Wonderschool Policy on Licensing Violations

At Wonderschool, we’re incredibly proud to partner with talented, committed program directors who provide high-quality early education in their communities. Our Quality & Safety Promise (QSP) contains three areas of focus that are vital to the creation and operation of a healthy, successful program: Child-centered, Growth-minded, and Safety-focused. Our goal is to clearly articulate to all programs within the Wonderschool network what our expectations are around quality, and also to show parents what they can expect to see in a Wonderschool program. This article will delve deeper into the principle of "Safety-focused."  

Overview

All license-eligible programs must operate within their state’s regulations for family child care homes. Every adult living or working in the home has been background checked. If a program is found to be in violation of their state’s regulations, they may lose access to the Wonderschool platform.

Why is this important?

This principle goes beyond the obvious reasons of ensuring safe and healthy environments for children and families, and beyond the fact that these regulations are required. Parents coming to Wonderschool to find care expect high quality programs for their children, and compliance with licensing is an indicator of a provider’s commitment to ensuring high quality care. 

DID YOU KNOW? You are a representative of Wonderschool, and you put our Quality and Safety Promise into action for the children and families in your care each and every day. When families come to Wonderschool, they are entrusting us to help them find the best care options for their children - and in turn, we are trusting you to provide the very best care!

It is our expectation that you operate within the licensing guidelines of your state at all times - and Wonderschool parents expect the same thing. 

What happens if a program gets a licensing violation?

Wonderschool tracks licensing history for each of its programs (in some states you can sign up to receive alerts on licensed programs automatically, and in other states you have to look them up manually - and in either case, we do!). Below are some guidelines around how different violations may be addressed.

Use of the Wonderschool platform for managing program operations can help prevent minor administrative violations, so any program who has previously struggled to keep the right paperwork on hand should see these types of issues decrease through their participation with Wonderschool.

Ratio or capacity violations, failure to complete background checks on staff or family members, and repeated or substantiated complaints, on the other hand, are all serious issues that are not reflective of a high quality early learning environment and Wonderschool will not support programs that are unwilling or unable to stay in compliance. 

Zero Tolerance - Permanent Removal from Wonderschool 

Any substantiated complaint or citation for physical punishment, molestation, breach of personal rights, or other egregious Licensing or conduct violations shall result in immediate and permanent removal from the Wonderschool marketplace. 

Zero tolerance - Access Suspended 

Ratio or capacity violations, background checks not being completed, or other serious infractions will result in the immediate removal from the Wonderschool marketplace, which suspends access to parent tours. Access may be returned once a violation has been corrected and a plan is in place to ensure there will be no repeat violation in the future.

A subsequent violation of this type of regulation may result in permanent removal from the Wonderschool platform, in line with our Quality and Safety Promise. It’s always better to ask for help if you’re struggling with something, so reach out when you need a sub, have a new teacher starting and aren’t sure how to transfer a background clearance, or are wondering if you can enroll an extra infant just for a short period of time, until another child turns two (spoiler alert: you can’t). Let us help!

DID YOU KNOW? When your liability insurance comes up for renewal, your insurance broker may review your licensing history from the past year. For serious violations or complaints, your broker may decline to continue your insurance coverage, leaving you at risk. Don’t let this happen to you!