To be a center director or group home provider in the State of Missouri, the applicant must complete a two-step process:

• Step 1: Child Care Regulation must certify that the individual applicant’s education, including any equivalent work experience, meets the requirements in licensing rule 5 CSR 25-500.102(2)(B)2. and 3. 
  • This step certifies the individual applicant for a capacity range. It does not assign the individual applicant as the director or group home provider of a specific facility.
• Step 2: Child Care Compliance must approve that the individual applicant is certified for a capacity range and that the individual applicant has an eligible Comprehensive Background Check on file. 
  • This step assigns the individual to a specific facility as the director or group home provider on file.

For more information about each step in the process, see the drop down options below:

Step 1: Certification

Request Certification:

The individual applicant must submit the Center Director/Group Child Care Home Provider Certification Request Form (MO500-3296) and required supporting documents (listed on page 2) to Child Care Regulation, Director Certification, PO Box 480, Jefferson City, MO 65102 or via email at CCDirectors@dese.mo.gov.

Education/Work Experience Qualifications:

Licensed Capacity	Education and Experience
Up to 20 Children/Group Home Provider	Thirty (30) college semester credits, with six (6) of the credits in child-related courses, OR Twelve (12) months' experience with six (6) college semester credits in child-related courses, OR Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential, OR Youth Development Credential (YDC), OR
21 - 60 Children	Sixty (60) college semester credits with twelve (12) of the credits in child-related courses, OR Twenty-four (24) months' experience with twelve (12) college semester credits in child-related courses, OR
61 - 99 Children	Ninety (90) college semester credits with eighteen (18) of the credits in child related courses, OR Thirty-six (36) months' experience with eighteen (18) college semester credits in child-related courses, OR
100 or More Children	One hundred twenty (120) college semester credits with twenty-four (24) of the credits in child related courses Six (6) of the twenty-four (24) college semester credits may include  courses in business or management OR Four (4) years experience with twenty-four (24) college semester credits in child-related courses Six (6) of the twenty-four (24) college semester credits may include  courses in business or management

Tips:

• For questions about which college courses are accepted as child-related credit, please see this sample child-related credit course list.
• Child care work experience can be submitted to substitute for overall college credit, but cannot count towards the child-related credit requirement.
• Electronic Official Transcripts must be sent to CCDirectors@dese.mo.gov directly from the college or university. The transcripts must include the final passing grade of a course to count for credit. Office of Childhood cannot view or receive transcripts sent to other offices within DESE. 

Using Parchment

• Use the ‘Other Organization’ or ‘Other Individual’ option to manually enter CCDirectors@dese.mo.gov as the recipient of the transcript.

Using National Student Clearinghouse

• In the ‘Who are you sending your transcript to?’ drop down, select “Education Organization, Application Service, Scholarship and Professional Licensing”
• In the ‘Select Organization’ drop down, select “Not in List”
• In the ‘Enter an Organization’ text box manually enter CCDirectors@dese.mo.gov as the recipient of the transcript.

Certification Process & Notification:

Once the Office of Childhood receives all documents indicated on the MO500-3296 form, OOC reviews the information to determine if education requirements have been met. Then, OOC sends the individual applicant a letter and the completed MO500-3296 form. The letter indicates if the individual is certified, including the capacity range of children certified for, or not certified, including an explanation of denial.

Tips:

• The certified individual should keep a copy of the returned documents for future reference.
• The certified individual will need to share a copy of the returned documents with the facility in order to proceed with directions in Step 2 of this process.
• Director certifications are specific to the individual, based on education reviewed, and do not expire.
• If an individual was denied certification, the individual can contact OOC to discuss the specific reasons for denial and request another certification review, if warranted.

Questions regarding Director Certifications should be directed to CCDirectors@dese.mo.gov.

Step 2: Approval

Submit for Approval:

The facility must submit the Center Director/Group Child Care Home Provider Approval Request (MO500-3290) and required supporting documents (as listed on the form) to the facility’s Compliance Inspector before the certified individual can be approved as the center director or group home provider of the facility.

Tips: 

• The individual must supply the returned documents from Step 1 to the facility.
• The individual may supply their current eligible Comprehensive Background Check letter to the facility or, if an eligibility determination has not been made for the individual, the facility needs to complete the Child Care Background Check Process to receive an eligibility determination letter for the certified individual.

 

Approval Process & Notification:

Once the Compliance Inspector (CI) has received all documents indicated on the MO500-3290, they will review for accuracy. If the CI determines the certified individual does not meet approval requirements, they will return the request as not approved and contact the facility to explain why. If the CI determines the certified individual is approved, they will send the completed MO500-3290 form to the facility, indicating that the individual is approved as the center director or group home provider.

Tips:

• The facility should keep a copy of all director documents from the OOC for the individual’s personnel file.
• Director approvals are specific to the facility and based on certification of the individual in relation to the facility capacity.

Questions regarding director approvals should be directed to the facility’s Compliance Inspector. Please contact the Regional Office if you do not have your Compliance Inspector’s contact information.

Resources

To request transcripts on file for Director Certification be entered into the Missouri Professional Development (MOPD) System, the individual applicant can submit the Transcript Review Request Form and return to Child Care Regulation, Director Certification, PO BOX 480, Jefferson City, MO 65102 or via email at CCDirectors@dese.mo.gov.

To learn more about available opportunities to advance your education for little to no cost, please visit the CDA Scholarship Project and T.E.A.C.H. MISSOURI pages of the Child Care Aware of Missouri’s website.