Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Certification Policy Manual
As stated in Section 1 Overview, monitoring is conducted primarily through site visits. The WISCCRS User Guide – Creating New Providers outlines several “visit reasons”. They include, but are not limited to:
Annual Visit
Attempted Visit
Complaint Visit
Expired Re-certification Visit
Initial Provider visit: This type must be used with new applications. No violations can be attached to this visit type.
Monitoring Visit
No Site Visit: This is used for situations when certification violations are substantiated without a visit. Examples are: Self-reported violations and substantiations based on another agency’s documentation such as the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Law Enforcement, etc.
Other Visit
Re-certification visit
Relocation Visit. No violations can be attached to this visit type.
Technical Assistance Visit
Verification of 294
After the initial visit, subsequent monitoring for compliance with certification standards does not always consist of, but may include a thorough inspection of the premise. Site visits are required at initial certification, unannounced annual monitoring, recertification, and relocation. Monitoring may also include speaking to an operator / provider about a rule that may not be observable, direct observation by a certification worker or review of records or any other materials.
A relocation may be treated like an “initial” application, and triggers an unannounced visit within the following 12 months (and in each following calendar year). The unannounced visit does not have to be within the same calendar year (i.e., before Dec. 31) as the relocation. If an agency wants to conduct an unannounced visit during the same calendar year as the relocation, they have discretion to make this policy decision.
Example: An unannounced visit to a certified provider occurred in November of 2022 and then the provider relocates in May of 2023. An unannounced visit would need to be complete prior to May of 2024. An annual visit shall be completed every calendar year thereafter.
COVID-19 Update
See Module 7 - Monitoring, Section 1 - Overview for updated COVID-19 guidance.
This page last updated 03/2024.