Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Background Check Procedures
BECR licensing staff and certification agencies must ensure that licensees or operators have complied with all provisions of the background check law, including the following:
Licensees are monitored by BECR licensing staff to ensure that required background checks are conducted on all persons working or residing in the licensed facility who are subject to the provisions of the background check law, including employees, persons under contract, adult students and adult volunteers used to meet staff-to-client ratio, or others who have regular, direct contact with children in care.
Licensees must submit Background Check Request forms to the CBU or via the CCPP to complete background checks of all caregivers, household members and non-caregiver employees
Certified operators are monitored by certification agency workers to ensure that required background checks are conducted on all persons working or residing in the certified facility who are subject to the provisions of the background check law, including household member residences, employees, persons under contract, adult students and adult volunteers who have regular, direct contact and unsupervised access to children in care.
Certified operators must submit Background Check Request forms to the certification agency or via the CCPP to complete background checks of all caregivers, household members and non-caregiver employees
Failure to comply with the background check requirements by licensees and operators is handled like other program violations, with noncompliance statements or enforcements issued by the CBU or regulatory agency. For example, when a required Background Check Request form and/or background check has not been completed as required of the licensee, the CBU or the BECR licensing staff may issue a Noncompliance Statement and Correction Plan (CFS-294), depending on who was first made aware of the violation (and, if necessary, a warning letter or an enforcement action). Enforcement actions may range from orders and forfeitures, up to and including the most serious enforcement actions, denial and revocation.
If a certification worker discovers the operator failed to submit a Background Check Request form and/or have a fingerprint background check completed prior to a new individual moving into the home, for example, the noncompliance is issued by the certification agency. If the operator does not come into compliance, the enforcement action is taken by the certification agency.
The CFS-294 is sent to the provider by email or regular mail. The provider responds to the violation by describing on the CFS-294 the corrective actions that will be taken and returns the plan to the CBU or certification agency. A licensed provider must display the CFS-294 near the license in the child care center and it is also displayed on the Regulated Child Care and YoungStar Public Search website.
For more information regarding licensing procedures, see the Licensing Procedure Manual section titled Noncompliance Statement and Correction Plan on how to complete the CFS-294. See the WISCCRS User Guide - Monitoring Results for more information on entering violations.
This page last updated 12/2018.