Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education

Bureau of Early Care Regulation

Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual

3. When an Incident, Accident, Injury or Death Report May Also Be a Complaint

An incident, accident, injury or death report is an acknowledgement by the center licensee that such an event has occurred. There is no debate about whether the event that is self-reported has actually happened. The point of a follow-up investigation into the self-reported event is to determine whether one or more violations may have been a factor in the incident, accident, injury or death and, if so, what regulatory action should be taken.

A complaint, on the other hand, is an allegation that one or more violations of pertinent administrative rule has occurred. A complaint is always made by someone other than the licensee and may sometimes be made anonymously. The complainant may be a parent or other family member, a neighbor, center staff, a member of the community or a representative of an agency such as, for example, a social services staff person or law enforcement personnel. The point of a complaint investigation is to determine whether the alleged violation is, in fact, true and, if so, what regulatory action should be taken.

A complaint supersedes an incident, accident, injury or death report in terms of which procedure the licensing specialist must follow in response to a reported event. If a licensee self-reports an incident, accident, injury or death and a complaint is also received about the same event after the licensee’s timely self-report, the licensing specialist investigates in accordance with the complaint investigation procedures.

BECR may receive one or more complaints in addition to a center’s self-report regarding the same incident. Usually, the self-report and the complaint are entered into WISCCRS as two separate items. In determining whether the self-report and the complaint should be linked as related in WISCCRS, the licensing specialist must consult with the licensing manager/licensing supervisor to make a determination as to whether a self-report and a complaint are identical. All circumstances and details have to be identical in order to link a complaint with a self-report in WISCCRS. See the WISCCRS User Guide, Complaints and Incident Reporting, for more information on recording self-reports and complaints.