Chapter IV: Childcare facilities for children under the age of six

The purpose of nurseries is to provide day and night care for children under the age of three who cannot remain with their families or benefit from supervised foster care. Nurseries are divided into two categories: 1° Social nurseries, which receive children whose state of health does not require special medical care and which come under article L. 312-1 of the Code de l’Action Sociale et des Familles ; 2°…

Social nurseries and health nurseries may be grouped together in the same establishment, provided that the establishment has two separate departments.

The authorisation referred to in Article L. 2324-1 is granted by the President of the Departmental Council only if : 1° The establishment has secured the assistance of a doctor qualified in paediatrics ; 2° The staff attached to the establishment have the required health, moral and professional guarantees; 3° The premises meet the technical hygiene and safety conditions required by the regulations in force; 4° The internal regulations have…

The authorisation to open a health nursery specifies the number of children who may be admitted. The number of fifty may only be exceeded in exceptional circumstances.

A health nursery may only be managed by a person aged between twenty-five and sixty-five. This person must be a doctor or nursery nurse. They must have practised this profession for at least five years before taking up their duties. The person in charge must be approved by the President of the Departmental Council.

Nurseries are regularly visited by a doctor qualified in paediatrics, approved by the Chairman of the Departmental Council, who must, in particular, confirm the admission of children after examination, monitor their health, prescribe the exclusion of sick children if necessary, and decide on their return to the establishment once they have recovered.

The directors of health nurseries are obliged to provide all useful information and to make it easy for persons duly authorised by the ministers responsible for health and social security to visit their establishments.

Nurseries for children with cerebral palsy must comply with the standards for the rehabilitation of children set out in annex XXIV bis of decree no. 56-284 of 9 March 1956 supplementing decree no. 46-1834 of 20 August 1946, as amended, setting the conditions for authorising private health and prevention establishments to provide care for insured persons, both in terms of the staff required for this rehabilitation and the premises allocated…

The ministers responsible for health and social security determine : 1° The technical and operating conditions that health nurseries must meet; 2° The guarantees required of the staff employed ; 3° The permanent administrative control procedures to which they are subject.