Hawaii

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

Caregivers must complete at least 16 hours of department-approved training annually (substitutes 10, regular volunteers 8), after an initial DHS health-and-safety training within 45 days of hire that includes pediatric first aid and child CPR (HAR 17-892.2-35).

Lead teacher

A teacher needs a degree in child development or early childhood education plus 6 months of ECE experience; or a CDA plus 1 year of supervised teaching; or a 60-credit ECE certificate program plus 1 year; or a bachelor's in another field plus prescribed ECE credits and 6 months of experience (HAR 17-892.2-35(k)).

Director

The director of a center licensed for 7 or more children needs a bachelor's degree (preferably ECE/child development) plus 2 years of experience with children; or 60 college credits plus 4 years of experience; or a CDA plus 4 years of experience - in each case at least 1 year with the age group served (HAR 17-892.2-35(j)).

Worth knowing

Hawaii splits center licensing by age: group centers (17-892.2) may not serve children under 24 months (2-year-olds 1:8/16, 3s 1:12/24, 4s 1:16/32, 5+ 1:20/40); infant/toddler centers (17-895.1) allow 6wk-12mo at 1:3 (group 6) or 1:4 (group 8) and 18-36mo up to 1:6 (group 12); before/after-school facilities (17-896.1) cap at 1:20, group 40. Numbers quoted from DHS's published adoption texts of the chapters (current versions filed 2023-2024).

Compliance

Background checks

Applicants and all staff must clear a DHS background check under HAR ch. 17-801 — covering criminal history, sex-offender registry, child abuse/neglect history and employment history — before starting work, with checks repeated annually and redone after 180+ days away from child care (HAR §§17-892.2-2, -3, -35(g)). New household members of group homes are checked as well.

Mandated reporting

Center policies must implement mandated reporting of suspected child abuse or neglect in accordance with HRS chapter 350, and failure to report suspected abuse is grounds for adverse licensing action (HAR §§17-892.2-11, -5). Recognition and reporting of child abuse is a required initial-training topic for all caregivers.

First aid & CPR

Whenever children are present at the facility or on field trips, at least one adult caregiver must hold a current pediatric first aid certificate and at least one a current child CPR certificate, issued by the American Red Cross, American Heart Association or an approved equivalent (HAR §17-892.2-43). A stocked first aid kit must always be available.

Health & safety training

Every caregiver, substitute and volunteer must complete department-approved initial health-and-safety training within 45 days of hire covering the 11 CCDBG topics (infectious disease/immunizations, safe sleep/SIDS, medication, allergy emergencies, premises safety, shaken-baby/abusive head trauma, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials, transportation, pediatric first aid/CPR, abuse recognition and reporting) (HAR §17-892.2-35(c)). Caregivers then complete 16 hours of approved training annually (substitutes 10, regular volunteers 8).

Operations

Supervision rule

"Supervision" is defined as being within sight and hearing distance of the children to ensure their safety and protection, and children must be protected by adequate supervision at all times, including field trips and excursions (HAR §17-892.2-1 and program provisions).

Record-keeping

Before admission the center must obtain written records for each child: legal name and birth date, parents' contact details, emergency contacts, persons authorized for pick-up, and health information including allergies (HAR §17-892.2-15). Facility/staff records must include background-clearance records, consent forms and training evidence (HAR §§17-892.2-17, -35); retention periods are not stated in the chapter.

Inspections

DHS inspects the facility and reviews policies and staff qualifications before issuing or renewing a license, and authorized DHS representatives — and parents — may visit at any time during operating hours to monitor facilities, activities and staffing (HAR §17-892.2-3). Initial licenses run one year; continuously licensed programs renew every two years, and fines and license actions are available for violations.

Worth knowing: The current filed version of ch. 17-892.2 (June 2024) is only published as a scanned PDF; field content above was verified against DHS's published proposed-adoption text of the same chapter (2021) plus DHS's regulations index, so minor wording may differ in the 2024 filing. Whether the ch. 17-801 check includes FBI fingerprints, and inspection announcement practices, were not confirmed from fetched sources.

Family & home child care

Hawaii Administrative Rules Title 17, Chapter 17-891.2 (Registration of Family Child Care Homes) and Chapter 17-892.2 (Licensing of Group Child Care Centers and Group Child Care Homes)

Family Child Care Home (registration)

Registration (not a license) to care for 3 to no more than 6 unrelated children at the same time. The provider's own children under 6 who are in the provider's care count toward the 6; the provider's children age 6 or older do not.No more than 2 children under 18 months at the same time; up to 4 under 18 months if an additional adult helps in the home (parents must be given the helpers' names).

Group Child Care Home (license)

An extended or modified private home licensed to care for 7 to 12 children during any part of a 24-hour day; licensed under the group child care center/home rules (Chapter 17-892.2).Group child care homes serve children age 2 (24 months) and older; infant-toddler care is licensed separately (Chapter 17-895.1).

Provider training

After completing the initial department-approved health and safety training, each caregiver must complete at least 16 hours of department-approved training annually, in at least two approved topic areas.

Worth knowing

Small family child care homes are registered rather than licensed. Capacity, infant-limit and 16-hour training figures were verified from the DHS text of Chapter 17-891.2 as proposed for adoption (the chapter was filed September 12, 2023); the filed version on the DHS site is a scanned document.