Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
When a licensee decides to temporarily close the child care center, it is the responsibility of the licensee to inform all agencies involved with the child care center of the closure. This may include, for example, Wisconsin Shares subsidy staff and the Child & Adult Care Food Program sponsors. (BCCSA staff will track voluntary temporary closures through regular review of WISCCRS information on closures and reopening of centers.)
In addition, although it is the licensee’s responsibility to properly inform all partner agencies, in order to ensure that all of these affected agencies are aware of the closure, the BECR regional office staff should forward a copy of the signed Notice of Voluntary Temporary Closure of Child Care Center to the following agencies:
County/tribal subsidy unit to ensure that Wisconsin Shares authorizations are not created while the provider is in temporary closed status. BECR regional office staff may wish to contact the county/tribal subsidy unit directly via email or phone call regarding the closure in addition to sharing a copy of the voluntary closure agreement. Subsidy staff will enter the ‘Suspend Authorization’ date and reason into CSAW.
Bureau of Child Care Subsidy Administration (BCCSA)
Department of Public Instruction, Child & Adult Care Food Program
Wisconsin Early Childhood Association
The list of agencies that should receive a copy of the Notice of Voluntary Temporary Closure of a Child Care Center should include all agencies in the region that receive revocation notices. Each region should prepare a list of its agencies to be notified in its various counties, and provide a copy of the appropriate list to a licensee signing a Notice of Voluntary Temporary Closure of Child Care Center.
BECR regional office staff should also ensure that all parties who were informed of the temporary closure are informed when the center reopens. Once the county/tribal subsidy unit has official notification of the reopening, the ‘Suspend Authorization’ field in CSAW can be deleted and new authorizations can be created.
Licensee and staff training on the following subjects must be current before a center reopens: CPR, abusive head trauma/shaken baby syndrome prevention, and child abuse and neglect. In its discretion, BECR regional office staff also may require that other licensee and staff training requirements be up-to-date before the center reopens or be updated within a specified period of time after the center reopens. BECR staff should communicate these requirements in writing to the licensee.
The licensee is responsible for informing the parents of children that had been in care at the center prior to the closing, of the re-opening.
This page last updated 10/2020.