Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
It is not uncommon for a certification worker to grant certification before children are enrolled / in care. In these cases, the certification worker may not be able to observe compliance with rules that pertain to provider interactions with children, or children's forms, for example.
It is imperative the certification worker review the rule(s) with the applicant to ensure s/he understands and agrees to comply with the rule.
Certification agencies are encouraged to conduct additional monitoring visits to ensure compliance with standards, particularly if there were no children enrolled when the certification was granted. If at the time of re-certification there have not been any children enrolled / in care and the certifier has not been able to monitor for compliance with rules that pertain to children in care the certifier has the options of:
Monitoring for compliance with only those standards associated with the premise. This assumes a child could be enrolled and in care at any time.
Offering “temporary closure” status (not to exceed 365 days) to the operator until children are enrolled or until the certification expires (whichever comes first). During “temporary closed status”, the certifier would not monitor the home for compliance with standards; however, the operator must still comply with requirements to report information to the certification agency under DCF 202.08(1m)(b), background checks must still be conducted and BCR forms must still be submitted for new/prospective household members (10+) and/or for household members turning 10. If the certification worker keeps the end date as the original end date but changes the status to “temporarily closed” the operator will continue to appear on WebI reports and be listed on the public search website (which may be helpful in finding new clients).
Offering the operator an opportunity to voluntarily withdraw certification or voluntarily not renew certification if no children are in care.
Denying the renewal application because the agency is not able to monitor for compliance of all certification standards. The decision to deny could be challenged by a request for an administrative hearing. The agency should be prepared to present arguments that it has authority under DCF 202.06 to deny the renewal application.
This page last updated 01/2020.