Some Louisiana Child Day Care Centers Did Not Always Comply With State Health and Safety Licensing Requirements

Although the Department of Children and Family Services (State agency) conducted the required onsite monitoring at all four of the providers that we reviewed, it did not ensure that providers that received Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) funds complied with State licensing requirements related to the health and safety of children. All four providers that we reviewed did not comply with one or more State licensing requirements to ensure the health and safety of children. Specifically, we found that the four providers did not always comply with State licensing requirements related to physical conditions, and one of the providers did not comply with all of the required criminal records and child abuse and neglect registry check requirements. In addition, one provider exceeded the allowable child-to-staff ratio.

We recommended that the State agency require providers to complete specific training requirements related to health and safety regulations and ensure that all providers' employees who provide direct services to children have had criminal records and child abuse and neglect registry checks. The State agency agreed with our findings and said that it had conducted followup visits to providers and that the providers had corrected all deficiencies identified in our report. In addition, the State agency said that it is not in a position to implement our recommendations because the State is currently transitioning authority over CCDF to another State department. However, the State agency said that it would share the recommendations with the succeeding department.