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

Nebraska's center rule, Title 391 NAC Chapter 3, sets staff-to-child ratios by age: 1:4 for children 6 weeks to 18 months old, 1:6 from 18 months to 3 years, 1:10 for 3-year-olds, 1:12 for 4- and 5-year-olds and 1:15 for school-age children.

The rule computes compliance with those ratios on a center-wide basis rather than room by room, so the count that has to hold is the center's total.

The table above shows each band as the rule states it.

Our research found no maximum group-size table in Nebraska's center rule: it sets the ratios above on a center-wide basis, and the sections we read set no group-size caps by age.

The headcount limit we did find is a center's licensed capacity, which the Department determines from available space and the capacity authorized by the State Fire Marshal.

Because that absence is an inference from the rule rather than a line the rule states, confirm group-size expectations for your rooms with DHHS Children's Services Licensing before you plan staffing.

Nebraska computes its ratios center-wide, so staffing is counted across the whole center rather than one room at a time; the sections of the rule we read do not spell out a separate mixed-age formula for centers, so ask DHHS how it applies the age bands when your rooms mix ages.

Naptime has its own rule: all staff must stay awake during naptime, and at least one teacher must be in the room where children are napping, as long as the staff-to-child ratio is maintained center-wide.

The rule also requires two staff members on the premises unless 12 or fewer children are present.

The rule staffs rooms with teachers and support staff on different terms.

Support staff must be at least 16 years old, and a teacher must be in the room with them at all times.

At the center level, two staff members must be on the premises unless 12 or fewer children are present.

During naptime, at least one teacher must be in the nap room as long as the center-wide ratio is maintained.

The sections we read do not say whether support staff, a director or other non-classroom staff count toward the ratio, so put that question to DHHS when you build a schedule.

Nebraska requires a DHHS license once you care for four or more children from other families at one time; caring for three or fewer does not require a license.

A Family Child Care Home I operates in the licensee's residence and serves 4 to 8 children, plus up to 2 school-age children during non-school hours if no more than 2 others there are under 18 months.

A Family Child Care Home II serves 4 to 12 children in the residence or another location.

Family Child Care Home I ratios are counted per provider: when every child is an infant the ratio is 1:4, so 5 to 8 infants require 2 staff, and a mixed-age group runs up to 8 children per provider with a 9th and 10th only if they are school-age, no more than three infants, and no more than two of them under 12 months.

Take a center with 8 infants, 12 toddlers between 18 months and 3 years, 10 three-year-olds, 12 four-year-olds and 15 school-age children.

The bands mean the 8 infants take 2 staff at 1:4, the 12 toddlers take 2 at 1:6, the 10 three-year-olds take 1 at 1:10, the 12 four-year-olds take 1 at 1:12 and the 15 school-age children take 1 at 1:15.

Because Nebraska computes ratios center-wide, those counts pool across the whole center instead of being determined room by room.

The two-staff-on-premises requirement applies unless 12 or fewer children are present.

This is an illustration of how the rule's numbers work, not a staffing plan — ask DHHS Children's Services Licensing how the center-wide computation applies to your schedule.