Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
The following items must be submitted to the certification agency as part of the recertification “complete” application:
Application for Family and In-Home Child Care Certification
Recertification Fees (if applicable)
The following information (if applicable) may be submitted or verified prior to granting recertification:
Well water tests (depending on when well was last tested).
Continuing education documentation (If applicable. See Module 5 – Training for more information)
It is important the operator is made aware that s/he must submit a complete application PRIOR TO their expiration date. The recertification may be backdated to the date of the application received date (or the previous expiration date). If the recertification application was received after the expiration date, however, there will be a gap in the certification period. Food program (CACFP) reimbursement and Wisconsin Shares Subsidy authorizations cannot be issued for that time period.
Note: If the operator is participating in YoungStar and does not return their YoungStar renewal application by their YoungStar anniversary date, they are not eligible to receive Wisconsin Shares. YoungStar renewal contracts are mailed 120 days in advance of the anniversary date by the YoungStar office, and are also available at the local YoungStar office. In order to avoid gaps in payments, it is important that certified operators return their YoungStar contracts to the local YoungStar office in a timely manner.
The certification worker must conduct a recertification site visit to assure the operator continues to meet certification standards. The certification worker makes a determination regarding substantial compliance during the recertification visit. A certification worker may, for example, deny or delay issuing the recertification if violations are numerous and/or a serious health/safety concern. The certification worker may choose to grant recertification with violations by issuing a 294 Noncompliance Statement along with the recertification approval.
The “continuation” button in WISCCRS will be displayed 90 days prior to the expiration date.
When the online renewal application is moved into the Child Care Provider Portal the continuation application will be available 60-90 days prior to the operator’s expiration date.
If recertification application materials are not submitted to the certification agency before the expiration date the certification is allowed to lapse and the certification worker changes the status in WISCCRS to “Non-renewal”. When certification workers leave the Category Status as “Approved” but the operator’s certification has expired, these operator records do not appear on the Closed Provider WebI report, even if the expiration date is in the past.
The “initial” button displays immediately after the “end/expiration date” is in the past. If a recertification application is received after the operator’s expiration date / end date, WISCCRS will not display the “continuation” button any longer. Instead the “initial” button will be displayed / used to process the application.
Once submitted, the renewal/continuation application status may be modified by the WISCCRS user.
New (effective February 2025) definitions for each application status are explained below:
Application In Progress (for online renewal applications): This is the status of the online application prior to submission. This status replaces the old status “application pending” in WISCCRS. When the application is in progress it means the applicant is working on entering the application in the CCPP but has not yet submitted it.
Application Submitted: This is a new status effective with the online application and it means the applicant has submitted the application, however, the certification worker has not yet begun the review of the application.
Application Under Review: The certification worker has started review of the application information and any documents submitted/uploaded. The certification worker manually changes the status to “application under review.”
Application Review Complete: The application review is complete, including background checks and the initial site visit. This status replaces the old status “Application Approved.” This status means the application or certification category has been approved but the certifier may not have been granted or issued the certificate yet.
Regulation Approved: This status means the certificate has been issued/granted.
Incomplete-Did Not Submit: The applicant has not submitted the application within the agency’s specified time frame. This is a manual change in status and the timeline is discretionary.
Incomplete Submission: The applicant has not responded to the certifier’s inquiries to provide correct or missing/incomplete information within the specified time frame. This is a manual change in status and the timeline is discretionary.
Application Withdrawn: The certification agency receives a request from the applicant to withdraw the continuation application. The agency worker reaches out to the applicant to offer additional support/assistance if needed, but if the applicant wishes to withdraw their application, the certification worker modifies the status to “Application Withdrawn” and add a comment to capture the reason for the request, if known.
Denial: There are multiple denial statuses. These have not changed with the online application. See Module 9 – Section 2 Denial.
Note: See additional COVID guidance regarding certification visits in Module 7-Monitoring, Section 1 - Overview.
Once the certification worker has determined the operator is eligible for recertification, the worker will grant a new 2-year certificate of approval. Prior to granting recertification the certification worker should review and verify hours of operation, months of operation, prior conditions (exceptions/stipulations) and ages served.
This page last updated 01/2025.