Arkansas

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

All staff working directly with children: at least 15 hours of registered training per year in continuing early childhood education (directors likewise 15 clock hours); new staff complete an 8-clock-hour orientation within 3 months; the director and 50% of on-site staff must hold current first aid and CPR certificates (including infant/child CPR where infants and toddlers are served).

Lead teacher

Staff members must be at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma or GED, and complete 15 hours of early childhood training per year geared to the age group they serve.

Director

Directors must be 21+ with one of: a bachelor's (or higher) in early childhood/child development or related field; a non-related bachelor's plus 4 years ECE experience, a CDA, or a Birth–Pre-K Credential; an associate degree in ECE plus 6 years of experience; or 8 years of ECE experience plus completion of a CDA, Birth–Pre-K, Director's Credential or ECE technical certificate within 2 years of hire.

Worth knowing

Group size is capped at 2x the number of children allowed per staff member (structures licensed after Nov 1, 2002). Full ratio table also lists 4-year-olds 1:15 (group 30) and 5 years to kindergarten 1:18. The published table's toddler rows overlap (18-36 months 1:8; 2½-3 years 1:12); 30-36-month-olds may be placed by developmental maturity. Since the 2023 LEARNS Act, licensing is administered by the ADE Office of Early Childhood; the PUB-002 standards (rev. 12/2020, issued under DHS) remain the published minimum licensing requirements.

Compliance

Background checks

Owners, staff, and volunteers/therapists with routine contact need an Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry check before employment and every 2 years (MLR §109), an Arkansas State Police fingerprint criminal check that includes the state Sex Offender Registry, and an FBI fingerprint check before employment and every 5 years (MLR §110); national sex-offender and out-of-state checks apply to anyone who lived outside Arkansas in the prior 5 years, per federal (CCDBG) guidelines, and staff may not work unsupervised until all components clear.

Mandated reporting

Owners, operators, staff, therapists, and volunteers are mandated reporters under the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Act and must call the Child Maltreatment Hotline (1-800-482-5964) when they suspect maltreatment; mandated reporter training is a required orientation topic, and the hotline number must be posted conspicuously in the facility.

First aid & CPR

The director (or assistant director/site supervisor) and 50% of staff on site at any given time must hold current first aid and CPR certificates from an approved organization, including infant and child CPR if the facility serves infants/toddlers; courses must follow AHA/Red Cross guidelines with hands-on skills testing — online-only certification is not accepted (MLR §306.5).

Health & safety training

New direct-care staff must get a basic orientation on policies, the Minimum Licensing Requirements, schedules, and emergency procedures before providing care, register with the Professional Development Registry within 30 days of hire, and complete the 8-clock-hour CCDBG Introduction orientation (safe sleep, shaken baby, mandated reporting, medication, emergencies, premises safety, etc.) within 3 months of employment and every 3 years; all staff need 15 hours of job-specific training annually (MLR §306).

Operations

Supervision rule

Adult supervision must be provided at all times with children never left alone; the supervised rest period (1–2 hours) requires enough lighting for adequate supervision, non-sleeping children must be in quiet activities under direct supervision, and parents who volunteer on field trips without registry checks may not be left alone with children.

Record-keeping

Facilities must keep daily attendance records for all children, per-child files with up-to-date immunization records or documented exemptions, and staff files documenting attendance, training/orientation, first aid/CPR verification, and initiation of criminal and Central Registry checks; annual fire, health, and boiler inspections/approvals must be kept current and on file.

Inspections

The Child Care Licensing Unit conducts routine on-site inspections and has authority for both scheduled and unscheduled visits to check compliance, investigate complaints, and provide technical assistance, increasing unscheduled monitoring where violations are numerous or severe; violations are documented on a licensing compliance record with correction dates, and imminent-threat violations must be corrected within 24 hours.

Worth knowing: Based on the Minimum Licensing Requirements for Child Care Centers (PUB-002, rev. 12/01/2020), the current final filing posted by Arkansas DHS; separate MLR documents govern family homes and out-of-school-time programs. A fixed number of annual inspections is not specified in the MLR.

Family & home child care

Minimum Licensing Requirements for Licensed Child Care Family Homes (PUB-001) and Registered Child Care Family Homes (PUB-003), under the Child Care Licensing Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 20-78-202

Registered Child Care Family Home

Voluntary registration for homes caring for 5 or fewer children. Homes caring for fewer than 6 children are not required to be licensed under the Child Care Licensing Act; registration brings periodic unannounced monitoring visits.

Licensed Child Care Family Home

A license is required for any home caring for 6 or more children from more than one family. A licensed family home may have a maximum capacity of 16 children if there is sufficient usable indoor space. Homes caring for 11 or more children need health and fire department approval. The primary caregiver must be at least 21; a secondary caregiver at least 18 with a high school diploma or GED.

Provider training

All caregivers who work directly with children must obtain at least 15 hours of training each year (including child development), registered with the Professional Development Registry, plus an 8-hour orientation within 3 months of starting.

Worth knowing

Arkansas is unusual: the 'small' tier (registered home, up to 5 children) is voluntary, and mandatory licensing starts at 6 children; the single Licensed Child Care Family Home category spans 6–16 children rather than having separate small/large licenses. Whether and how the provider's own children count toward the 5- and 16-child limits, and any infant-specific limits or required staffing ratios by age, were not confirmed from the fetched sources — verify in PUB-001 before use.