Some Minnesota Childcare Home Providers Did Not Always Comply With State Health and Safety Licensing Requirements

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (State agency) conducted the required inspections at all 20 of the childcare home providers that we reviewed; however, this onsite monitoring did not ensure that providers that received funds from the Federal Child Care and Development Fund complied with State licensing requirements related to the health and safety of children.

We determined that 19 of the 20 providers we reviewed did not always comply with 1 or more State licensing requirements to ensure the health and safety of children. Specifically, we found that 19 providers did not always comply with requirements related to fire safety and the physical condition of the provider homes, and 9 providers did not comply with requirements related to records and supervision. On the basis of our discussion with State officials and our review of the State licensing regulations, we determined that noncompliance with State requirements and limited oversight occurred because the inspectors were responsible for too many providers, resulting in high caseloads and limiting the amount of time spent on each inspection.

We recommended that the State agency (1) ensure through more frequent onsite monitoring that providers comply with health and safety regulations, (2) develop a mandatory training program to improve provider compliance with health and safety regulations, and (3) ensure adequate oversight by reducing licensing inspectors' caseloads. The State agency concurred with our first recommendation and partially concurred with our second and third recommendations.