Maine Daycare Ratios: Staff-to-Child Ratios and Group Sizes by Age

Maine writes its ratios — the child care staff member-to-child numbers, in the rule's words — into the Child Care Facility Licensing Rule, 10-148 CMR Chapter 32, which the Maine DHHS Office of Child and Family Services administers.

In centers with 13 or more children, the ratios are 1:4 for children 6 weeks to 1 year, 1:4 or 1:5 for children 1–2½ years, 1:7 for children 2½ to 3½ years, 1:8 or 1:10 for children 3 to under 5 years, and 1:13 for school-age children 5 to 12.

Two other licensed facility types run their own numbers: small child care facilities licensed for 3 to 12 children use 1:4 for ages 6 weeks to 2 years, 1:8 for ages 2 to 5 and 1:12 over 5, and nursery school programs run 1:12 with a maximum group of 30.

Where an age band shows two ratios, each pairs with its own maximum group size, which the next section walks through.

Alongside the ratio, the rule caps how many children may be in one group in centers with 13 or more children: 8 for infants 6 weeks to 1 year, 12 or 10 for the toddler band depending on the ratio chosen, 21 for children 2½ to 3½ years, and 24 or 20 for children 3 to under 5.

For school-age children 5 to 12, the rule's table sets no maximum group size.

Nursery school programs carry their own limit: a maximum group of 30 at 1:12.

Group size and ratio are different limits — the ratio counts children per child care staff member, while the group size caps how many children make up the group.

Mixed-age rooms follow the youngest child.

In programs with 13 or more children, the group size and the number of required child care staff members are determined by the age of the youngest child when a group combines ages.

In those programs, the rule also opens a window at the edges of the day: a single staff member may have six or fewer children for up to one hour at opening and closing, and two staff must be present when seven or more children are present.

Ratios do not relax for naps.

Maine requires awake staff to maintain ratios during nap; video or audio monitors may supervise an adjacent nap room, but sleeping children must be checked in person at least every 30 minutes.

The rule's ratio tables count Child Care Staff Members, and in programs with 13 or more children the staffing floor sits right beside them: when seven or more children are present, two staff must be present.

The qualification rules behind the role are set in the same chapter.

Staff working unsupervised must be at least 18, 16- and 17-year-olds must be directly supervised by staff over 18, and all staff need a high school diploma or equivalent or be enrolled in high school or a GED/HiSET program.

The lead teacher is the person with program responsibility for a group: a facility licensed for more than 21 children must employ one lead teacher per group, and assistants may be employed to complete the ratios.

A facility licensed for 13 to 20 children needs at least one lead teacher, who may be the director.

Our research did not confirm whether a director, floater or aide counts toward the ratio; ask the Office of Child and Family Services about a specific staffing plan.

Family child care homes run on Chapter 33, not the center rule.

A Maine family child care provider cares in their home for 3 to 12 children under 13 who are not the provider's own, and caring for more than two children who are neither the provider's own nor living in the home requires a family child care license — up to two is license-exempt.

Inside the home, ratios run 1:4 for children 6 weeks to 2 years, 1:8 for children 2 to 5 and 1:12 for children over 5.

The rule sizes the bands by provider count: at 1:4, two providers can care for 8 children and three providers for 12, and at 1:8 two providers can care for 12.

The provider's own children over 4 are not counted.

Here is how the numbers convert into headcount on the floor, as an illustration of the rule rather than a staffing plan for any particular center.

Take a center with 13 or more children.

An infant room of eight babies sits at the group cap of 8 and needs two staff members at 1:4.

A toddler room of ten fits either option: two staff members at the 1:5 pairing, three at the 1:4 pairing that comes with the group size of 12.

A preschool room of 20 children aged 3 to under 5 needs two staff members at 1:10, and the same 20 need three at 1:8.

Because a mixed-age group takes its youngest child's ratio, a group of 12 that includes a 1-year-old staffs at 1:4 — three staff members.

Ratios hold through nap, with sleeping children checked in person at least every 30 minutes.

In a facility licensed for more than 21 children, each group needs one lead teacher, and assistants may be employed to complete the ratios.

For school-age children 5 to 12, the center ratio is 1:13, and the rule's table sets no maximum group size for the band.

Nursery schools overlap the younger part of that range by definition — they provide care for 3 or more children aged 33 months to 8 years, in sessions no longer than 3½ hours — and run 1:12 with a maximum group of 30.

In family child care homes, the over-5 band is 1:12.

The ratios and group sizes on this page are the figures in the Child Care Facility Licensing Rule, 10-148 CMR Chapter 32, effective September 27, 2021, which the Maine DHHS Office of Child and Family Services administers.

Rules are revised from time to time, so confirm the current chart with the Office of Child and Family Services before you staff a room or set a schedule.