N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 18 § 414.8 - Supervision of children
(a)
Children cannot be left without competent direct supervision at any time.
Competent supervision includes awareness of and responsibility for the ongoing
activity of each child. It requires that all children be within a teacher's
range of vision and that the teacher be near enough to respond when redirection
or intervention strategies are needed. Competent supervision must take into
account the child's age emotional, physical, and cognitive
development.
(b) School-age child
care programs must employ staff who will promote the physical, intellectual,
social, cultural and emotional well-being of the children.
(c) The school-age child care program must
provide supervision of the staff responsible for the care of children.
Workloads and assignments must be arranged to provide consistency of care to
children and to allow staff to fulfill their respective
responsibilities.
(d) No person
under 18 years of age may be left alone to supervise a group of children at any
time, including in an emergency.
(e) A group teacher, meeting the
qualifications of section
414.13 of
this Part, is required for every group of children.
(f) An additional group teacher or an
assistant teacher is required when the number of children in the group dictate
that a second teacher be present to meet the teacher/child ratio.
(g) Whenever the school-age child care
program is in operation and the director is away from the premises, there must
be a staff person to act on behalf of the director, who is knowledgeable about
the programs operation and policies.
(h) A staff person who is qualified to
perform the duties of an absent staff member must be provided when needed to
comply with the applicable teacher/child ratios.
(i) In other than emergency situations such
as illness or accident, parents must be notified in writing two weeks prior to
any long-term absence of the teachers. This notice must include specific start
and end dates of the absence and who will be taking the teacher's place in the
day care program.
(j) When a
school-age child care program is in operation, an adequate number of qualified
staff must be on duty to protect the health and safety of the children in care.
Minimum Supervision Ratios Based on Group Size | ||
Age of children | Teacher/child maximum ratio | Maximum |
group size | ||
through 9 years | 1:10 | 20 |
10-12 years | 1:15 | 30 |
(k) The supervision ratios are as follows:
(1) for a child of school-age through the age
of nine years old:
(i) there must be one
teacher for every 10 children;
(ii)
the maximum group size is 20 children.
(2) for children between the ages of 10 years
old and 12 years old:
(i) there must be one
teacher for every 15 children;
(ii)
the maximum group size is 30 children.
(l)
Group size and mixing different age
children within groups.
(1) Group size
refers to the number of children cared for together as a unit. Group size is
used to determine the minimum teacher/child ratio based upon the age of the
children in the group.
(2) Group
size must be maintained in common areas of the building and grounds.
(3) Groups of children may not be mixed
together to use outdoor play areas, exercise areas, gym rooms or other common
areas of the center unless, the space is large enough to accommodate multiple
groups which must be kept separate.
(4) When a school-age child care program
cares for children in groups including children both over and under 10 years of
age, the teacher/child ratio used must be that ratio applicable to the youngest
child in the group.
(m)
There must be a director, group teacher or assistant teacher supervising all
applicants, volunteers and persons in the process of approval.
(n) The use of any type device for social or
entertainment purposes, listening to music on headphones, playing screen games,
using the internet, or making personal calls while supervising children is
prohibited. The use of mobile phones is permitted as necessary to promote the
children's safety and ensuring the orderly operation of the program.
(o) The director must approve all plans for
field trips, including the type of activity, development needs of children and
whether there is the need for additional staff to provide adequate supervision.
Such plans must take into consideration the developmental needs of the
children.
(p)
Releasing
children from care.
(1) No child can
be released from the school-age child care program to any person other than his
or her parent(s), person currently designated in writing by such parent to
receive the child, or any other person authorized by law to take custody of a
child.
(2) No child can be released
from the school-age child care program unsupervised except upon written
permission of the child's parent. Such permission must be acceptable to the
school-age child care program and should take into consideration such factors
as the child's age and maturity, proximity to his or her home, and safety of
the neighborhood.
(3) When
transportation is provided as a service by the program, no child can be
released from the day care program directly to the child's home or other
destination without first verifying that the parent or person(s) designated by
the parent to receive the child is present at that destination to receive the
child.
(q)
Visitor
control procedures.
(1) Each
school-age child care program shall require any and all visitors to the
facility to:
(i) sign in upon entry to the
premises;
(ii) indicate in writing
the date of the visit and the time of entry to the facility;
(iii) clearly state in writing the purpose of
the visit; and
(iv) sign out upon
departure from the facility indicating in writing the time of
departure.
(2) Each
school-age child care program shall establish written rules and policies as are
necessary to provide for monitoring and control of visitors to protect the
health, safety and welfare of children in care.
(r) A teacher must accompany children to the
bathroom whenever the bathroom used by the children in care is also available
to the public or shared by multiple parties using the facility.
(s) When bathrooms are exclusively used by
the children at the school age child care program, children may go to the
bathroom independently under the following circumstances:
(1) the bathroom entrance is within sight of
the child care space or activity area being used at the time the child asks to
use the bathroom; and
(2) the child
has permission from the teacher; and
(3) a plan is followed that allows one child
at a time to use the bathroom; and
(4) there is a plan followed that requires a
teacher to be mindful of the time elapsing since the child left to use the
bathroom; and
(5) that a teacher
locate the child using the bathroom, if that child does not return to the group
after a reasonable time period has elapsed.
Notes
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