Hawaii

Staff-child ratios

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).