CDPH Revised Cohort Guidance
Information on Revised Cohort Guidance Released by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)On August 25, 2020, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released guidance for small cohorts/groups of children and youth in licensed and license-exempt child care settings. At present the CDPH cohort guidance does not exempt Early Learning and Care (ELC) settings based on the county’s status on the COVID-19 watchlist.
This guidance was revised on September 4, 2020, to clarify staffing for cohorts, which provides more flexibility for staff that serve children five years and younger. The revised CDPH guidance can be found in CDPH's Cohort Guidance
.
The revised CDPH guidance allows more flexibility for direct service contractors by clarifying the following:
- Cohorts can be configured with more than 2 adults, as long as the cohort does not exceed 16 total people (children and adults).
- Staff that serve children five years and younger can be assigned to up to 2 cohorts.
This CDPH cohort guidance impacts the use of substitute staff who are covering for short‐term staff absences. Substitutes are allowed but must only work with one cohort of children per day.
Many questions have come in from early learning and care programs asking how the cohort guidance interacts with Title 5 programs and we wanted to provide information to contractors in one space.
In addition, the CDPH cohort guidance does not differentiate between programs that have already fully re-opened to serve all families for in-person services and those that are still working to safely re-open. We recognize local public health departments may have different requirements for cohorts and in that case, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements.
This information is in alignment with the Provider Information Notice (PIN) 20-22-CCP released by the California Department of Social Services, which includes Frequently Asked Questions regarding the cohort guidance.
The Early Learning and Care Division (ELCD) has created a chart that demonstrates how the cohort guidance and Title 5 adult/child ratios could interact and have included it in the event that it may be helpful for you.
This chart is based on the statewide CDPH guidance and does not reflect any variance for local public health guidance. If the local public health guidance is more stringent, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements.
| Age Category and Title 5 Ratio | How many children and staff can be in the cohort? | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
Infants Title 5 Adult-Child Ratio: 1:3 |
Infants: 11
Supervising adults: 5 Maximum people: 16 |
In order for staff to receive breaks throughout the day, the staff member that will give breaks must be included in the cohort count. If 12 or more infants were served in the space then the cohort would exceed 16 people.
If the local public health guidance is more stringent, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements. |
| Toddlers
Title 5 Adult-Child Ratio: 1:4 |
Toddlers: 12
Supervising adults: 4 Maximum people: 16 |
12 toddlers can be supervised by 3 supervising adults, 1 additional adult can be used to give the staff breaks. Therefore, the contractor would be following the CDPH guidance requiring cohorts of no more than 16 children and adults.
If the local public health guidance is more stringent, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements. |
| Part-day Preschool
Title 5 Adult-Child Ratio: 1:8 |
AM Session**:
Preschoolers: 14 Supervising adults: 2 Maximum people: 16
PM Session**: Preschoolers: 14 Supervising adults: 2 Maximum people: 16 |
Supervising adults may be in 2 cohorts; therefore, the teaching staff can be in the AM and the PM cohort as long as they do not interact with any other cohort.
**If breaks are required for staff during the part-day session, then the contractor is limited to 13 preschoolers and 3 supervising adults. If the local public health guidance is more stringent, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements. |
| Full-day Preschool
Title 5 Adult-Child Ratio: 1:8 |
Preschoolers: 13
Supervising adults: 3 Maximum people: 16 |
In order for staff to receive breaks throughout the day, the staff member that will give breaks must be included in the cohort count. If 14 or more preschoolers are served in the space then the cohort would exceed 16 people.
If the local public health guidance is more stringent, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements. |
| School-age Children
Title 5 Adult-Child Ratio: 1:14 |
School-age Children: 14
Supervising adults: 2 Maximum people: 16 |
In order for staff to receive breaks throughout the day, the staff member that will give breaks must be included in the cohort count. If more than 14 school-age children are served in the space then the cohort would exceed 16 people.
NOTE: Staff that serve children over five years may not be assigned more than 1 cohort. If the local public health guidance is more stringent, contractors should follow the more stringent requirements. |
If you have questions regarding the information in this email, please contact your assigned Program Quality Implementation Regional Consultant on the ELCD Consultants Regional Assignments web page.