Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
Within five working days of receiving the complaint about an alleged illegal center, BECR support staff prepares and sends to the individual the DC-1 letter with the attached Unlicensed Child Care Complaint Response form (DCF-F-CFS0856), hereafter referred to as the CFS-856.
The DC-1 letter is available as a standardized format on the BECR Intranet. It is signed by the licensing manager/licensing supervisor. It states the requirements set forth in Wis. Stat. § 48.65 for caring for a licensable number of children and describes BECR’s responsibility for enforcing these requirements. The letter also describes possible sanctions if the individual does not maintain compliance with Wis. Stat. § 48.65.
The CFS-856, also available on the BECR Intranet, is attached to the DC-1 letter and requests that the individual complete and return detailed information regarding the number of children in care. The individual is given 7 days from the date of the DC-1 letter to complete and return the CFS-856.
On the CFS-856, below the individual’s name and address in Section A, Responder Information, they must affirm whether they are providing care to a licensable number of children by checking one of the following four statements:
They are not providing care to a licensable number of children and is not interested in becoming licensed, or
They are not caring for a licensable number of children but is interested in becoming licensed and they enclosed the fee to cover the cost of a Family Child Care Inquiry Packet, or they obtained the Inquiry Packet materials from the department's website.
They are caring for a licensable number of children, is not interested in becoming licensed, understands that they are violating the law and agrees to immediately reduce the number of children in care to no more than three children under the age of seven. They understand that if the number of children in care is not reduced, further action may include an order, forfeiture and referral to the District Attorney for criminal prosecution, or
They are caring for a licensable number of children, are interested in becoming licensed, understands that they are violating the law and agrees to immediately reduce the number of children in care to no more than three children under the age of seven. They understand that if the number of children in care is not reduced, further action may include an order, forfeiture and referral to the District Attorney for criminal prosecution. They also agree to apply for a child care license and comply with the rules governing family child care and to immediately request assistance from Supporting Families Together Association in preparation for becoming licensed to operate a family child care center. They agree to enclose the fee to cover the cost of a Family Child Care Inquiry Packet
Section C, Responder Affirmation, is signed and dated.
The final section of the CFS-856, Section D, Children in Care, requests the names of children, ages, hours and days of attendance, relationship of children in care and parent contact information. BECR support staff use this information to verify the accuracy of the responder’s statement regarding whether they are caring for a licensable number of children.
It is critical that the responder’s statement as to whether they are caring for a licensable number of children or not is supported by the information supplied by the provider about the number, age, hours of attendance and relationship of the children in care. If this information, as reflected on the CFS-856, indicates that the provider is caring for a licensable number of children, despite the provider’s affirmation to the contrary, the complaint is assigned to a licensing specialist for an on-site investigation. However, if the provider affirms that they are caring for a licensable number of children but the information supplied by the responder regarding children in care does not indicate an illegal operation, the regional staff person should contact them by phone or letter to indicate that a license is not required.
3.1 Sending the DC-1 Letter/CFS-856
3.1.1 When the DC-1 Letter/CFS-856 is Returned by the U.S. Postal Service
3.1.2 When the Provider Does Not Return the CFS-856
3.1.3 When the Returned CFS-856 is Incomplete and/or Contains Inconsistencies
3.1.4 When the Provider Indicates on the Returned CFS-856 that S/He Wants to Apply for a License but Fails to Enclose the Fee
This page last updated 10/2021.