Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
DCF 202.02 (2) defines a “certified child care home” or “home” as the residence in which the certified child care operator provides care of children and which meets the standards under s. DCF 202.08. DCF 202.02 (3b) “Certified family child care operator" means a certified child care operator who provides care in a private residential property that is not the home of the child in care.
Certification agencies may receive applications from providers who want to be certified in a location that is not the residence of the applicant / provider. Certification agencies have discretion whether or not to approve the non-residential space (as long as it meets the certification requirements). Since the language in DCF 202.08 regularly refers to ‘operator’s home’, or ‘the home’, the certification agency has the authority to restrict certification to the provider’s home, except when the care is provided in a child’s home.
The decision to restrict family child care certification to a home in which the applicant / operator resides may be based on local ordinances / zoning that prohibit family child care in premises in which a provider does not also reside.
For example, in the City of Milwaukee a provider must live in the dwelling unit in which the day care is located and perform the “hands-on” care of children and the main function of the dwelling unit must be as a home and if the home is not used as a dwelling by the individual providing the child care services, the building is subject to the Wisconsin Commercial Building Code.
As stated in Section 2.2.13 certification workers should familiarize themselves with local laws that govern family child care in order to ensure the provider complies with DCF 202.08(1m)(a)4 before granting certification.
This page last updated 01/2020.