Vermont

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

All staff must complete 15 clock hours of annual professional development per their Individual Professional Development Plan (rules 7.4.1–7.4.4); CPR and first aid training do not count toward the 15 hours (rule 7.4.7). Staff counted in ratios must obtain pediatric first aid and infant/child CPR training and keep it current.

Lead teacher

A Teacher must be at least 20 and hold a VT Early Childhood Career Ladder Level 4 certificate; or a bachelor's degree in early childhood or a related field plus 12 months of experience with children grade 3 or younger; or a bachelor's degree with 30 early-childhood/school-age credits plus 12 months of experience; or a current VT teaching license with an early childhood, ECSE, or elementary endorsement (rule 7.3.2.1). Each group must be led by staff qualified at least as a Teacher Associate.

Director

The program director must be at least 21; for programs licensed for 13-59 children, qualified at least as a Teacher Associate plus a VT Program Director Step One certificate or college coursework in program management and curriculum; for 60+ children, qualified as a Teacher with 24 additional months of experience plus a Step Two/Three director credential or 3 curriculum credits and 9 management credits (rules 7.3.1.2-7.3.1.4).

Worth knowing

Full ratio chart (rule 6.2.1.3): birth–18 mo 1:4/8; 18–30 mo 1:4/10; 24–36 mo 1:5/10; 32–42 mo 1:6/15; 36 mo–kindergarten 1:10/20; 1st grade and up 1:13/26. Age bands intentionally overlap; mixed-age groups follow the youngest child's requirements (rule 6.2.2).

Compliance

Background checks

The licensee, every staff person, and auxiliary staff must submit a Records Check Authorization and be fingerprinted through the Division, which processes clearances via the Vermont Crime Information Center; persons with CCDBG-listed disqualifying convictions (child abuse, crimes against children, violent felonies, recent drug felonies, etc.) may not operate, work, or have unsupervised access (rules 2.3.8.2, 2.3.8.2.6). Ongoing checks must be resubmitted at least once every five years (2.3.9.3).

Mandated reporting

The licensee, staff, auxiliary staff, and partner staff working with children are mandated reporters under 33 V.S.A. § 4913 and must report reasonable suspicions to the 24-hour Child Abuse Hotline within 24 hours of first receiving or observing the information (rules 3.3.1-3.3.3); programs must maintain a written reporting policy.

First aid & CPR

At least one staff member currently certified in pediatric first aid and infant/child CPR must be on the premises at all times children are present, and all ratio-counted staff and auxiliary staff left alone with children must obtain the training within three months of starting and keep it current (rule 7.1.2). Afterschool-exempt CBCCPPs must still certify ratio-counted staff within four weeks.

Health & safety training

Staff and ratio-counted auxiliary staff must complete a Division-approved orientation training before being left alone with children (others within one month), covering child development, health protection, safety and sanitation, safe sleep, medication, emergencies, abuse prevention and reporting (including sexual abuse warning signs), infectious disease, and more (rule 7.1.3). All staff must then have an Individual Professional Development Plan within six months and complete 15 clock hours of annual professional development, which CPR/first aid hours cannot satisfy (7.4).

Operations

Supervision rule

Supervision is defined as knowledge of and accounting for the activity and whereabouts of each child at all times, with staff proximity assuring immediate intervention to safeguard children from harm (rule 2.2.55). Children must be supervised while napping, and staff must directly observe each sleeping infant at least every 15 minutes — checking the face, skin color, and breathing — with lighting sufficient to do so (5.4.1.5-5.4.1.6).

Record-keeping

Programs must keep a complete on-site enrollment file for each child — signed admission form with schedule, home language, parent and two emergency contacts, authorized pick-up persons, annual physical/health history, immunization record, and any special-needs plans — complete within set days of enrollment, with the last date of attendance recorded at withdrawal (rule 3.4.4). Staff files (or BFIS accounts) must hold first aid/CPR certificates, the signed abuse-reporting acknowledgment, records-check documentation, and completed orientation training.

Inspections

The Division must conduct a licensing visit at least once every 365 days at each center-based program (rule 2.3.9.4), plus fire-safety and insurance verifications and complaint-driven investigations; the fetched rule text does not specify whether routine visits are announced or unannounced.

Worth knowing: Details are from the Center Based Child Care and Preschool Program (CBCCPP) licensing regulations in effect per DCF's published PDF; family child care homes are governed by a separate registered/licensed home rule set with materially different thresholds and requirements.

Family & home child care

Child Care Licensing Regulations: Registered and Licensed Family Child Care Homes (effective April 17, 2022); 33 V.S.A. §§ 105(b), 3502

Registered Family Child Care Home

Under Option 1 (Year Round Care) the total number of children in care may never exceed 10; under Option 2 (Summer Vacation) up to 12 — the original 6 children plus up to 6 additional school-age children. Staffing charts by age mix determine how many of the 10 may be present with one adult. The provider's own children under 24 months count toward the under-24-month limits but not the overall limit (rules 6.2.1.2, 6.2.1.3, 6.2.1.7).Working alone, the provider may generally have no more than 2 children under 24 months (3 under 24 months only when those 3 are the only children present); two staff are required for 5-6 children all under 24 months (rule 6.2.1 charts).

Licensed Family Child Care Home

Maximum capacity is set on the license and may not exceed 12 children at one time; one staff may care for up to 6 children (age-mix limited), two staff for 7-12, and serving the maximum mixes with many infants (up to 6 under 24 months) requires three staff. All children present unaccompanied by a parent — including the licensee's own resident children and an assistant's children younger than school age — count toward capacity (rules 6.2.2, 6.2.2.1 and charts).With two staff, at most 2 children under 24 months (plus limited 2-year-olds) in the 7-12 range per the charts; caring for up to 6 children under 24 months requires three staff (licensed FCCH capacity charts).

Provider training

All staff except substitutes must complete 15 clock hours of annual professional development guided by an Individual Professional Development Plan; CPR and First Aid training do not count toward the 15 hours (rules 7.4.4, 7.4.7).

Worth knowing

Anyone caring for children from more than two families other than their own must be registered or licensed (rule 1.1). Both types operate in the provider's residence; the registered home is the small/basic category and the licensed home allows greater capacity with staff. The registered FCCP must be present and counted in ratio at least 60% of operating hours.