Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
DCF 202.08 (1m) (a) 8. A certified child care operator shall maintain a current written record on each child in care, including the provider’s own children under age 7, and make the record available to the certification worker on request.
DCF 202.06 (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.
A review of children's records (forms) should include any new children enrolled since the last review. Certification workers may find the Child Record Checklist – Certified Child Care form helpful as they review children’s records. Use of the form is voluntary. Certification workers shall monitor children’s records / forms for requirements under DCF 202.08 as appropriate, including enrollment and contact information, transportation, provider and parent communication, contracts and consent, child health care, emergencies, etc.
Children’s forms are available for download on the Certification Forms web page. The forms posted on this web page are intended to provide certified operators with accessible, well-organized, standardized formats for collecting required information. At the top of each form, there is a description of how the form is to be used and instructions for completing and/or updating the form. Using the forms provided by the department on the Certification Forms web page makes monitoring for compliance efficient and uniform for certification workers.
Unless the DCF 202 administrative rule expressly indicates a requirement for obtaining information on the “department-provided” form (example Intake for Children Under 2 Years), the certified operator could meet the rule requirement using other forms s/he may have created. If the operator has demonstrated an inability to collect required information using another format, the certification worker has authority to require (via condition) the operator use the forms available on the Certification Forms website to collect the required information.
DCF 202 requires a “current” report of physical examination to be on file. Certifiers should check for compliance for the time frames specified in the rule (time frame is also located at the top of the health report form) and need not check for a “history” of compliance over a several year period.
For example, if the operator has a current child health report on file for a 3-year-old, but the date of examination is more than 2 years from the date of the last examination (as indicated by the previous form in the file), this would be a violation. Although certification workers look for current information, in some instances they may need to review the preceding form to verify compliance. Certifiers are not looking for evidence of “past compliance,” however. For example, if an operator has a current child health report on file for a 3-year-old, and documentation in the file indicates the previous exam was completed within the past two years, the certifier need not review yet another preceding form to verify compliance.
January 2023 Note: Certification rules require a physical examination report to be made on an electronic printout from a licensed physician, physician assistant, or health check provider or on a form provided by the department that is signed and dated by a licensed physician, physician assistant, or health check provider. The statutory definition of “physician assistant” was changed and renumbered by 2021 Wisconsin Act 125. The previous definition was in s. 448.04 (1) (f), Stats., and the new definition is in s. 448.971 (2), Stats. The definition of physician assistant under DCF 202.02(14) will be modified with the next DCF 202 rule change.
DCF 202 requires the certified operator to have on file a written record verifying that each child in care has been immunized in accordance with DHS rules (or a signed waiver/statement indicating why the child is not immunized). Certifiers should only look for an immunization record (or waiver) to be on file and are not required to ensure children are immunized according to the DHS schedule. Unless the operator requires all enrolled children be up-to-date on immunizations, per the operator’s contract/policies, the operator cannot force a parent to immunize their child. The parent, in consultation with the child’s physician, is responsible to determine if/when to immunize a child.
Certifiers should not issue a violation if/when an immunization record has not been updated, but may issue a violation if no record or waiver/statement is on file.
Note: The operator can meet intent of the rule by using the DHS Day Care Immunization Record form, or the parent can provide a printout from a health clinic or a printout from the Wisconsin Immunization Registry.
The DHS Day Care Immunization Record form does not need to be signed by a physician unless the child is not immunized due to medical reasons. If the parent does not immunize for religious or personal convictions then there may be no printout from a clinic / registry, and in this case the DHS immunization form can be used to document the waiver and include the parent’s signature regarding the waiver. In this case there would be no physician signature on the form. If the parent provides the operator with a printout of the child’s immunization history from a clinic or the immunization registry then a parent signature is not required. Certification workers are not required to monitor for DHS immunization requirements.
For more information on immunizations please see the following resources:
Tom Copeland - "May I refuse care to a child who is not immunized?
Tom Copeland - "What do you say to a parent who won't vaccinate her child?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Vaccines and Immunizations
This page last updated 01/2023.