West Virginia

Staff-child ratios (centers)

Requirements

Annual training

All qualified staff must complete 15 hours of approved training within the first year of employment (directors: 6 of the 15 in management; caregivers: 6 related to the age group served) (§78-1-8.7). Staff must apply for and maintain a WV STARS Career Pathway credential, completing the approved training needed to keep it current; first aid and CPR are required within six months of employment and must be kept current.

Lead teacher

A teacher must be at least 18 with at least one year of relevant work experience, plus one of: a WV Training Certificate in Early Care and Education (WVTCECE) or equivalent; a CDA (or 12 early care and education college credits) with 300 hours of relevant experience with young children; or a total of two years of relevant work experience (§78-1-9.3).

Director

Directors must be at least 21 with at least one year of relevant experience and a high school diploma or equivalent; additional requirements scale with center type, from a CDA plus 300 experience hours (or 10 years of experience) for a Type I center up to an associate or bachelor's degree in early care and education or a related field (or equivalent credits/experience combinations) for a Type III center (§78-1-9.1.h).

Worth knowing

Full Table A (Appendix 78-1 E): 6 wk–12 mo 1:4/8; 13–24 mo 1:4/12; 2 yr 1:8/16; 3 yr 1:10/20; 4 yr 1:12/24; 5 yr–school-age 1:12/24; school-age 1:16/32. Mixed-age groups follow the youngest child. The rule text verified is the Series 1 rule (effective July 1, 2014, reissued under the Department of Human Services) obtained via a full-text copy hosted by the Public Health Law Center; the state's own PDF and the federal ACF database copy (April 2023) were not directly accessible, so confirm current amendments with WV DoHS. The rule specifies 15 hours in the first year; it does not state a numeric annual in-service hour requirement for later years beyond maintaining WV STARS credentials.

Compliance

Background checks

Centers must ensure a state and federal fingerprint-based criminal background investigation through WV CARES (W. Va. Code § 16-49-1 et seq.) with rap back enrollment for every staff member and volunteer, plus sex offender registry checks and searches of child and adult abuse/neglect registries and protective services databases for each state of residence in the past five years, repeated every five years (78 CSR 1 § 8.4). State checks are also required in any other state where the person resided in the past five years.

Mandated reporting

Child care workers are mandated reporters under W. Va. Code § 49-2-803 and must report suspected abuse or neglect immediately — not more than 24 hours — to the Department of Human Services, and also immediately to the State Police/law enforcement for serious physical or sexual abuse. Centers must maintain written procedures requiring immediate reporting and train staff on them (78 CSR 1 § 11.6).

First aid & CPR

Within three months of employment, staff must hold current pediatric CPR certification and current first aid training, kept current thereafter in addition to the annual training hours (78 CSR 1 § 8.6.f.1); a staff member trained in first aid and pediatric CPR must be present during water activities, and field trips must carry first aid supplies.

Health & safety training

All staff must complete the approved CCDBG pre-service training (modules 1-10: safe spaces, emergency preparedness, hazardous materials, shaken baby, safe sleep/SUIDS, infectious diseases, medication administration, food allergies, transportation, and child development) before caring for children, plus orientation during the first week and before sole responsibility for a group (78 CSR 1 §§ 3.45, 8.6). Qualified staff then complete at least 15 hours of approved training annually (§ 8.7.d).

Operations

Supervision rule

'Adequate supervision' requires the staff member's physical presence, knowledge of each child's activities and needs, and being close enough to intervene to protect the child from harm (78 CSR 1 § 3.1). For groups 12 months and under, every ratio-counted staff member must be in the sleep area able to see and hear all children; for older nap groups at least one qualified staff member must visually supervise each room with all sleeping children checked at least hourly and remaining staff within calling distance (§ 10.5).

Record-keeping

Centers must keep each enrolled child's records on the premises — including an immunization record or catch-up plan upon admittance, attendance, and incident reports with time, date, location, and description — secured against tampering and retained at least three years after the child's discharge (78 CSR 1 §§ 6.6, 15.1). Staff records (background checks, pre-service/orientation documentation, training statements) must be kept on file on the premises.

Inspections

Applicants and licensees must permit the Secretary access to conduct announced and unannounced inspections of all aspects of the center's operation and premises, with plans of correction for non-compliance found through inspections or complaint investigations (78 CSR 1 § 5); licensure also requires State Fire Marshal and county health inspections, and regular/renewal licenses run up to two years (§ 4).

Worth knowing: The known trap did not bite this time: the current rules (78 CSR 1 effective April 2023 and 78 CSR 18) downloaded successfully from bfa.wv.gov, so Public Health Law Center copies were not needed; some legacy dhhr.wv.gov URLs now 404/403 after the DHHR split into new departments (child care now sits under DoHS/BFA).

Family & home child care

W. Va. Code R. § 78-19 — Family Child Care Home Registration Requirements (eff. April 1, 2023); W. Va. Code R. § 78-18 — Family Child Care Facility Licensing Requirements (eff. April 1, 2023); W. Va. Code § 49-2-101 et seq.

Family Child Care Home (certificate of registration)

No more than six children under age 13 in care at any one time; the count includes children under six years old who live in the home and unaccompanied visiting children under six (78 CSR 19 § 6.6). Care is provided in the caregiver's own residence under a certificate of registration valid up to two years.No more than two of the six children may be under 24 months of age (78 CSR 19 § 6.6.a).

Family Child Care Facility (certificate of license)

A licensed setting (in the provider's residence or a separate building) for seven to twelve children under W. Va. Code definitions; it must obtain a certificate of license before operating, and all children 12 and under who are present — including children of the director, staff, and friends — count in the staff-child ratio (78 CSR 18 §§ 4.1, 7.1.b).Two staff members must be on duty whenever the facility cares for more than two children under 24 months of age, or for more than six children at the same time (78 CSR 18 § 7.1.a).

Provider training

Family child care home caregivers: pediatric CPR/first aid and approved pre-service health and safety training within 3 months of registration; four additional Core Knowledge/Core Competency hours within 12 months; thereafter eight hours of approved training annually covering at least two Core Knowledge/Core Competency areas (78 CSR 19 § 6.3).

Worth knowing

W. Va. Code § 49-1-206 defines a family child care home as serving four to six children (homes serving fewer fall under relative/informal rules, 78 CSR 20). The 7-12 range for facilities comes from the statutory definition referenced by 78 CSR 18; the rule text read here confirms licensure and staffing but states the range only via the Code. Annual training hours for facility staff were not confirmed and are omitted. Since the 2024 DHHR reorganization, early care programs sit under the Department of Human Services' Bureau for Family Assistance.