Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
A complaint is legally defined as an allegation of a violation of Chapter 48, Wis. Stat., and/or the pertinent administrative code. The authority to receive complaints and carry out complaint investigations is provided under Wis. Stat. § 48.74 and Wis. Admin. Code §§ DCF 250.12(1), 251.12(1) and 252.06(1). The Department [delegated to, and hereafter referred to, as the Bureau of Early Care Regulation (BECR)] has authority to investigate unlicensed facilities when the complaint allegation is that because of the number of children in care, the facility is required to be licensed in accordance with Wis. Stat. § 48.65(1) and is not licensed. BECR does not investigate care issues, such as lack of supervision, in unlicensed facilities.
48.65 Child care centers licensed; fees.
(1) No person may for compensation provide care and supervision for 4 or more children under the age of 7 for less than 24 hours a day unless that person obtains a license to operate a child care center from the department. To obtain a license under this subsection to operate a child care center, a person must meet the minimum requirements for a license established by the department under s. 48.67, meet the requirements specified in s. 48.686, and pay the license fee under sub. (3). A license issued under this subsection is valid until revoked or suspended, but shall be reviewed every 2 years as provided in s. 48.66 (5).
(2) This section does not include any of the following:
(a) A parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, stepparent, brother, sister, first cousin, nephew, niece, uncle, or aunt of a child, whether by blood, marriage, or legal adoption, who provides care and supervision for the child.
(am) A guardian of a child who provides care and supervision for the child.
(b) A public or parochial school or a tribal school.
(c) A person employed to come to the home of the child's parent or guardian for less than 24 hours a day.
(d) A county, city, village, town, school district or library that provides programs primarily intended for recreational or social purposes.
BECR investigates complaints regarding potentially illegally operating family child care centers, group child care centers and day camps. Complaints may come from a variety of sources such as parents and other family members, neighbors, licensed providers, licensing staff, social service and law enforcement personnel, other community members and anonymous sources. Sometimes licensing staff will identify a potentially illegally operating facility based on a second hand source such as a media report, for example, or a newspaper article.
The investigation of a complaint about an unlicensed family child care center may be handled through mailed documents, an on-site visit, or both. Complaints about unlicensed child care centers that are currently certified are referred to the certifying agency for investigation. In some instances, BECR participates in joint complaint investigations with certifying agencies. Complaints about unlicensed group centers or day camps always require an on-site investigation.
Generally, BECR regional support staff responds to first time complaints alleging unlicensed child care facilities by sending the provider a form that requests information about the children in care. If the form is returned by the postal service as undeliverable, the complaint is closed with a finding of unsubstantiated. If the provider responds indicating that they are is not caring for a licensable number of children, the complaint is coded as unsubstantiated and the investigation ends. If the provider attests to operating an illegal facility, the complaint is considered substantiated. In this case, the provider is told to immediately reduce the number of children in care. A licensing specialist is assigned to ensure the number of children in care is within the legal limits.
An on-site investigation by a licensing specialist is required when a search in the Wisconsin Child Care Regulatory System database (WISCCRS) reveals the following:
The facility was previously licensed or certified
The facility has a history of a previous complaint
The facility had a license denied or revoked, including revocation of certification due to a licensable number of children
The facility failed to respond to mailed documents, or the response indicates that an on-site follow-up is necessary
The individual has a history of employment and/or background check history in regulated care
The facility has incorrectly informed the public through advertising and/or other communications that the program is licensed
The
complaint of illegal operation involves a group child care center
or day camp
(Note: A complaint about a
certified provider caring for nine or more children is referred to
the appropriate certifying agency and is not considered an illegal
group child care center or day camp.)
Following the complaint investigation, the complaint may be substantiated or unsubstantiated. If the licensing specialist determines with reasonable certainty that the facility is operating illegally, the finding is substantiated and the licensing specialist takes appropriate enforcement action.
This page last updated 10/2021.