August 20 Child Care Provider Updates Updated Measles Information from DHS The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has confirmed an outbreak of measles in Southwestern Wisconsin. Details about this ongoing outbreak can be found of the DHS Outbreaks, Recall, and Investigations page. Measles is highly contagious and can spread quickly and easily in people who are unvaccinated. Ensuring the children in your facility are up to date on childhood vaccines is the best way to prevent measles and keep children healthy and in care. Encourage families who are not vaccinated to talk to a trusted health care provider about what vaccines their child may need. Families who are worried about the cost of vaccines may be eligible for the Vaccines for Children program. If there is a confirmed case of a communicable disease in a child enrolled at a regulated child care program, it must be reported to DCF and your local health department within 24 hours after the program has been notified of the diagnosis. Additional Measles Information Resources Immunizations: Get the Facts About Vaccines | Wisconsin Department of Health Services Immunizations: Measles – Wisconsin Department of Health Services Should I Get a Measles Booster Fact Sheet Early Childhood Health Consultation Program WI Department of Health Services Child Care Immunization Record (will meet licensing requirements for immunization documentation) – DHS-F-44192 Wisconsin Childhood Communicable Disease Chart – Wisconsin Department of Health Services Head Start 1302.42 Child health status and care Child Care Bridge Payments - Support Center Update The Child Care Payments Support Center phone line (608-535-3650) will be discontinued on 8/28/26, and will no longer accept voicemail messages. The mailbox, DCFDECECOVID19CCPayments@wisconsin.gov, will continue to be available for questions related to Child Care Bridge Payments. If you have questions or need assistance, please email DCFDECECOVID19CCPayments@wisconsin.gov Maintaining or Restoring Water Quality in ECE Facilities After Temporary or Prolonged Closures Has your center been or will your center be temporarily closed? Building closures lasting for weeks or months result in reduced water usage. This reduced usage can lead to stagnant water inside building plumbing and water coolers. Take proactive steps to protect the health of children and staff by flushing water prior to reopening. For more information and steps for maintaining water quality, review and use the resources below. EPA Resources Maintaining or Restoring Water Quality in Buildings with Low or No Use Restoring Water Quality in Buildings for Reopening Checklist CDC Resources Reopening Buildings After Prolonged Shutdown or Reduced Operation About Lead in Drinking Water Reminder: Encourage Families to Request their Back-to-School Child Care Authorizations! Do you currently serve families using Wisconsin Shares subsidy? With back-to-school time fast approaching, this is a great time to encourage your families to use the Parent Portal to request their fall child care authorization. Using the MyWIChildCare Parent Portal is a convenient way for your families to request authorizations. Parents can easily schedule an appointment (Milwaukee County only) at a time that works best for them and take care of other tasks related to their authorization! Help us remind your families to use the Parent Portal for a fast and simple authorization process. Here are a few things parents can do in the Parent Portal: View child care authorizations Schedule an appointment for an authorization request (Milwaukee County only) Request a new authorization or make changes to a current authorization Check the balance on their MyWIChildCare EBT card and track payments Sign up to receive a text message alerts on a cell phone when there are new messages in the Parent Portal Track all authorization requests entered in the Parent Portal using the Track My Requests button Please consider posting the Back-to-School child care reminder flyer (Milwaukee County only) where parents will see it or share it in your parent emails or monthly newsletter! Thank you for helping DCF share family-friendly approaches to managing their Wisconsin Shares subsidy. Reminder: Online Licensing Manuals (Rulebooks) Are Live! Updated licensing rules in effect as of August 1, 2026, are now available on the DCF website! You can access the updated licensing rules through the following links: DCF 250 Family Child Care DCF 251 Group Child Care DCF 252 Day Camps for Children Printed copies of the manuals/rulebooks are not yet available for order. The department website will be updated with a link for orders once they become available. DCF is developing downloadable document versions for individuals to print. We will notify you when these resources are available. Watch for future listserv messages. Meanwhile, if you need a printed version of the new rules, you can print any DCF webpages as needed. Commentary manuals are under review. Watch for them in future listserv messages. If you have any questions regarding the manual/rulebook webpages, please contact your assigned Licensing Specialist or your regional licensing office. Reminder: Child Care Certification Rules & Standards and Checklist Updates DCF 202 has been updated, and the Standards and Checklists are now available on the DCF website. You can access the administrative rules and updated Standards and Checklists through the following links: DCF 202 English Standards and Checklist Spanish Standards and Checklist Also visit the Certification Training page for information about pediatric first aid training requirements. If you have questions regarding the updated rules, please contact your certification agency. Upcoming Events and Education/Training Opportunities The below events are hosted by DCF, one of its partners, or is one that may be relevant to the early childhood field. Click/tap on the titles below to learn more about each event. Virtual: Cinco estrategias para la comunicación asertiva (Five Strategies for Assertive Communication) Discover ways to implement five strategies to state your needs clearly and respectfully. Learn to overcome obstacles that may occur when using these strategies and raise your confidence as an effective communicator. Live session | Wednesday, September 2, 2026 | 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Register through the Wisconsin Registry | Registration closes on August 29, 2026. Questions? Contact Maria Matrak. This is presented in Spanish. There will be no English interpretation available.
