Some Michigan Child Care Home Providers Did Not Always Comply With State Health and Safety Licensing Requirements

Although the Michigan Department of Education (State agency) conducted required inspections at all 20 of the child care home providers that we reviewed, this onsite monitoring 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. We determined that all 20 of the providers that we reviewed did not comply with 1 or more State licensing requirements to ensure the health and safety of children. Specifically, we found 19 providers did not always comply with requirements related to the physical condition of the provider homes, 16 providers did not comply with records and supervision requirements, and 10 providers did not comply with required criminal records and protective services checks.

We recommended that the State agency work with the Michigan Department of Human Services, Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing, to (1) ensure adequate oversight by reducing licensing inspectors' caseloads, (2) ensure through more frequent onsite monitoring that providers comply with health and safety regulations, (3) develop a mandatory training program to improve provider compliance with health and safety regulations, and (4) ensure that providers obtain required criminal record checks and protective services checks for all child care employees who provide direct services to children. The State agency partially concurred with our first recommendation and concurred with the remaining three recommendations.