Nebraska

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

Each staff member providing direct care must obtain a minimum of 12 clock hours of training annually (6 clock hours if working 20 hours/week or less); staff responsible for food need 4 clock hours of nutrition/food-safety training annually; 2 hours of CPR and 1 hour of first aid may count in the year taken (391 NAC 3-006.10).

Lead teacher

Non-certificated teachers must be at least 18 and hold a bachelor's or associate degree in early childhood education/education/child-youth development, a CDA credential, or a high school diploma/GED plus 1,500 verified hours of experience or an approved training plan (391 NAC 3-006.05).

Director

Directors of newly licensed centers must be at least 19 and hold a qualifying bachelor's or associate degree, a CDA, or a high school diploma/GED plus 3,000 clock hours of verifiable experience and 6 credit hours or 36 clock hours of approved training (or an approved 12-month plan to acquire it) (391 NAC 3-006.04).

Worth knowing

4- and 5-year-olds (not yet school-age): 1:12. Nebraska's center regulation sets no maximum group sizes; ratio compliance is determined center-wide, and mixed-age groups follow the youngest child's ratio. At least two staff must be on premises when more than 12 children are in care.

Compliance

Background checks

391 NAC 3-006.03A requires pre-employment criminal history record checks for the applicant, staff and volunteers 19+, and household members 19+ (with out-of-state checks if in Nebraska under 12 months), plus central registry (child abuse/neglect) and sex-offender checks with consent gathered from age 13; Neb. Rev. Stat. 71-1912 adds the CCDBG comprehensive check — fingerprints to the Nebraska State Patrol forwarded to the FBI, the National Sex Offender Registry, and state criminal, sex-offender, and child abuse/neglect registries for states of residence in the past five years — repeated at least every five years.

Mandated reporting

Center regulations are issued under the Child Protection Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-710 to 28-727) and require directors to implement written procedures requiring staff to report any evidence of physical abuse, neglect, or sexual abuse, with orientation covering the state's reporting requirements (391 NAC 3-001, 3-006.10A); Nebraska's reporting statute applies broadly to any person with reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused.

First aid & CPR

At least one staff member with current CPR (from a Nebraska Board of Emergency Medical Services-approved provider) and first aid training must be on the premises at all times during operating hours, with cards/documentation available on request (391 NAC 3-006.10E); staff who transport children must also hold valid CPR and first aid certificates (3-006.10C).

Health & safety training

New staff and volunteers must receive orientation before having direct responsibility for children, covering job duties, infection control and handwashing, abuse/neglect and the state's reporting requirements, the licensing regulations, and fire/tornado/emergency plans (391 NAC 3-006.10A); each direct-care staff member must then complete at least 12 clock hours of training annually (6 hours if working 20 hours or less per week) across safe/healthy/learning environment topics (3-006.10D).

Operations

Supervision rule

391 NAC 3-002 defines adequate and appropriate supervision as knowing the whereabouts and being within sight or sound of all children at all times, being awake, alert, attentive, and responsive to their needs, and protecting or removing children from harm; staff-to-child ratios must be met at all times center-wide, verified through accurate staff and daily attendance records (3-006.15C).

Record-keeping

A Child's Record must be completed before enrollment (identity, parents' contacts, authorized pickup, emergency consent, health status) and kept current (391 NAC 3-006.12); centers must maintain accurate staff and daily child attendance records (3-006.15C) and employee records including criminal-history and registry check documentation, health reports, qualifications, orientation/training logs, and Reports of Law Enforcement Contact (3-006.11), with annual training rosters tracking orientation, safety, Early Learning Guidelines, clock hours, and CPR/first aid.

Inspections

DHHS conducts a scheduled initial-licensure inspection, an unannounced inspection before converting a provisional to an operating license, and unannounced compliance inspections at least once a year for centers licensed for 29 or fewer children and at least twice a year for centers licensed for 30 or more, plus follow-up inspections within 60 days and complaint investigations (391 NAC 3-005).

Worth knowing: rules.nebraska.gov is a JavaScript app; Title 391 chapter text was retrieved through the site's public API (chapter 3 effective 2-20-2013, which predates CCDBG fingerprinting — the FBI fingerprint requirement comes from Neb. Rev. Stat. 71-1912). The 'any person' mandated-reporter statute (Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-711) was not individually fetched, and dhhs.ne.gov program pages returned 404 to the paths tried.

Family & home child care

Child Care Licensing Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. 71-1908 et seq.); 391 NAC 1 (Family Child Care Home I) and 391 NAC 2 (Family Child Care Home II)

Family Child Care Home I (4 to 8 children)

Licensed to serve at least 4 and not more than 8 children; may be approved for up to 2 additional school-age children during non-school hours if no more than 2 of the other children are under 18 months (391 NAC 1). The provider's own children under 8 count toward capacity; own children 8+ do not, unless the provider is compensated for them. One staff member may care for 1-8 mixed-age children (9-10 allowed only if the 9th and 10th are school-age).Mixed-age care: up to 3 infants (Nebraska defines infant as 6 weeks to 18 months), of whom no more than 2 may be under 12 months. Infant-only care: 1 staff for up to 4 infants; 5-8 infants require 2 staff (391 NAC 1-006.08B).

Family Child Care Home II (4 to 12 children)

Licensed to serve at least 4 and not more than 12 children; may be located in the licensee's residence or another location (391 NAC 2). Mixed ages: 1 staff member for up to 10 children (the 9th and 10th must be school-age); 11-12 children require 2 staff members.Mixed-age care: up to 3 infants with no more than 2 under 12 months; a single staff member caring for 10 children is limited to 2 infants. Infant-only care: 1 staff per 4 infants (2 staff for 5-8; 3 staff for 9-12) (391 NAC 2-006.08B).

Provider training

The licensee and each staff member must obtain 12 clock hours of training annually; staff who work 20 hours or less per week must complete 6 hours (391 NAC 1-006.04E; same requirement in 391 NAC 2).

Worth knowing

Both home licenses start at 4 children — programs serving fewer than 4 children generally fall below the licensing threshold. Regulation text was verified from the Public Health Law Center's copies of the official 391 NAC chapters (effective 2013, still listed as operative by NE DHHS); official copies are on the Nebraska Secretary of State's rules site.