Maine child care, camp and ratio rules

Child care licensing

Any program that regularly cares for more than two children under 13 for pay needs a license: child care centers (13 or more children), small child care facilities (3 to 12 children, not in the operator's home), nursery schools (sessions of 3.5 hours or less), and family child care homes, which have their own rule (10-148 CMR Ch. 33).

After-school and recreation programs: State law excludes licensed youth camps (including day camps), programs that teach a single skill such as karate, dance or basketball, and approved public or private K-12 schools (22 M.R.S. §8301-A(1-A)(B)). No separate exemption was found for school-age or after-school programs run by other operators; they are licensed like any child care facility.

Licensing agency: Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), Children's Licensing and Investigation

Sources: 10-148 CMR Ch. 32 Child Care Facility Licensing Rule (OCFS PDF, eff. Sept. 27, 2021); 22 M.R.S. §8301-A licensure and definitions; OCFS Child Care Provider Licensing (rules page)

Staff-to-child ratios in licensed centers

Rule: 10-148 CMR Ch. 32, §7(C)(2)(b) (facilities serving 13 or more children). Maine's age bands overlap: 2.5 to 3.5 years is 1:7 (group 21), and 3 years to under 5 may run at 1:10 with a max group of 20 or 1:8 with a max group of 24. Maine treats age 5 as school age (1:13, no group limit). In mixed groups the youngest child sets the ratio. At least two staff must be on site whenever seven or more children are present. Small facilities (3-12 children) use different ratios (1:8 for ages 2-5, 1:12 over age 5).

Work out your staffing with the ratio calculator

Summer camps

Youth camps, including day camps, residential camps and trip and travel camps, need an annual license from Maine CDC's Health Inspection Program if they run 5 or more consecutive days and are operated for direct or indirect compensation (22 M.R.S. §§2491, 2495; 10-144 CMR Ch. 208). Programs run by municipal or school employees or volunteers mostly on municipal or school property are not youth camps under the law. A licensed youth camp does not also need a child care license; day camps may not charge hourly rates for child care.

Camp agency: Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), Health Inspection Program

Sources: 10-144 CMR Ch. 208 Youth Camps Rule (last amended May 5, 2025); 22 M.R.S. §2491 definitions (youth camp); 22 M.R.S. §2495 issuance of licenses

Background checks

Licensed child care providers must get a comprehensive check for the owner and every staff member or other person with care duties or unsupervised access to children: FBI fingerprint check, national sex offender registry, and state criminal, sex offender and child abuse and neglect registry checks for the current state and every state lived in during the past five years. Staff cannot start until OCFS issues a letter of eligibility, and checks are repeated at least every five years (10-148 CMR Ch. 34). Licensed youth camps must run a background check on all staff, counselors, volunteers and directors every year (national sex offender registry, state criminal and sex offender records, SSN and 5-year address trace), and registered sex offenders may not work there (10-144 CMR Ch. 208, §11(B)-(C)).

Sources: 10-148 CMR Ch. 34 Child Care Provider Background Check Licensing Rule; 10-144 CMR Ch. 208 Youth Camps Rule, employee screening

Giving medication

Prescription medication may be given only with written, signed and dated parent permission, only to the child it was prescribed for, and following the original container's label; over-the-counter medication also needs written parent permission (phone, text or email allowed in an emergency, followed by written permission). Every dose is logged, medications are kept out of children's reach and discarded when expired, and staff may not give medication until they have had medication training (10-148 CMR Ch. 32, §§12(H), 8(B)).

Free medication administration log

Sources: 10-148 CMR Ch. 32, §12(H) medication administration

Reporting child abuse

Listed adults must report when acting in a professional capacity, including school personnel, child care personnel, youth camp administrators and counselors, health care practitioners, social workers, clergy and others (22 M.R.S. §4011-A). They must report to DHHS immediately and within no more than 24 hours; anyone else may report.

Maine child abuse hotline: 1-800-452-1999 (how to report). In an emergency, call 911.

Sources: 22 M.R.S. §4011-A reporting of suspected abuse or neglect; OCFS: reporting suspected child abuse and neglect