Home / Ohio’s rules / Day camp registration

Which Ohio day camps register with the state?

The requirement is one sentence. The exemptions are five paragraphs, and one of them names programs run by cities, counties and park districts.

What does the law require?

“No person, firm, organization, institution, or agency shall operate a child day camp without annually registering with the department.”

“The department of children and youth shall register child day camps and enforce this section and sections 5104.211 and 5104.22 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to those sections.”

Which programs are exempt?

A person, firm, institution, organization, or agency operating any of the following programs is exempt from the provisions of this section and sections 5104.211 and 5104.22 of the Revised Code: (codes.ohio.gov, effective January 1, 2025)

“(1) A child day camp that operates for two consecutive weeks or less and for no more than a total of two weeks during each calendar year;”

“(2) Supervised training, instruction, or activities of children that is conducted on an organized or periodic basis in specific areas or in a combination of areas for a maximum of eight hours each week, including art, drama, dance, music, athletic skill or sport, computers, or an educational subject;”

“(3) Programs in which the department determines that at least one parent, custodian, or guardian of each child attending or participating in the child day camp is on the child day camp activity site and is readily accessible at all times, except that a child day camp on the premises of a parent's, custodian's, or guardian's place of employment shall be registered in accordance with division (A) of this section;”

“(4) Child day camps regulated by any state department other than the department of children and youth;”

“(5) A program that provides activities for children who are five years of age or older and is operated by any county, township, municipal corporation, township park district created under section 511.18 of the Revised Code, park district created under section 1545.04 of the Revised Code, or joint recreation district established under section 755.04 of the Revised Code.”

An exempt camp can choose to register anyway: it may elect to register itself under division (A) of this section. (codes.ohio.gov, effective January 1, 2025)

So is a camp that is not on the list a problem?

Not on that fact alone. Read the five exemptions again, in the law’s own words above: a program that fits one of them is not asked to register. A missing name is what the law expects for those. And the sections quoted here describe registration as a form and a fee; they do not describe it as a grade. Neither being listed nor being missing tells you how a camp is run.

What does registering involve?

The fee for each child day camp shall be twenty-five dollars. (codes.ohio.gov, effective January 1, 2025) No organization that operates, or owner of, child day camps shall pay a fee that exceeds two hundred fifty dollars for all of its child day camps. (codes.ohio.gov, effective January 1, 2025) The registration year, from the rule: The registration is effective for the period of March fifteenth of the current year through March fourteenth of the following calendar year. (codes.ohio.gov, effective July 1, 2026)

From the part of the section about the registration form: its administrator agrees to permit a public children services agency or the county department of health to review or inspect the child day camp if a complaint is made (codes.ohio.gov, effective January 1, 2025)

What must a registered camp give you?

“(1) Telephone numbers of the county department of health and the county public children services agency of the county in which the child day camp is located;”

“(2) A statement that the parents may contact the county department or agency to make a complaint regarding the child day camp.”

Our suggestion: if a camp tells you it is registered with the state, ask for those two phone numbers and that statement.

How do you look a camp up?

The state runs a search tool for child care programs. In its own words: This system will help you locate the type of early care and education program that meets your needs. You also can learn more about programs' licensing status, Step Up To Quality rating, and inspection results. (childcaresearch.ohio.gov) Its program-type menu includes Registered Day Camp or Approved Day Camp (childcaresearch.ohio.gov). The rule defines a registered camp, "Registered child day camp" means a camp that has completed and submitted a registration and fee to DCY for the purpose of reporting the operation of a child day camp. (codes.ohio.gov, effective July 1, 2026), and says where it is recorded: Registered child day camps are assigned a registration number and are included in the DCY searchable database of child care providers in the state of Ohio. (codes.ohio.gov, effective July 1, 2026)

Open the state’s child care search. We link to it and do not copy its data. The menu puts registered and approved camps under one heading, as quoted; we did not read its results pages.

Which agency is it: Job and Family Services, or Children and Youth?

The statute names the Department of Children and Youth, and so does the newer rule: All child day camps are to annually register with DCY before beginning operations, unless the child day camp meets the exemption criteria in section 5104.21 of the Revised Code. (codes.ohio.gov, effective July 1, 2026) An older rule on codes.ohio.gov names the former agency: All child day camps are to annually register with ODJFS before beginning operations, unless the child day camp meets the exemption criteria in section 5104.21 of the Revised Code. (codes.ohio.gov, effective April 27, 2023) We follow the statute. If a camp’s paperwork mentions the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, that is the agency the older rule names.

Next: approved day camps.