We believe the Division and CBI should work together to develop a joint plan for streamlining and improving the process. The plan will be developed and incorporated into the licensing model review process that will conclude by October 15, 1995. We have been meeting monthly to plan the next phase of process streamlining with the Division of Child Care. The Division needs to improve its process for maintaining its over 10,000 active child care licensing files. We found through our review of complaint and institutional abuse investigations that the licensing files are disorganized.
Some files contain duplicates as well as random notes and loose papers.
Other files do not contain needed information because the documents have been removed or misfiled. Some information in files, such as names of children, cannot be released to the public due to confidentiality requirements of the Children's Code. Thus when a parent, or other interested party, wants to review a file, the Division removes reports that it did not originate, including police reports, child protection investigations and reports, and criminal court documents. It replaces the document with a form stating the type of document removed. However, without complete data on child care facilities, parents do not have the facts needed to make informed decisions.