Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
DCF 250.11(3)(a), 251.11(2)(a), and 252.05(1)(a)5, Wisconsin Administrative Code, requires that applicants for family or group child care and day camps obtain pre-licensing technical assistance prior to submitting their license application materials to the BECR Regional Office.
Pre-licensing technical assistance requires that the applicant obtain a packet of materials, referred to as the Inquiry Packet, for the type of program that they are interested in operating. Applicants may download and print (free of charge) the Inquiry Packet on the DCF website. BECR also sells inquiry packets for family or group child care, and for day camps. The fee for each printed inquiry packet is $25. The inquiry packet resource information related to the licensing application process and an administrative rule book corresponding to the program (family or group child care, or day camp).
An applicant may purchase an inquiry packet by requesting it from the:
BECR
Northern Regional Office (NRO)
2187 N. Stevens St., Suite C
Rhinelander, WI 54501
Payment for inquiry packets can be made
in the form of a cashier’s check or money order, payable to DCF.
Upon receipt of payment for an inquiry packet, NRO staff record the request on the inquiry packet spreadsheet located in the shared (S) drive and mail out the packet within 2 -3 business days. The fees collected are deposited with the DCF Bureau of Finance.
BECR also sells family, group and day camp administrative rule books separate from the inquiry packet. An expanded version of the administrative rule book, including commentary and examples, referred to as the Commentary Manual, is also available for family and group child care. The fee for each Rule Book or Commentary Manual is $15.
Rule books and Commentary Manuals are also obtained through NRO. Fees collected are deposited with the DCF Bureau of Finance.
Rule books and commentary manuals are also available for download from the DCF Internet on the Licensing Rules page. Downloading these manuals is free of charge.
This page last updated 08/2021.