Supervision; Staff / Child Ratios and Group Size.
24 RCNY § 47.23
in effect§ 47.23 Supervision; Staff / Child Ratios and Group Size.
(a) Constant competent supervision required. Staff included in the staff / child ratios set forth below shall maintain direct line of sight, constant competent supervision of all of the children in the program at all times. Children in a child care classroom shall be competently supervised by a qualified group teacher or education director at all times in each type of child care program for which a permit is issued, with the sole exception that in the event of breaks or lunch periods, absence of no more than five days, the required staff / child ratio in a child care classroom may be maintained with assistant teachers and teacher aides, so long as at least one assistant teacher is included for each group of children in attendance. Children in a family shelter-based drop-off child supervision program shall be competently supervised by shelter child supervision staff at all times.
(1) When any program is in operation, the number of qualified staff required by this Code shall be assigned and on duty to protect the health and safety of the children on the program's premises, and in the case of trips off-site the required number of staff shall accompany the children at all times wherever the children travel.
(2) Each program shall maintain a daily log, to be kept on site and provided to the Department upon request, reflecting the arrival and departure time of each member of the teaching staff or shelter child supervision staff.
(b) Group teacher. Except in a night child care program, a group teacher in a child care program shall be in charge of each group of children ages two to five years.
(c) Infant/toddler child care program supervision. An education director or a group teacher with equivalent qualifications shall be present at all times of a child care program's operation to supervise an infant/toddler child care program.
(d) Infant/Toddler teacher. An infant/toddler teacher in a child care program, under the supervision of the education director, may be in charge of individual groups of infants and toddlers, or children in a night child care program.
(e) CPR and first aid certifications. The permittee shall ensure that at least one staff member certified in CPR and first aid is on the premises of the program during all hours when children are present. Upon application for a new permit or for renewal of an existing permit, such certifications must be in pediatric CPR and pediatric first aid, and must be based on successful completion of appropriate training that includes hands-on skill tests.
(f) Minimum staff / child ratios.
(1) The staff of a child care program for purposes of staff / child ratios must include only the teaching staff. The minimum ratios of staff to children in a child care program must be as follows:
AGE OF CHILDREN MINIMUM STAFF / CHILD RATIO MAXIMUM GROUP SIZE per room / area separated from other rooms/areas by a physical barrier
under 12 months 1:4 or 1:3 8
12 to 24 months 1:5 10
2 years to under 3 1:6 12
3 years to under 4 1:10 15
4 years to under 5 1:12 20
5 years to under 6 1:15 25
(2) The staff of a family shelter based child supervision program for purposes of staff / child ratios shall include only shelter child supervision staff. Volunteers may count as staff for these purposes only if they meet all of the requirements to qualify as shelter child supervisors. The minimum ratios of staff to children in a family shelter-based drop-off child supervision program shall be as follows:
AGE OF CHILDREN MINIMUM STAFF / CHILD RATIO MAXIMUM GROUP SIZE
under 3 years 1:4 or 1:3 10 per room/area separated from other rooms / areas by a physical barrier
3 years to under 6 1:8 16
(3) When children 12 months of age and older are in a group of mixed but contiguous ages, the minimum staff / child ratio and group size shall be based on the predominant age of the children in the group.
(4) Programs that maintain a staff / child ratio of 1:4 for children under 12 months of age shall demonstrate through their Written Safety Plan that they have sufficient staff in the program at all times to provide a staff / child ratio of 1:3 for the safe evacuation of children younger than 12 months of age during emergency situations.
(g) Mixed groups. Infants shall not be placed in older age groups.
(h) Night child care program supervision.
(1) Staff included in the staff / child ratios set forth above shall be awake at all times, and shall maintain direct line of sight, visual supervision of children.
(2) An education director or a group teacher with equivalent qualifications, or a member of the child supervision staff, shall be present at all times to supervise the night child care program and may not have a specific classroom assignment if more than 40 children are receiving night care or nighttime supervision.
(3) If a family shelter-based child drop-off child supervision program requires more than one shelter child supervisor to be present at any time to attain the required child/staff ratio, the permittee must designate one shelter child supervisor to be the lead shelter child supervisor, responsible for directing the supervision of children during that time period.
(Amended City Record 9/20/2017, eff. 10/10/2017; amended City Record 6/12/2018, eff. 7/12/2018; amended City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020; amended City Record 8/19/2025, eff. 8/19/2025; amended City Record 11/20/2025, eff. 11/20/2025)
Source: City of New York, Charter, Administrative Code and Rules (American Legal Publishing XML export, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/newyorkcity/latest/NYCrules/0-0-0-103021Fetched: 10/24/2026