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An Evaluation: | |
Child Care Regulation | |
Department of Children and Families | |
December 2009 | |
Report Highlights | |
Since its creation in 2008, the Department of Children and Families (DCF)
has directly regulated licensed family and group child care facilities and
administered Wisconsin Shares, the child care subsidy program for
low-income working families and participants in
In February 2009, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee directed us to
evaluate child care regulation in licensed and certified facilities and the
potential for fraud and abuse under Wisconsin Shares. In June 2009,
we estimated that at least
Costs and Caseloads
In FY 2008-09, DCF spent Licensed group facilities provide care for nine or more children, typically outside of the operator’s home, and are likely to employ teachers and other staff. Licensed family facilities and certified facilities care for fewer children, and are typically operators’ homes.
In June 2009, approximately twothirds
of all licensed child care
facilities and one-half of all certified
facilities participated in Wisconsin
Shares. Subsidy payments in that
month totaled
Average caseloads of the DCF staff who regulate licensed child care facilities throughout Wisconsin vary by region and range from 94 to 120 facilities per licensing specialist. The National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends that caseloads not exceed 75 facilities per licensing specialist. Average caseloads of certification staff were significantly lower in 8 of the 11 counties we visited, including Milwaukee County. However in Dane, Kenosha, and Racine counties, average caseloads ranged from 110 to 170 facilities per certification staff person.
Enforcing Child Safety
During site visits to regulated facilities, both licensing and certification staff are required to issue written citations when they identify violations of the child care rules enumerated in administrative code, and all citations are required to be entered into statewide databases maintained by DCF. Most of the regulatory activities of licensing and certification staff relate to ensuring the health and safety of children in care.
DCF staff conducted
County and tribal regulatory staff
conducted Because available data are not complete, and because regulatory staff cannot rate the severity of the violations they cite, DCF cannot effectively use information maintained in statewide licensing and certification databases to target higher-risk facilities for increased regulatory attention.
Health and safety also may be
compromised if regulatory staff
cannot gain access to child care
facilities. We determined that at
least one attempted regulatory visit
by DCF staff could not be completed
for
During the three-year period that
ended in
Issuing Sanctions
Over the past five years, DCF
sanctioned 1,911 licensed facilities
for serious or persistent violations
of child care rules. Licensed
facilities in Milwaukee County
received approximately one-quarter
of all sanctions but We completed additional analyses of the most serious sanctions issued and of the facilities that were most frequently sanctioned. Three of the four licensed facilities that were issued 16 or more sanctions continued to operate as of November 2009. Over the past five years, county and tribal agencies sanctioned 843 certified facilities, including 592 in Milwaukee County.
Wisconsin Shares
Daily attendance records form the
basis for subsidy payments under
Wisconsin Shares and are subject
to review during regulatory visits
to both licensed and certified
facilities. Facilities cited for
attendance record violations could
reasonably be expected to receive
notice of a payment error and to
make repayments. However, in
a random sample of 100 facilities
with attendance record citations,
we found that Before the creation of DCF, the detection and investigation of potential fraud in Wisconsin Shares was not a clear priority. Until state-level staffing for program integrity efforts was increased under 2009 Wisconsin Act 2, the equivalent of one DCF position was authorized for program integrity efforts. Fraud investigation was only one of a wide range of activities that could be funded under county and tribal contracts for 2008. In 2009, significant changes were made to improve the detection of potential fraud in Wisconsin Shares at the state and county levels. These efforts merit continued monitoring by the Legislature in 2010.
Background Checks
Background checks are required of child care facility operators and board members, their employees, and household members.
We compared the names, dates
of birth, and social security
numbers of all operators of
licensed and certified facilities
regulated as of We found eight instances in which convicted felons or individuals who had abused or neglected children were employed by or reported living in child care facilities. When we shared our findings with DCF, it investigated each case, and DCF believes that no children have been harmed. We also identified 317 individuals whose past criminal offenses require further investigation.
More stringent background check
requirements were included in
2009 Wisconsin Act 76, which was
enacted in November 2009. However,
meeting the new requirements
may be challenging. We found that
operators of 184 licensed facilities
and 20 certified facilities were overdue
for criminal background checks
as of
Furthermore, DCF does not maintain
a database of child care facility
employees. We attempted to match
employee records with criminal
records maintained by the Department
of Justice and with findings of
substantiated child abuse or neglect,
but we could do so for less than
Recommendations
Our report includes recommendations for DCF to report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by June 30, 2010, on its efforts to:
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