Wisconsin Department of Children and Families - Division of Early Care and Education
Bureau of Early Care Regulation
Child Care Licensing Procedure Manual
The Department [delegated to, and hereafter referred to, as the Bureau of Early Care Regulation (BECR)] adheres to a Records Retention/Disposition Authorization (RDA), the set of instructions relating to how a record series is to be kept and what happens after a record within the series has served its purpose. A record series is defined as documents or folders maintained under a single filing system or kept together as a unit because they relate to a particular subject or result from the same activity.
RDAs provide the legal authority for disposal of child care records. BECR must comply with the retention and disposition conditions in the RDA because the RDA carries the weight of law. Records may not be destroyed earlier than specified on an approved RDA nor should they be retained longer unless there is a pending audit or unresolved issue or legal action.
RDAs must be approved by the Public Records Board (PRB). All RDAs are periodically reviewed and revised to reflect the technical and legal changes that affect BECR. If record users determine that a different retention period or practice would be more appropriate for a records series, an amended RDA must be submitted by the Division of Early Care Education (DECE) Records Manager to the Department and PRB for approval prior to any changes in record retention and disposal practices. If a new record series is created, an RDA must be submitted to the PRB for approval within one year. The PRB determines record retention by the legal, fiscal, administrative and historical need for the records and is limited by the ability of the system for records to be retrieved, remain accessible, accurate, authentic, reliable, legible and readable throughout the record life cycle.
This page last updated 06/2018.