowa Code chapter list

Background checks

Owners, directors, staff, volunteers, and subcontractors with direct responsibility for children or access to a child alone, plus household members 14 and older, need Iowa criminal history, child abuse, and sex offender registry checks before starting, repeated at least every 2 years, and a national FBI fingerprint check repeated every 4 years (441 IAC 109.6(4)). Because Iowa has no camp licensing law, there is no separate camp check requirement.

Sources: 441 IAC 109.6(4) Record checks

Giving medication

Centers must have written procedures for authorizing, storing, giving, and recording all medicines. Only staff over 18 who have completed medication training may give medicine; it must be in the original labeled container (over-the-counter medicine labeled with the child's name) and stored out of reach, each dose is logged, and long-term authorizations can't run longer than the prescription (441 IAC 109.10(1)).

Free medication administration log

Sources: 441 IAC 109.10(1) Medications

Reporting child abuse

Listed professionals must report within 24 hours, including employees and operators of licensed child care centers, registered child development homes, and Head Start programs; school employees 18 and older; and holders of a state coaching authorization. Mandatory reporters must complete state training within 6 months of starting and every 3 years (Iowa Code §232.69).

Iowa child abuse hotline: 800-362-2178 (how to report). In an emergency, call 911.

Sources: Iowa HHS: Report abuse and fraud; Iowa HHS: Mandatory reporters; Iowa Code §232.69