Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
The BECR staff person that receives the initial complaint must complete the Child Care Complaint/Incident Intake Form (CFS-321), available on the BECR Intranet. The form requires entry of the following information: date, name and address, type of center and whether it’s licensed and/or certified, complainant source, name and address, complaint identification number (automatically assigned by WISCCRS), whether immediate attention is required (imminent danger), whether a child was injured or needed medical attention, and description of the complaint/alleged rule violation. If the complaint is forwarded from another agency or bureau (e.g., Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration), the intake form should identify the referral agency.
If a regional staff person other than the licensing specialist takes an incoming complaint, the licensing specialist will receive a completed CFS-321. If the licensing specialist takes an incoming complaint, the licensing specialist will complete the CFS-321 and must ensure that the CFS-321 complaint intake information is entered into WISCCRS.
All information from the CFS-321 must be entered into WISCCRS as soon as the complaint has been taken. This will allow the progress of the complaint investigation to be tracked. This data is documented in the Complaint/Incident Reporting Module. The information entered in the module allows BECR to meet Federal Child Care Development Block Grant reporting requirements, collect workload data associated with complaint and self-report follow up activities and compile general data regarding complaint and self-reported incidents.
Occasionally, the subsequent screening of the complaint intake information by the licensing specialist determines that the complaint should not be investigated (i.e., the complaint does not fall within the jurisdiction of BECR licensing rules and no further action will be taken). In this case, the complaint is deleted from WISCCRS and the CFS-321 is discarded. If an investigation is warranted, the CFS-321, along with other documentation related to the complaint, will be uploaded to WISCCRS upon completion of the investigation. The CFS-321 is an internal document and, unless requested through an open record request, is not given to the licensee and/or complainant. (See section 12.)
This page last updated 10/2020.