Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
Wisconsin’s public school child care programs are programs operated by or under contract with public school districts. Pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 120.13(14), a child care program established and provided by a school board must comply with the applicable standards governing the operation of licensed child care centers in Wisconsin, as provided under Wis. Admin. Code § DCF 251. Public school programs are not required to be licensed but are required to meet applicable child care licensing standards. These programs were not subject to monitoring by the Bureau of Early Care Regulation (BECR) prior to 2016.
The reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) in November of 2014 established new federal requirements that affect monitoring of license exempt public school programs operating throughout the nation. When the federal reauthorization of the CCDBG was signed into law, annual inspection of public school programs by qualified staff became a condition of receiving federal child care subsidy funds (known in Wisconsin as Wisconsin Shares). Beginning in 2016, BECR became the designated state agency responsible for monitoring public school programs receiving Wisconsin Shares. Public school programs not participating in YoungStar are not subject to the annual inspection requirement.
Inspections of public school programs by BECR ensure that there is consistent oversight by qualified staff to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of children in care in these programs. The monitoring requirement also ensures that the programs comply with other CCDBG requirements, including mandated reporting of certain incidents and injuries, and conducting background checks on caregiver staff employed by public school programs.
To meet federal requirements, BECR licensing specialists must conduct a minimum of one monitoring visit per year to each public school child care program receiving or eligible to receive Wisconsin Shares reimbursement. Because a condition of receiving Wisconsin Shares is participation in YoungStar, all public school programs participating in YoungStar must receive the annual inspection required in the CCDBG legislation, regardless of whether children receiving Wisconsin Shares are currently enrolled in the program. (Head Start programs operated by school districts that are not participating in YoungStar are not monitored by BECR.)
At each annual monitoring visit to a public school program, a BECR licensing specialist reviews the program’s compliance with a subset of group child care administrative rules, identified as the Annual Health and Safety Rule Tag and included in the iPad mobile application. This subset of rules covers administrative rules in 10 health and safety areas identified in the CCDBG legislation, as well as additional rules identified in Wisconsin as critical to health and safety protections.
Monitoring results for public school programs must be documented in writing. The results of each annual visit are recorded and shared with the program on the Compliance Statement-Public School Operated Child Care Program form (DCF-F-CFS785C, hereafter referred to as the DCF-785C) or Noncompliance Statement and Correction Plan - Public School Operated Child Care Program form (DCF-F-CFS0294A, hereafter referred to as the DCF-294A). The DCF-785C is used to document that no violations were observed at the visit. The DCF-294A form is completed by the BECR licensing specialist to enumerate and document all violations of administrative rules identified at the public school program at the time of the on-site monitoring visit (or discovered through a self-report).
The DCF-785C and the DCF-294A are mailed, emailed, or hand delivered to the public school program no more than 10 business days from the date of the site visit during which one or more violations are cited or no violations are cited. If the public school program self-reports a violation and the licensing specialist confirms the rule violation, the 10 business day time line for issuing a statement applies. (This time line is not applicable if an incident/accident investigation is underway and/or further information must be obtained following a site visit.)
When no violations are cited, the licensing specialist offers to conduct an exit interview to provide these results to public school program staff in charge on the day of the visit. No follow-up is expected of the public school program staff.
The licensing specialist also offers to conduct an exit interview with the person in charge on the day of the visit when one or more violations will be cited. This permits the licensing specialist to discuss each violation and to recommend that program staff develop a plan for correcting the violations observed, as well as a possible strategy to prevent each of the violations from reoccurring. The licensing specialist may also offer technical assistance or suggest other available resources. Public school program staff are not required to participate in an exit interview.
Unlike the requirement for licensed programs, public school programs are not required to develop and submit a correction plan to BECR to address violations. However, the public school program may choose to submit a correction plan to BECR. Licensing specialists do not verify correction of the cited violations until the next routine annual visit.
Public school programs are required to self-report to BECR certain incidents and injuries, including any incidents or accidents that occur while a child is in care and result in professional medical evaluation, any death of a child in care, and several other occurrences at the center or involving persons at the center that could potentially put children at risk. When the public school program self-reports an incident to BECR, this information must be entered into WISCCRS in the Complaints/Incidents Module so that BECR can compile the data for annual review and reporting. A follow-up review regarding the incident may be required of the licensing specialist if it is possible that one or more health and safety rules that are part of the Annual Health and Safety Rule Tag have been violated.
BECR investigates complaint allegations concerning a public school program if the allegations are related to rules contained in the Annual Health and Safety Rule Tag. The complaint information is entered into WISCCRS in the Complaints/Incidents Module so that BECR can compile the data for annual review and reporting. Complaint allegations unrelated to rules included in the Annual Health and Safety Rule Tag are referred to the public school program and/or school district representative for follow up.
A public school program cannot appeal a violation cited on a DCF-294A through the Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA). However, if disputes arise regarding a cited violation that the licensing specialist cannot resolve, the licensing specialist should refer the program to the licensing manager/licensing supervisor for resolution.
This page last updated 10/2020.