5300, Warning Letters

5310 When to Issue a Warning Letter

Revision 22-4; Effective Sept. 20, 2022

CCR staff send CLASS Form 2999 Warning Letter to notify the governing body of a child care operation that CCR has identified risks and may recommend or impose an enforcement action if the operation’s compliance history does not improve. 

The basis of the warning letter may be any of the following: 

  • a single inspection, assessment or investigation;
  • an enforcement team conference (RC only); or 
  • the operation’s overall compliance history.

The warning letter prompts the operation to:

  • resolve patterns of deficiencies in a timely manner; and
  • maintain compliance with the law, administrative rules, and minimum standard rules on an ongoing basis.

Two Warning Letters within 24 Months

If CCR staff issues two warning letters within 24 months, the CCR inspector consults with the CCR supervisor to determine whether to recommend an enforcement action or consider taking other actions if the operation's compliance history does not improve.

5311 Creating the Warning Letter

Revision 22-4; Effective Sept. 20, 2022

Procedure

The CCR inspector creates a new warning letter from the Warning Letter List page in CLASS.  

Next, on the Warning Letter Detail page, the inspector selects the appropriate option from the Reasons dropdown in the Warning Letter Details section.

  • If the reason is a single inspection, investigation, assessment, or enforcement team conference (ETC), the inspector selects the associated ID or number in the applicable field.
  • If the reason is Recent or Overall Compliance History, the inspector documents the reason for sending the warning letter in the Reason Explanation field.

Once the final version of CLASS Form 2999 Warning Letter is saved the CCR inspector:

  • sends the letter and copy of the CLASS report Compliance/Sampling Report Detail to the operation; and
  • enters the planned date of the follow-up inspection in the Follow Up Date field on the Warning Letter Detail page.

If the CCR inspector needs to make a change to the Follow Up Date field after the Warning Letter Detail page has been saved the inspector consults with the supervisor.

See 5313 Following-Up to a Warning Letter

5312 Stopping a Warning Letter

Revision 22-4; Effective Sept. 20, 2022

Before the final version of CLASS Form 2999 Warning Letter is saved, the CCR inspector may stop the warning letter to make changes on the Warning Letter Detail page.

Procedure

To stop CLASS Form 2999 Warning Letter, the CCR inspector:

  • selects the Stop Warning Letter checkbox; and 
  • enters the reason for stopping the warning letter in the Reason field. 

After the warning letter is stopped, the Warning Letter Detail page becomes view only and changes cannot be made to the page. 

5313 Following-Up to a Warning Letter

Revision 22-4; Effective Sept. 20, 2022

Within 60 days of the date CCR staff save the final version CLASS Form 2999 Warning Letter, the CCR inspector conducts a follow-up inspection to discuss with the director or administrator or person in charge:

  • the reason CCR sent the warning letter;
  • the operation’s compliance history report; 
  • the steps the operation has taken to address CCR’s concerns about the operation’s compliance history since receiving the warning letter; and
  • the steps the operation will take or continue to take in the future to address CCR’s concerns about the operation’s compliance history.

During the inspection, the CCR inspector informs the operation that CCR may recommend or impose an enforcement action if the operation’s compliance history does not improve.

If needed, the CCR inspector also follows-up on deficiencies not yet corrected and for which the compliance date has passed.

See 4300 Conducting a Follow-Up with an Operation