Missouri

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

All caregivers must complete at least 12 clock hours of child-care-related training each calendar year (one college credit hour = 15 clock hours); current first aid/CPR certification is also required, and infant-care facilities need safe sleep training every three years (5 CSR 25-500.102).

Lead teacher

Missouri does not require a formal education credential for caregivers: staff must be of good character, capable of carrying out assigned responsibilities, and only caregivers 18 or older count toward staff/child ratios (5 CSR 25-500.102).

Director

Director requirements scale with licensed capacity: e.g., centers for 21–60 children require 60 college semester hours (12 child-related) or 24 months of child care experience plus 12 child-related semester hours; smaller centers can qualify with a CDA, and the largest tiers require up to 120 semester hours or 4 years of experience (5 CSR 25-500.102).

Worth knowing

The general 1:4 (group 8) ratio applies to groups containing children under 24 months and mixed groups up to 36 months; groups of only 2-year-olds may use 1:8 (group 16). Mixed-age groups with more than four 2-year-olds use 1:8; otherwise 1:10. Outdoor play without under-2s may relax ratios to 1.5x. Rules were recodified under DESE effective Jan. 30, 2024.

Compliance

Background checks

Before employment or presence, every child care staff member (employees, contractors, volunteers with care or unsupervised access, and household members 18+ in family homes) needs a qualifying criminal background check under RSMo 210.1080 and 5 CSR 25-600.020: FBI fingerprint check, NCIC National Sex Offender Registry search, Missouri Family Care Safety Registry, and the criminal, sex-offender, and child abuse/neglect registries of every state of residence in the past 5 years, repeated every 5 years; temporarily eligible hires (fingerprint results back) must be supervised until all results clear.

Mandated reporting

Yes — all staff must acquaint themselves with the child abuse and neglect law and report any suspected abuse or neglect to the Children's Division hotline (5 CSR 25-500.102(J)), and the mandated duty to report is a required orientation topic; Missouri's reporting statute for child care personnel is part of RSMo ch. 210.

First aid & CPR

The licensee must keep on file current certification in age-appropriate first aid and CPR (Red Cross, American Heart Association, or approved equivalent) for enough staff to cover one caregiver per 20 children of licensed capacity, and at least one currently certified caregiver must be on site whenever children are present (5 CSR 25-500.102(T)).

Health & safety training

Within seven days of hire and before being left alone with children, caregivers must complete a documented facility orientation covering licensing rules, medication administration, illness, discipline, safe sleep policy, the disaster plan, and the duty to report abuse (5 CSR 25-500.102(K)); caregivers counted in staff/child ratios must then obtain at least 12 clock hours of department-approved training annually.

Operations

Supervision rule

The provider is responsible for the care, safety, and supervision of children on field trips and whenever transported, children may never be left unattended in a vehicle, and in nighttime care a caregiver must be awake at all times; Junior Aides may count in ratio only under the direct supervision of an adult caregiver in the same group and may never be a group's sole caregiver or alone on the premises (5 CSR 25-500.102, .142, .212).

Record-keeping

5 CSR 25-500.222 requires an individual file per child (identity, parents/guardians, emergency contacts, authorized pickup, field trip/transport authorization) with health information including medical exam reports per 5 CSR 25-500.122, medication authorizations, and accident/injury notes; children's records are retained at least 1 year after the child leaves, daily child and staff/volunteer attendance records at least 1 year, and background screening results are kept confidentially on file with all records accessible (not locked away) during operating hours.

Inspections

The licensing process includes measurement and inspection of the entire premises and records before a license is granted, with fire safety, sanitation, and background screening compliance verified first (5 CSR 25-500.042); each year the provider must submit an Annual Declaration of continued compliance at least 30 days before the license anniversary plus current fire/safety inspection evidence, equipment list, and staff sheet (5 CSR 25-500.052), and DESE may inspect facility, premises, and records during all inspections.

Worth knowing: Rule text read from the Secretary of State's current CSR PDFs (5 CSR 25-500 as published 12/31/23; 5 CSR 25-600). A numeric frequency for routine post-licensure inspections (e.g., annual unannounced visits) was not located in the fetched rule text; RSMo 210.115 (mandated reporter statute) and 5 CSR 25-400 (family homes) were not individually fetched.

Family & home child care

5 CSR 25-400 (Licensing Rules for Family Child Care Homes); RSMo 210.201-210.259

Family child care home (licensed for up to 10 children)

Licensed for no more than 10 children for any part of the 24-hour day (full capacity for up to 18 consecutive hours; one-third of capacity for the remaining 6 hours). Up to 2 related children age 5 or older are not counted in the licensed capacity; the provider's own or related children under 5 do count. Caring for 6 or fewer children (max 3 under age 2) at one address is exempt from licensure (RSMo 210.211.1(1)).With 1 caregiver: up to 4 children may all be under 2; with 5-6 children, max 3 under 2; with 7-10 children, max 2 under 2. With 2 caregivers: up to 8 children may all be under 2, or up to 10 children with max 4 under 2 (5 CSR 25-400).

Group child care home (11-20 children; not within the provider's living quarters)

Licensed for not more than 20 children under 5 CSR 25-500. By definition it must be located other than in the provider's permanent residence, or separate from the provider's living quarters — so Missouri has no larger license category operating inside the provider's own home; in-home care tops out at the 10-child family child care home.

Provider training

At least 12 clock hours of department-approved, child-care-related training each calendar year; assistants who work or volunteer more than 5 hours per week must meet the same requirement (5 CSR 25-400).

Worth knowing

Child care licensing moved from the Department of Health and Senior Services to DESE's Office of Childhood in 2021; the rules are now in Title 5, Division 25 of the Code of State Regulations.