Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
A summary suspension is an enforcement action taken by the Department [delegated to, and hereafter referred to, as the Bureau of Early Care Regulation (BECR)] that immediately suspends a license to operate a family or group child care center or day camp. The action is taken to ensure the immediate closure of a facility based on a finding that closure is necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare. The authority to impose a summary suspension is provided under Wis. Stat. § 227.51(3) and under Wis. Admin. Code §§ DCF 250.11(10)(a), DCF 251.11(9)(a), and DCF 252.05(6)(a).
The BECR director, or a licensing manager/licensing supervisor acting as the BECR director’s designee, must authorize all summary suspensions. In addition, once the summary suspension has been authorized, the attorney representing BECR from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) must be notified that a summary suspension will be issued. The OLC attorney or the paralegal working with the attorney is responsible for alerting the Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA) that a summary suspension is being issued.
BECR prepares and hand-delivers a written Notice of Summary Suspension to the licensee. In some situations, a verbal notice, which is permitted by statute, is given and followed by the written notice. Notification of the summary suspension is also provided to a number of other interested entities. The Notice of Summary Suspension must be displayed by the child care provider beside their license in accordance with Wis. Stat. § 48.657(2g) and Wis. Admin. Code § DCF 250.04(2)(i), 251.04(2)(L) and 252.41(1)(L), the Notice of Summary Suspension must be posted with the license in any area visible to parents until such time as the suspension is lifted or the revocation is effective.
Once a summary suspension is issued, BECR has 72 hours to permit the reopening of the center or initiate revocation of the license. The licensee is entitled to an automatic administrative hearing under the authority of Wis. Stat. § 227.51(3) and Wis. Admin. Code §§ DCF 250.11(10)(b), DCF 251.11(9)(b), and DCF 252.05(6)(b) (whichever code provision applies) on the issue of whether the facility should remain suspended (closed) until the revocation proceedings are concluded. Because of the serious circumstances that can lead to a summary suspension, it is unusual for a facility to be allowed to reopen. More commonly, a Notice of Revocation immediately follows a summary suspension and is sent within 72 hours of the summary suspension. (In rare circumstances, A Notice to Initiate Proceedings to Revoke may be issued while more information is gathered but only after consultation and agreement from the OLC attorney representing BECR.)
The automatic hearing on the matter of whether the provider will remain closed must be held within ten working days of the summary suspension notice, before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) from the DHA. At such a hearing, the ALJ only determines whether the center may reopen during revocation proceedings. The hearing may occur sooner than ten working days from the date of the Notice of Summary Suspension if necessary to accommodate the schedules of the parties, witnesses or the ALJ. The licensee is notified of the date, time and place of this hearing by DHA. OLC represents BECR at this hearing.
Because the matter at hand at the automatic hearing is whether or not the facility should remain closed during revocation proceedings, the automatic administrative hearing does not address the reason for revocation. The licensee must initiate an appeal of the revocation as a separate action, upon receipt of the Notice of Revocation. Occasionally, the licensee waives the right to the automatic hearing, remains closed, and goes straight to an appeal of the revocation itself.
A summary suspension may not be necessary if the licensee agrees to close the center and enter a Temporary Closure Agreement. The licensee may also enter into an agreement that the subject of the investigation that triggered the summary suspension will not be permitted on the premises at any time that children are present or such other times as are necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare, or that that the person will not work in a caregiver capacity or have other direct contact with children at the center. For detailed information on executing a temporary closure agreement or an agreement to restrict access to children in care, see the chapter on Temporary Closures in the Monitoring section of the manual.
This page last updated 10/2020.