Mississippi

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

All child care staff, directors, director designees, and caregivers must complete 15 contact hours of approved staff development annually, accrued during the licensure year (15 Miss. Code R. 11-55-1.5.8).

Lead teacher

Caregivers must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or GED; or a current CDA credential or Mississippi child care director's credential; or three years of documented experience caring for unrelated children under 13 (15 Miss. Code R. 11-55-1.5.4).

Director

Directors must be at least 21 and qualify via a child-related bachelor's degree; an associate degree in child development technology (with a 480-hour practicum, or plus two years' paid experience); or two years' paid caregiver experience in a licensed facility plus a CDA, Mississippi Director's Credential, or 24 early-childhood semester hours (15 Miss. Code R. 11-55-1.5.3).

Worth knowing

Ratios are set per year of age: 2-year-olds 1:12; 4-year-olds 1:16; 10–12-year-olds 1:25. The center regulation specifies caregiver ratios only — no maximum group sizes. Mixed-age groups follow the youngest child's ratio.

Compliance

Background checks

Rule 1.5.2 requires, citing CCDBG §658H and 45 CFR 98.43, a comprehensive fingerprint-based check every five years for all operators, employees, and prospective employees: FBI national (NCIC) and state (MCIC) criminal history checks, state child abuse registry check, National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) and state sex-offender registry checks, plus interstate checks where applicable; no one may start work (or ever be left alone with children) without a valid MSDH Letter of Suitability, and a break in service over 180 days requires a new check.

Mandated reporting

Yes — Rule 1.7.2 requires any operator or employee with suspicion or evidence of child abuse or neglect to report it immediately to the Mississippi Department of Human Services under the state's Youth Court Act, and facility policies and volunteer orientation must cover abuse reporting.

First aid & CPR

During all hours of operation, including field trips and any off-site location where children are present, someone must be present who holds a valid adult, child, and infant First Aid and CPR certification obtained through in-person, hands-on training — online-only courses are not accepted for initial certification or renewal.

Health & safety training

Before licensure (or within six months of appointment), owners, directors, and director designees must complete mandatory courses on the child care regulations, Director Orientation, and playground safety (Rule 1.5.8); all staff must accrue 15 contact hours of approved staff development per licensure year (topics include health and safety, child growth and development, and detection of child abuse), with at most 5 in-house hours counted, and volunteers get at least one hour of orientation covering the child abuse law and emergency procedures.

Operations

Supervision rule

Staff-to-child ratios must be met at all times, including opening/closing, field trips, and swimming/water activities on or off site; no individual may supervise children in more than one classroom at a time, anyone without a fingerprint-based Letter of Suitability may never be left alone with children, and during rest periods children over two may be watched by 50% of required staff in the room provided full ratio staff remain on premises, with sleeping infants placed on their backs where nothing obstructs the caregiver's view.

Record-keeping

Each employee's file must document orientation (within one week of hire), education/training, health information, and completed criminal records, Child Abuse Central Registry, and sex-offender checks (Letter of Suitability); children's enrollment records include immunization compliance (or MSDH Form 122 medical/religious exemption certificates), health/allergy information, and signed field-trip authorizations, and records must be available for review during inspections and complaint investigations.

Inspections

An MSDH representative must inspect each facility before a license is issued or renewed, findings are recorded on an official inspection form furnished at the time of inspection, and agency representatives have right of entry to inspect or investigate compliance at any time; uncorrected violations can lead to denial, suspension, or revocation (Rules 1.2.5-1.2.6, 1.3.1-1.3.2), and facilities are subject to inspection at any time at the agency's discretion.

Worth knowing: Verified from the MSDH 'Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Facilities' PDF (Title 15, Part 11, Subpart 55, Chapter 1). MSDH/SOS listings indicate separate chapters for facilities with 12 or fewer children in the operator's home and family homes with 5 or fewer children, but those chapters were not fetched; a numeric routine-inspection frequency beyond licensure/renewal inspections and at-any-time entry is not stated in the fetched text.

Family & home child care

15 Miss. Admin. Code Part 11, Subpart 55, Chapter 3 (Regulations Governing Licensure of Child Care Family Homes for 5 or Fewer Children); Miss. Code Ann. 43-20-1 et seq.

Child care family home (5 or fewer children)

Care in the caregiver's residence for not more than 5 children from birth through age 12; the total number of children in care at any one time, including children related to the caregiver, may not exceed 5 (Rule 3.1.4).

Provider training

All child care employees must complete 5 contact hours of staff development annually during the licensure year; owners/directors must complete mandatory pre-licensure training on the home regulations and on health and safety, with health-and-safety training renewed every 2 years (Rule 3.5.6).

Worth knowing

MSDH's current Chapter 3 rules provide for licensure (not mere registration) of child care family homes serving 5 or fewer children; no separate infant limit is published for this category — the overall cap of 5 applies. There is no large-home category: caring for 6 or more children requires a child care facility license under MSDH's facility regulations (15 Miss. Admin. Code Part 11). Older statutory language on voluntary registration of family homes may still circulate; confirm current status with MSDH.