NAC424.250. Minimum staffing requirements.

     1. A sufficient number of staff must be on duty and available at all times to assure proper care for children. The minimum number of staff employed in a group foster home, excluding staff whose sole functioning is clerical, housekeeping, maintenance and other ancillary services, is:

Type	Age Range	Staff/Child Ratio
Group Foster Homes	0-18 years	1:8 or as otherwise
		approved
Group Treatment Homes	0-6 years	1:4
	6-18 years	1:6
Group Emergency Shelter Homes	0-18 years	1:8

Staffing ratios specified in this subsection apply to each residence or dwelling in a foster home system and are inclusive of the staff’s own children, if those children are living in the foster home.

     2. Treatment homes may be required to provide a minimum of one responsible adult, who must be awake and on duty in the home during the children’s normal sleeping hours. Additional staff may be required at the discretion of the licensing authority if the licensing authority determines it is necessary because of, among other factors, the behavior and treatment needs of the children. The agency which provides child welfare services may approve exceptions to the specified staffing ratio upon determining that the needs of the children in foster care will be met and when acceptable alternatives are presented. The limitations set forth in subsection 4 of NAC 424.160 relating to the number of children for which foster care may be provided must not be exceeded.

     [Welfare Div., Req. for Foster Care § 104.12, 10-7-88, eff. 1-1-89]—(NAC A by Div. of Child & Fam. Services by R044-02, 7-23-2002)