Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
The content of this certification policy module is intended to provide certification workers with information that may be useful in their administration of the certification program. The information and guidance provided does not constitute legal advice or recommendations from the Department of Children and Families.
This module should not be used as a substitute for applicable administrative rules or statutes. Legislation and regulations are subject to change and, therefore, it is advisable for readers to refer to current rules, legislation and Operations Memos. Certification workers should consult with their corporation council as needed.
Readers must be aware that updates and amendments will be made from time to time to the module. It is the certification worker’s responsibility to determine whether there have been any such updates or amendments. See COVID-19 updates throughout this module for additional monitoring guidance.
This module identifies DCF 202 administrative rules that prescribe specific monitoring activity, forms and other requirements, as well as discretionary authority of certification agencies. Certification agencies may develop their own procedures that incorporate the mandatory and discretionary DCF 202 rules and / or to provide a framework for the agency’s day to day operation. This module provides certification workers with guidance regarding the DCF 202 administrative rules outlined below.
DCF 202.04 (3) (b) 9. outlines requirements for conducting inspections. Certification workers are required to conduct an on–site inspection of the premises where child care will be provided or is provided, including areas not used for child care at all of the following times:
DCF 202.04 (3) (b) 9. a. Prior to initial certification.
DCF 202.04 (3) (b) 9. b. Not less than annually.
DCF 202.04 (3) (b) 9. c. Upon receiving an application for recertification.
DCF 202.04 (3) (b) 9. d. Upon receiving an application for a new location.
DCF 202.04 (3) (b) 10. Conduct the annual inspection of all certified child care operators under subd. 9. b. as specified by the department to monitor for health and safety standards. The inspection of certified family child care operators shall be unannounced and during hours of operation. The inspection of certified in-home child care operators may be announced and does not have to be during hours of operation.
Although certification workers must monitor for specific health and safety rules unannounced annually, there is nothing precluding certification workers from monitoring for additional rules on the Standards and Checklist annually. In-home child care operators (care provided in the child’s home) shall be monitored annually, however, in-home operators are exempt from the unannounced monitoring requirement. In-home operators remain exempt from specific rules in DCF 202.08(3) and as marked with an asterisk (*) on the Standards and Checklist. A certification renewal/recertification visit meets the requirement for an annual unannounced monitoring if the renewal/recertification visit is unannounced. If the renewal visit is announced, the certification worker will need to conduct a second unannounced monitoring visit.
DCF 202.04(3)(c).a gives authority for certification agencies to conduct site inspections at any time prior to or after certification is approved to monitor for compliance with certification standards. DCF 202.04 (3) (c) 1. conduct additional on–site inspections to monitor compliance with certification standards, in addition to the required inspections under par. (b) 9.
DCF 202.08(1m)(a)9. A certified child care operator shall permit a child care certification worker to have unrestricted access to the premises, including access to children served, child records, and any other materials related to compliance under this chapter.
DCF 202.06 outlines the circumstances which may lead to suspension, denial or revocation of certification, including (1) (f) the child care operator or other provider denies the child care certification worker access to the premises or children’s records to monitor compliance with the certification standards.
Compliance monitoring is an important job function of the certification worker. Monitoring for the purpose of determining a certified program’s compliance with applicable administrative rules is achieved, primarily, through on-site visits.
Many certification agencies schedule with the applicant / operator the initial, relocation and / or technical assistance visit. Effective 11/19/16 annual unannounced visits are required for certified operators. The requirement for unannounced visits is not required for in-home operators, however, an annual visit is required.
Monitoring certified child care programs, particularly when monitoring unannounced,helps protect and promote the health, safety and welfare of children in certified programs. A monitoring / site visit may be brief or may involve a lengthy, in-depth compliance inspection. During each monitoring visit, the certification worker observes and documents compliance with certification rules using the Standards and Checklist form for family / in-home child care. Over a two year period, all administrative rules must be reviewed.
In addition to documenting monitoring results on the Standards and Checklist, effective January 2020, certification workers need to document monitoring results in WISCCRS, including rules met. Prior to 1/1/2020, certification workers were required to enter only violations in WISCCRS, and were not required to enter rules met.
COVID-19 Update
The department was granted a 2020 waiver from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Child Care, for the requirement to monitor child care programs annually, unannounced. This means the department will not monitor certification agencies for 2020 compliance of the requirements under DCF 202.04(3)(b)9.b. and 10. ACF granted a second waiver approval through September 2021. Annual, unannounced monitoring of health and safety rules resumed October 1, 2021. This means that between 10/1/21 and 9/30/22 certification agencies shall conduct annual unannounced monitoring of certified family child care operators to monitor compliance with specific health and safety standards.
Note: In-home family child care providers must be monitored annually, but the visit may be announced.
DCF 202 rules requiring an on-site visit for recertification and prior to reopening a child care program after a temporary closure were temporarily waived. The waiver expired February 12, 2021. However, certification agencies continue to have discretion regarding how and when to monitor for reopening after temporary closure and recertification. Agencies may choose to monitor a selection of the certification rules virtually (remotely), conduct on-site visits with safety protocols in place, use a combination of an on-site and virtual (remote) visit and/or use reasonable discretion in either postponing monitoring or reducing the number of rules monitored.
In exercising this discretion certification agencies should consider, but are not limited to, the following:
Access and ability to use personal protective equipment (PPE), use of safety precautions and agency-developed protocol to increase safety during on-site visits, and/or utilizing certification workers with less vulnerability/health risk factors when conducting on-site monitoring.
The agency’s and certified provider’s access to, ability and effectiveness of virtual (remote) inspections. Do the agency and provider have access to technology needed to conduct virtual monitoring?
Particular need for additional on-site monitoring (length of time between monitoring visits, provider compliance history, etc.).
When possible, consider conducting no more than one inspection per day to decrease the risk of cross-contamination between child care homes.
Considerations for alternative methods for inspecting vehicle child safety alarms to ensure they are in good working order. DCF 202.04(3)(b)12.a requires a certification worker to inspect a child vehicle safety alarm, at least annually, to determine whether the child safety alarm is in good working order as required under s. DCF 202.08(9)(p) to (s).
Wisconsin counties Public Health Dashboards’ 7- or 14-day rolling average of COVID-19 cases.
The trend of COVID-19 cases in child care centers within a specific county/tribe.
Any current Executive Orders and local municipal orders intended to limit risk to children, families, caregivers, regulators and the community.
Certification agencies shall conduct initial/relocation on-site visits using agency health/safety protocol. A virtual visit cannot be the sole method for inspecting a home and approving a new or relocation application. New/initial and relocation visits may be conducted using a combination of virtual and in-person on-site monitoring. These visits will require at least some portion of the home inspection to be conducted on-site/in-person. To limit potential exposure, several of the certification rules (those that cannot typically be observed during an initial visit) may be reviewed with the applicant/operator by conducting a phone interview or virtual visit. However, those rules that require observed compliance will require an on-site visit.
This page last updated 10/2021.