Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
Certification agencies shall inform the department when there is a change in assigned duties of certification workers and / or a change in subcontracting of certification duties.
The county / tribe shall, in accordance with contract requirements, immediately notify the Department if the county / tribe is substantially unable to provide the services specified under the contract.
Death / Accident / Injury
DCF 202.08(1m)(b) requires a certified operator to report as soon as possible, but no later than the county or tribal agency’s next working day:
an accident or incident that occurs while a child is in care of a provider resulting in an injury requiring professional medical evaluation and
the death of a child in care of a provider
"Professional medical evaluation" means being seen for evaluation or treatment by a health care professional such a physician, physician assistant, dentist, nurse, etc. It is recommended that an operator include information on the details of what happened to cause the injury when making the written report. The report to the agency can be made by phone, email, fax or in person. The certification agency may require the operator to submit information using a state-provided form.
This form is voluntary; however, completion of this form meets the requirements of DCF 202.08(1m)(b).
DCF 202.04 (3)(b)14. requires the certification agency to, no later than the next business day, document in a manner prescribed by the department any reports of the death of a child in care, or any accident or incident that results in an injury to a child in care that requires professional medical evaluation.
Certification agencies shall report this information to the department by entering an incident in the Complaint/Incident module in WISCCRS.
The certification worker shall review the report/information submitted by the operator and may conduct a follow-up investigation to determine whether certification violations have occurred or a situation exists that has the potential to cause harm to a child.
The report of a death, accident or incident may require the certification worker take appropriate follow-up action. See Certification Policy Module 7 – Monitoring, for additional guidance.
This page last updated 01/2020.