California

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

Title 22 sets no annual in-service clock-hour requirement for teachers. Directors and teachers must complete 15 hours of preventive health and safety training (including pediatric CPR and first aid) under Health & Safety Code 1596.866 where required, and at least one staff member trained in pediatric CPR/first aid must be present whenever children are at the center.

Lead teacher

A fully qualified teacher needs 12 postsecondary semester units in early childhood education/child development (covering child growth and development; child, family and community; and program/curriculum) plus 6 months of work experience in a licensed center, or a current CDA credential with the appropriate age endorsement plus 6 months of experience.

Director

Center directors need one of: high school diploma/GED + 15 semester units (12 in core ECE areas, 3 in administration) + 4 years teaching experience; an AA in ECE/child development + 2 years experience + 3 administration units; a bachelor's in those fields + 1 year experience + 3 administration units; or a Child Development Site Supervisor or Program Director Permit.

Worth knowing

Ratio detail: preschool 1:12, or 1 teacher + 1 aide per 15, or 1 fully qualified teacher + 1 qualified aide per 18 (§101216.3). Infant centers: 1:4; with aides, one fully qualified teacher may supervise up to 12 infants with each aide caring for no more than 4 (§101416.5). Toddler component (18–30 months): 1:6, max group 12 (§§101216.4/101417). School-age: 1:14, or 1 teacher + 1 aide per 28 (§101516.5). Title 22 sets no other fixed group-size caps. Stricter Title 5 ratios apply to CDE-funded programs.

Compliance

Background checks

Before licensure or employment, CDSS must obtain a criminal record clearance (DOJ fingerprints via Live Scan, with subsequent-arrest notification) for applicants, staff, and other adults specified in HSC §1596.871 (Title 22 §101170) — any non-exempt conviction other than a minor traffic violation bars licensure/employment absent an exemption — plus a Child Abuse Central Index check (LIC 198A) submitted with fingerprints (Title 22 §101170.2).

Mandated reporting

Licensed child care providers, administrators, and employees are mandated reporters, and HSC §1596.8662 requires them to complete mandated reporter training on detecting and reporting child abuse (new employees within the first 90 days of employment), with renewal training every two years and proof of completion available to CDSS on inspection or request.

First aid & CPR

The same statute requires pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR from EMSA-approved programs, the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, or accredited colleges, with staff maintaining current course completion cards renewed per the certifying organization's schedule.

Health & safety training

Under HSC §1596.866, at least one director or teacher at each center must have at least 15 hours of health and safety training — pediatric first aid, pediatric CPR, and an EMSA-approved preventive health practices course (infectious disease, immunizations, injury prevention) — plus 1 additional hour of childhood nutrition for licenses issued on or after Jan. 1, 2016 (16 hours total).

Operations

Supervision rule

Title 22 §101229 requires care and supervision meeting children's needs: no child may be left without the supervision of a teacher at any time (narrow exceptions let an aide supervise napping children), and supervision must include visual observation; sign-in/sign-out with a full legal signature is required at drop-off and pick-up (§101229.1).

Record-keeping

Each center must keep a separate, current, confidential record per child (identity, admission agreement, emergency contacts and medical consent, health/medication info, activity authorizations, termination date — Title 22 §101221) plus immunization documentation (§101220.1); sign-in/out sheets are kept one month, personnel records are required, and deaths, serious injuries, and unusual incidents must be reported to CDSS (§101212).

Inspections

CDSS may enter and inspect any licensed facility at any time, with or without advance notice (HSC §1596.852), must make an on-site inspection within 10 days of receiving a complaint (HSC §1596.853), and posts facility licensing inspection reports publicly on its Child Care Transparency website.

Worth knowing: A statutory minimum frequency for routine (non-complaint) inspections was not confirmed from the fetched sources, so it is omitted; HSC §1596.866 was verified via the chaptered AB 290 text because leginfo's current-section page returned only amendment notes (2026 amendments pending). Title 22 sections cited are from CDSS's official regulation manuals.

Family & home child care

Title 22, California Code of Regulations, Division 12, Chapter 3 (Family Child Care Homes), esp. 22 CCR § 102416.5; Health & Safety Code §§ 1596.866, 1597.44, 1597.465

Small Family Child Care Home

Counting all children in care plus children under age 10 who live in the licensee's home: either 4 infants only; or 6 children with no more than 3 infants; or more than 6 and up to 8 children without an additional adult only if the criteria of Health & Safety Code § 1597.44 (school-age/infant mix and notification conditions) are met. Total licensed capacity may not exceed 8.4 infants if the home serves infants only; otherwise no more than 3 infants within a 6-child group (the 8-child option carries stricter infant limits under HSC § 1597.44). In these regulations 'infant' means a child under age 2.

Large Family Child Care Home

With an assistant provider present, and counting children under age 10 who live in the home plus the assistant's children under 10: 12 children with no more than 4 infants, or up to 14 children only if the criteria of Health & Safety Code § 1597.465 are met. Total licensed capacity may not exceed 14. If no assistant provider is present, the licensee must follow Small Family Child Care Home capacity limits.No more than 4 infants (children under 2) within the 12-child option; the 14-child option carries stricter infant limits under HSC § 1597.465.

Provider training

Preventive health and safety training of at least 15 hours — pediatric first aid, pediatric CPR, and preventive health practices — plus 1 hour of childhood nutrition training (licenses issued after Jan. 1, 2016), as a condition of licensure (HSC § 1596.866). The preventive health practices portion is one-time; pediatric first aid and CPR must be kept current at all times. California licensing does not impose a general annual clock-hour continuing training requirement for family child care licensees.

Worth knowing

The exact statutory conditions for operating at 8 (small) or 14 (large) — set out in HSC §§ 1597.44 and 1597.465 (school-age mix, reduced infant counts, parent/landlord notification) — were not quoted in the fetched regulation text; consult those sections before advising a provider to operate above 6 or 12. As of Jan. 1, 2026, the health-and-safety training also covers anaphylaxis/epinephrine auto-injector instruction.