Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
If the scanned document or image of the record is not identical in every way to the paper copy, the paper copy must also be retained in accordance with the RDA requirements. The scanned document must be an exact replica that contains all information included in the original paper copy. This means that the images, including all writing and text in margins, footnotes, multiple ink colors, watermarks, notary seals, etc., must be identical. Both sides of two-sided documents must be inspected to ensure the scanned document captures both sides of the original.
Paper copies must be retained of scanned documents that are not considered identical and therefore not in compliance with the requirement. Examples of scanned documents that are not identical include the following:
A monitoring checklist filled out using different colored inks to signify different visits but scanned and retained in black and white.
A form completed by the applicant using a pencil, resulting in unclear and illegible portions of the scanned document. If any part of the application is not legible, the paper copy would also need to be retained.
A paper copy that includes a watermark but the watermark is not visible in the scanned document.
When using an automatic document feed, the resulting scanned document is crooked and information at the borders or corners of the document has been cut off.
In saving a document in Rich Text Format, some of the formatting may be altered and there may be loss of the structure of the record or page layout, which may affect the completeness of the record. If the structure is essential to understanding the record, this loss may be unacceptable.
When scanning documents in such a way that compresses or reduces document size or changes the resolution, BECR must ensure that the scanned document is legible and conveys all of the same information the paper copy conveyed.
3.2 Exceptions to Conversion of Child Care Records
3.2.1 Scanned Documents Must be Identical
This page last updated 06/2018.