The number and ages of the children must determine the number of staff and group size in attendance.
(1) All children in the home, including the provider's or other staff's own children, must be counted in determining the staff to child ratio and group size.
(2) All children under the age of twelve visiting the home count in capacity. Children attending with a parent or responsible adult do not count in capacity as long as the parent or adult remains with and is responsible for the children;
(3) The required staff to child ratios in the following chart must be met at all times.
| STAFF AND EXPERIENCE | AGE RANGE OF CHILDREN
(IN YEARS) | HIGHEST
NUMBER
OF CHILDREN
UNDER TWO
YEARS OF AGE ALLOWED | HIGHEST
NUMBER OF
CHILDREN ALLOWED ON THE PREMISES |
| (a) Licensee | Birth - 11 | 2 | 6 |
| (b) Licensee with one year experience | 2 - 11 | None | 8 |
| (c) Licensee with one year experience | 5 - 11 | None | 10 |
(d) Licensee with one year of licensed child care experience plus
one staff person or volunteer | Birth - 11 | 4 | 9 |
(e) Licensee with
two years' of licensed child care experience and one three credit early childhood education (ECE) course or 30 clock hours of ECE training | 3 - 11 | None | 10 |
(f) Licensee with
two years' of licensed child care experience and one three credit ECE course of 30 clock hours of ECE training, one staff person or volunteer | Birth - 11 | 4 | 12 |
(4) You must ensure a staff person or volunteer is present in the licensed space of the child care facility when:
(a) Three or more children under two years of age are in care;
(b) Seven or more children are in care and at least one child in care is under two years of age; or
(c) More than ten children are in care.
(5) Our determination of capacity must include all children eleven years of age or younger on the premises. (Except as provided for in the subsection (2) above.)
(6) You must ensure that only you and/or a primary staff person, eighteen years of age or older, has sole responsibility for the child in care.
[06-15-075, recodified as § 170-296-1350, filed 7/13/06, effective 7/13/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.15.030, chapters 74.12 and 74.15 RCW. 04-18-082, § 388-296-1350, filed 8/31/04, effective 10/1/04.]