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4.6: Kansas Department of Health and Environment- Child Care Licensing

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    Childcare facilities represent a large number of programs offering early care and education for young children in the United States. There are many types of childcare programs. A licensed childcare facility is regulated or licensed to operate by a state agency (Julian, et. al, 2023). The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is the agency that oversees the licensing and regulation of childcare programs in Kansas. In 1919, Kansas passed a law that required the licensing of childcare programs to protect the well-being of children who were cared for outside of their homes. Regulations represent the minimal level required for program operation (KDHE, 2024).

    There are General KDHE regulations for childcare programs address the following:

    • facility and equipment requirements
    • specific requirements based on age groups
    • supervision and ratios (see table below for minimum ratio guidance, mixed age groups have different ratios)

    Table 4.6.1 Supervision and Ratios by Age Group

    Age of Children

    Minimum Staff:Child Ratio

    Max number of children in group

    Infants

    1:3

    or

    1:4

    9

    8

    Infants & other children under the age of 6

    1:6

    (no more than 3 infants)

    12

    (no more than 6 infants)
    Toddlers 1:6 12
    Children at least 2 but under the age of 3

    1:7

    14

    Children at least 2.5 but under school- age

    1:12

    24

    School-age

    1:16

    32
    • emergency procedures
    • behavior management and discipline practices
    • programming
    • outdoor play
    • health and safety practices
    • diapering and toileting practices
    • sleeping practices
    • nutrition and food preparation
    • transportation
    • child records and confidentiality
    • provider qualifications and training

    Since this chapter focuses on professionals, here is an overview of the minimum staff qualifications for childcare programs in Kansas:

    • must be 18 years old
    • complete an orientation
    • health and safety training (first aid/CPR, child abuse/neglect, medication administration, emergency preparedness, safe sleep practices)
    • pass a background check
    • have a health assessment and negative tuberculin (TB) test
    • minimum education requirements vary by position and size of the program
    • annual professional development training (16 hours for directors and staff counted in the staff-child ratio)

    References

    Julian, G., Boyd, B., Blums, A., Moon, C., Sharpe-Haygood, D., Karshna, J., Leek, S., Neimer, N., & Gill, N. (2023). Introduction to early childhood education. LibreTexts. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Boo..._1.1e_(Julian)

    Kansas Department of Health and Environment. (2024). Data & History. Retrieved on April 10, 2024 from https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/283/Data-History

    This page titled 4.6: Kansas Department of Health and Environment- Child Care Licensing is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Heather Carter and Amber Tankersley.