Auditor: Louisiana’s child care licensing program falls short

(AP) – The state’s social services department licensed child care facilities without making sure they meet minimum standards, according to an audit released Monday that says the agency needs stronger policies to properly protect Louisiana’s children.

The review by Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot’s office says the Louisiana Department of Social Services provides its licensing staff with little formal criteria to follow for visiting the facilities, managing complaints and enforcing the minimum standards required by law.

Nearly 87 percent of the day care centers and 90 percent of the residential facilities that auditors sampled had deficiencies when DSS renewed their licenses, the audit says.

“The generic licenses DSS issues are essentially receipts indicating facilities have paid their licensing fees. Therefore, DSS is not ensuring that providers meet minimum standards before they are allowed to provide child care services,” the performance audit says.

The department has licensed the child care facilities since 1990 but didn’t develop its first formal licensing policy until 2007, the audit says. DSS licenses more than 1,700 day care centers and 58 child residential facilities that provide 24-hour care. Auditors reviewed the licensing of 30 child care centers and 30 residential facilities.

Social Services Secretary Ann Williamson said the department is working to update its licensing regulations, beginning a new day care center quality rating system and reorganizing its licensing operations.

“While there is significant value in our progress to date, DSS recognizes that there is critical work to be continued,” Williamson said in her written response to the audit.

She said the department intends to develop a formal policy manual with operating procedures for the facilities and department licensing staff. But she disagreed with the audit’s assessment that the staff has little formal criteria to guide the work, saying the department provides more than 200 regulations to direct licensing of the facilities.

Williamson said DSS doesn’t have the authority to deny child care facility licenses and can only seek a temporary restraining order in “extreme cases.” Louisiana law gives the ability to revoke or deny licenses for the facilities to two outside regulatory committees created by the Legislature, she said.

Also, the audit questioned the time the department took to investigate complaints, saying several of the investigations took more than a month.