Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
The complainant is the person who actually makes the complaint to BECR. This may be a parent or other family member, a neighbor, center staff, another member of the community or a representative of another state or county agency, for example, a social service staff person or law enforcement personnel. A complaint can originate from a BECR staff member who learns of and reports the potential violation(s) as a complaint. The complainant may have first-hand knowledge of the allegation or may not.
Sometimes a complaint regarding licensed care is directed to the wrong agency, such as to the Wisconsin Shares Fraud Mailbox, rather than to BECR. In this case, the complainant is documented as the original named complainant or anonymous source and not the agency/bureau that referred the complaint to BECR since the agency is merely referring the complaint to the appropriate place for investigation. Likewise, when a certification worker reports a complaint to BECR that s/he received regarding a licensed and certified provider, the neighbor, rather than the certification worker, is the complainant.
This page last updated 05/2018.