District of Columbia

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

Child development center staff caring for children must complete at least 21 hours of professional development annually (including required health and safety topics); center directors must complete 12 hours of OSSE-approved professional development annually; staff certified in CPR and first aid are required under §150.

Lead teacher

A center teacher must be at least 18 and hold an associate or higher degree with a major in ECE/early childhood development (or a related pathway: a non-ECE degree plus 24 ECE credits and 1 year of experience; 48 credits including 15 in ECE plus 2 years; or a high school diploma plus a current CDA, with an associate degree required within the phase-in period).

Director

A center director must hold a bachelor's or higher with at least 15 semester credits in early childhood fields and 1 year of supervised experience, or an associate degree in ECE with 3 years of experience (bachelor's required within 6 years), among grandfathering/Montessori pathways.

Worth knowing

Full center table (§121.3): 0-24 months 1:4/8; 24-30 months 1:4/12; 30-48 months 1:8/16; 48-60 months 1:10/20; out-of-school-time under 6 years 1:12/24; 6+ years 1:15/30. Ratios apply at all times including naps and transport; two staff members are required per group in centers. Teacher/director education requirements included phased compliance deadlines that OSSE extended (most recently to December 2023).

Compliance

Background checks

Every current or prospective staff member undergoes an OSSE suitability determination based on fingerprinting and criminal history checks: an FBI fingerprint check (Next Generation Identification), state/local police checks, the NCIC National Sex Offender Registry, and child abuse and neglect registries in DC and every state of residence over the preceding five years (5-A DCMR §§132–134, mirroring the CCDBG comprehensive check); licensees must also run mandatory drug and alcohol testing programs (§136) and traffic record checks for drivers.

Mandated reporting

Any facility staff member who knows or reasonably suspects that an enrolled child is or is in danger of being abused or neglected must, as required by the DC Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Act (D.C. Code §§4-1321.01 et seq.), make an immediate oral report to CFSA's 24-hour hotline (202-671-SAFE) (5-A DCMR §128.5); abuse detection and reporting is a required pre-service training topic.

First aid & CPR

Each child development facility must at all times have at least two staff members with current certification in CPR and first aid for children and in the prevention, recognition, and management of communicable diseases (5-A DCMR §150.1); first aid/CPR is also part of 30-day pre-service training.

Health & safety training

Within 30 days of hire each staff member must receive pre-service training in DC's health and safety standards — abuse/neglect prevention and reporting, emergency preparedness, safe sleep/SIDS, shaken baby/abusive head trauma, and first aid/CPR — and within 90 days orientation training covering developmentally appropriate programming, infectious disease control/immunization, medication administration, and related topics, plus annual health-safety training and professional development (5-A DCMR §139/158).

Operations

Supervision rule

Children must be supervised at all times by responsible staff and volunteers who can see and hear them — including while napping or sleeping, on the playground, on field trips and excursions, and during all water activities (5-A DCMR §120.1); each center group must have at least two staff at all times (§121.8), and volunteers generally may not count toward ratios.

Record-keeping

A confidential record per enrolled child, on an OSSE-approved form, must be kept in one central location and retained three years after enrollment ends, covering identity, parents/guardians, authorized pick-ups, emergency contacts and medical authorization, health/immunization records, and medication consents (5-A DCMR §130); staff records must include the OSSE suitability notice, current health certificate, SIDS training, and first aid/CPR certification (§131), and centers need DC Health's Certificate of Immunization Compliance.

Inspections

Each licensee receives at minimum one annual announced and one annual unannounced inspection (5-A DCMR §111.6), OSSE may conduct announced or unannounced investigations or desk audits on complaints (§111.8), and OSSE must maintain a publicly available electronic list of licensed facilities including monitoring and inspection dates (§111.9).

Worth knowing: Verified against OSSE's Final Rulemaking for the Licensing of Child Development Facilities (5-A DCMR Ch. 1, 2016 final rule) and OSSE's 2022 center licensing orientation; OSSE published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in May 2024 to revise these regulations, so check for a superseding final rule.

Family & home child care

5-A DCMR Chapter 1 — Child Development Facilities Licensing (esp. §§ 101.5, 120–121, 167–171, 199)

Child Development Home

May be licensed for up to 6 children. The count of 6 excludes the caregiver's own children who are 6 or older, provided the caregiver's children between ages 6 and 15 do not exceed 3 (and no more than 2 of those 3 are age 10 or younger); the caregiver's children under 6 count. Children related to the caregiver who receive care also count toward the limit. The licensee must live on the premises.Set through the ratio/group-size table (5-A DCMR § 121.3): a single caregiver may care for at most 2 children under age 2 (1:6 ratio, max 6 enrolled). With 3 or 4 children under 2, at least 2 caregivers are required (1:3 ratio); with 5 or 6 children under 2, 3 caregivers are required (max 9 enrolled).

Expanded Child Development Home

May be licensed for more than 6 and up to 12 children, subject to square footage (35 sq ft of program space per child) and the ratio table: e.g., 12 children may be enrolled with 1 child under 2 at a 1:6 ratio (2 caregivers), or with 4 children under 2 at 1:3 with at least 2 caregivers. The expanded home caregiver must meet higher education requirements (associate degree in early childhood or equivalent pathway) and have at least a year of qualifying experience; an associate caregiver staffs the second position.Per the same table: max 4 children under age 2 for a 12-child group (1:3, at least 2 caregivers); groups with 5–6 children under 2 require 3 caregivers and are capped at 9 children.

Provider training

Home caregivers must attend at least 4 approved child-development-related training courses per year totaling at least 12 hours of professional development annually, complete all required annual health and safety trainings, and keep current certification in CPR and first aid for children (at least one certified person at all times). Caregivers also needed a CDA credential (by Dec. 2, 2023 for existing staff).

Worth knowing

License-exempt care includes occasional babysitting for one family, care in the child's own home paid by the family, nanny shares as defined in the chapter, parent-supervised play groups, and care by a related person (5-A DCMR § 101.5). OSSE published amendments to the facility licensing rules in August 2025; the details above were verified against OSSE's licensing orientation (March 2022) — re-check numbers against the 2025 rulemaking before publication.