Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Background Check Procedures
Effective 07/01/2022, CBU policy has been updated so that court dispositions can be used as official source documentation for Wisconsin Circuit Court records. Prior to this policy change, all court dispositions and records were requested directly through the county Clerk of Courts. Criminal Complaints will only be obtained for those bars which may be issued when substantially related.
Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) is a website that provides access to some circuit court records of Wisconsin. The website displays the case information entered into the Wisconsin Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) case management system by court staff in the counties where the case files are located. Courts routinely take judicial notice of CCAP records, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 902.01(2)(b), as a source of information not subject to reasonable dispute. The court record summaries provided by the system are all public records under Wisconsin open records law. If the information on CCAP contradicts the information returned on the DOJ/FBI, then a request for the Judgment of Conviction and Criminal Complaint must be made to the applicable Clerk of Courts. Learn more information regarding accessing circuit courts.
County Clerks of Court and tribal jurisdictions are responsible for sending final disposition information to the DOJ for arrests that occur in their jurisdiction. If this information is not forwarded to the DOJ, the DOJ criminal record search response will state “no disposition received” or may be missing the court section entirely for that cycle. CBU will make a reasonable effort to use the information available to obtain the record from CCAP. If information is not available through CCAP, CBU will make a reasonable effort to request the Judgement of Conviction and Criminal Complaint from the Clerk of Court, District Attorney’s Office, tribal jurisdiction and/or law enforcement. Some Clerks of Court or tribal jurisdictions will turn over court records upon request; however, some require a written request before they will release their records. Some Clerks of Court or tribes have their own release forms or charge for information provided. If the information on CCAP appears to be incomplete or inaccurate, CBU will make a reasonable effort to request the Judgement of Conviction and Criminal Complaint from the Clerk of Court, District Attorney’s Office, tribal jurisdiction and/or law enforcement. The CCAP system allows access by entering the first and last name of the individual who is the subject of the search, including any alias names the person is known by. A hit through this search provides the individual’s date of birth, address, charge description, associated statute, severity (felony or misdemeanor), disposition, disposition date, case status and more. It also displays records such as divorce, small claims, traffic violations and family court disputes. Municipal or county ordinance violations may also appear through this search. CBU reviews CCAP for CM, CF, CT, and restraining orders.
A CCAP search that fails to find a criminal record does not mean that the person does not have a record. Some older cases were not included when the circuit court in each county automated its records and other records are removed from CCAP after a specified period as required by law. Any CCAP information regarding potential barred offenses available at the time a background check is conducted is captured and uploaded to the individuals electronic background check file. How far back WCCA records go differs by county. This link provides information regarding when each county began using CCAP.
A CCAP search conducted by the CBU, in addition to a name-based or fingerprint background check, also assists BECR regional office and certification agencies in making a “fit and qualified” determination for purposes of granting a regulatory approval.
**Language on CCAP automations from WISCCRS User Guide**
Before an individual associated with a child care program can be approved, the individual must be checked in the CCAP system. The CCAP check has been automated. If the individual has history of offenses that match the list of statutes (potential bar or substantially related), the interface brings the list of court cases into WISCCRS.
The first CCAP matching of an individual is triggered by the returned results of the fingerprint background check (sent from DOJ). This occurs in the initial background check process when an individual is new to the system (Initial FBI and Initial DOJ) and at the 5-year background check process. The second CCAP matching of an individual occurs during the monthly batch process (active individuals).
The matching logic is the same for both processes. The matching of individuals is done by using WISCCRS individuals’ first names, last names, dates of birth, and any aliases we have recorded. This information is passed to a CCAP web service, which in turn passes back any matched cases. For returned cases, our system queries the web service further to find out about criminal cases: any charges associated with those cases, and any judgments for those charges. The system then flags the matching individuals if the statutes are in our barred or substantiated list and the case is either closed or pending (that is, the court has yet to make a decision or is reconsidering the case).
The data received is stored in WISCCRS so the system compares future searches with the data the system has already evaluated. This means that only updates for a previously received court case or new charges are brought in for an individual. When evaluating if the data has been previously received, the automation also considers data received from DOJ during annual checks.
More info on pages 59-60 of the WISCCRS user guide if you see fit to add more info on the CCAP automation or matching process/criteria.
This page last updated 07/2022.