Help us make New Jersey's infant childcare ratio 1 caregiver for every 3 infants.

As parents, caregivers, grandparents, childcare professionals, and compassionate residents of New Jersey, we are coming together to urge a meaningful improvement in the standards governing infant childcare in our state.

New Jersey currently permits 1 caregiver for every 4 infants under 18 months of age. We believe our youngest children deserve a stronger standard—one that recognizes how intensive, hands-on, and individualized infant care truly is.

We are asking the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Governor, State Legislature, and relevant policymakers to strengthen the standard to:

1 CAREGIVER FOR EVERY 3 INFANTS

The difference between caring for three infants and caring for four may sound small on paper. In an infant classroom, however, that one additional child can make an enormous difference.

Infants cannot wait patiently while another child is being fed. They cannot explain that they are hungry, uncomfortable, frightened, tired, or need a diaper change. They rely entirely on the adults around them to recognize and respond to their cues.

A caregiver may be responsible for feeding one baby while another begins crying, another wakes from a nap, and another needs a diaper change.

The caregiver has not done anything wrong. There simply may not be enough adults available at that moment.

New Jersey's own childcare requirements recognize the hands-on nature of infant care. the requirements state that infants who are too young to use an appropriate feeding chair or other seating apparatus must be held while being fed, and bottles may not be propped. Infant feeding must also be guided by individualized feeding plans.

This means infant care is not simply about supervising four children in a room.

It is about providing hands-on, responsive care to four individual human beings.

Why does 1:3 matter?

At a 1:4 ratio:

1 caregiver → 4 infants

At a 1:3 ratio:

1 caregiver → 3 infants

Moving from 1:4 to 1:3 represents a 25% reduction in the number of infants assigned to each caregiver.

That additional capacity can mean more time for a caregiver to:

• Comfort a crying baby
• Safely feed an infant
• Hold and soothe a child who needs physical reassurance
• Change diapers without being stretched between competing needs
• Respond to individual sleep cues
• Talk, read, sing, and interact with infants
• Observe developmental and behavioral cues
• Respond to unexpected health or safety needs
• Provide more individualized attention throughout the day

Research reviewed by the National Academies identifies staff-to-child ratios as particularly important for infants and young toddlers and emphasizes the importance of responsive adult-child interactions in early care.

Professional recommendations have also recognized 1:3 as an appropriate infant staffing level in smaller groups, and the National Academies has incorporated 3 children per adult into a high-quality infant workforce model.

This is also about supporting the people who care for our babies.
This petition is not an attack on daycare teachers or childcare providers.

It is the opposite.

Infant caregivers perform some of the most physically and emotionally demanding work in our communities. They are expected to constantly monitor multiple babies, respond to individual needs, follow feeding and sleep routines, maintain safe environments, communicate with families, and provide nurturing interactions—all while managing the unpredictable nature of infancy.

And New Jersey, like much of the country, faces a childcare workforce shortage.

Some may argue that requiring a 1:3 ratio would make that problem worse because centers would need additional employees.

We believe the solution to a staffing shortage cannot simply be to ask the teachers who remain to care for more children.

If we want qualified infant educators to enter—and remain in—this profession, we need to make the work sustainable.

A 1:3 ratio means each caregiver is responsible for 25% fewer infants.

A more manageable workload can help reduce stress and burnout and create better working conditions for the educators we depend on.

The National Academies has identified high child-to-staff ratios and group sizes as important working conditions that can contribute to educator stress. Research on the early-childhood workforce has also identified working conditions, compensation, and burnout as important factors in recruitment and retention.

This creates an important cycle:

Too few staff → heavier workloads → increased stress and burnout → turnover → even fewer staff → reduced childcare capacity → greater pressure on remaining staff.

We should work to break that cycle.

1:3 isn't simply about hiring more teachers. It's also about keeping the teachers we already have.
Stable, experienced caregivers are valuable to infants and families.

Frequent staff turnover can disrupt relationships and continuity of care, particularly for infants and toddlers who are forming important attachments to the adults who care for them.

Supporting educators with more manageable workloads is therefore not just a workforce issue.

It is an investment in the quality and consistency of care our babies receive.

We recognize the challenge for childcare providers.
We understand that changing the ratio would have financial and operational consequences for licensed childcare centers.

We do not want to make childcare less accessible or force providers to close classrooms.

Instead, we are asking New Jersey to pair a stronger infant ratio with meaningful workforce and financial support.

That could include:

• A reasonable phase-in period
• Staffing and stabilization grants
• Increased childcare reimbursement where appropriate
• Recruitment and retention incentives
• Wage and retention supports
• Training and technical assistance
• Substitute and float-staff support
• Financial assistance for licensed providers transitioning to the new standard
• Additional workforce investments for infant and toddler educators
• The goal should not simply be to mandate another teacher.

The goal should be to create a childcare system where there are enough qualified, supported educators to provide the level of care infants need—and where those educators can build careers they can sustain.

New Jersey's current 1:4 ratio is a licensing minimum. We believe our state should continually evaluate whether its minimum standards reflect what infants, families, and childcare professionals actually need.

Other states demonstrate that stronger infant staffing standards are achievable.

For example, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Kansas currently uses a 1:3 ratio for infants.

The fact that other states have adopted stronger standards demonstrates that New Jersey does not have to accept 1:4 simply because it is the current rule.

We can learn from other states while creating a thoughtful implementation plan that works for New Jersey families and providers.

This is about giving every baby a stronger start.
During infancy, babies depend completely on adults to meet their physical and emotional needs.

Our request
We respectfully ask New Jersey to:

1. Reduce the infant caregiver-to-child ratio from 1:4 to 1:3 for children under 18 months.
2. Establish an appropriate maximum infant group size consistent with the 1:3 standard.
3. Provide a reasonable implementation and transition period.
4. Provide financial and workforce support to help licensed providers meet the new requirement.
5. Invest in recruitment, retention, compensation, and working conditions for infant and toddler educators.
6. Begin the formal regulatory process to evaluate and implement this change.

Our babies only get one infancy.
Parents should not have to wonder whether their baby's caregiver has enough time and capacity to respond when several infants need something at once.

Childcare providers should not have to choose between operating their business and providing the staffing they believe their employees and children need.

And teachers should not have to choose between loving the children they care for and working in an environment that leaves them overwhelmed and exhausted.

We can do better for everyone.

We can support parents.

We can support childcare providers.

We can support the educators who care for our children.

And we can give babies more individualized attention during one of the most important stages of their lives.

The answer to a staffing shortage should not be to increase the workload of the workers we are trying to retain.