By Sophia Venturo
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MONTPELIER, Vermont (WPTZ) — A state audit published Thursday has identified sprawling problems with how Vermont oversees child care programs, including unreliable record keeping, background check delays for caretakers, and inconsistent handling of rules violations.
The Child Development Division of the Vermont Department for Children and Families is responsible for the licensing and oversight of more than 1,000 child care programs across the state. They must also enforce compliance with federal child care regulations.
The 39-page audit looked at how CDD responded to “serious violations” documented during site visits between 2022 and 2024. CDD completed more than 5,200 visits, a third of which yielded reports of rules violations.
More than 100 of those violations were categorized as “serious” — which could be a breach of child-to-staff ratio or any practice that poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, or well-being of a child in the program.
According to State Auditor Doug Hoffer, that is an underestimation.
The electronic record-keeping system used by CDD, Bright Futures Information System, reportedly suffers from glitches that can delete text from records or attach unrelated data to case files, undermining the accuracy of the information lodged there.
The audit says serious violations are documented by including the phrase “This is a serious violation” in a report. Sixteen of the 131 serious violations did not include that language, according to the audit.
In addition to problems documenting the infractions, the audit said CDD licensors often did not follow up with the child care programs, which they cited. For instance, a program marked for a serious violation is required to send a letter home to families, but CDD staff did not always inform providers or confirm if the message was ever sent.
In another key finding, the audit found several alarming points of noncompliance with federal statutes where prospective staff are allowed to work with children prior to completing background checks.
The federal funding source that helps families pay for these child care programs requires comprehensive criminal background checks for caregivers, but allows some prospective hires to begin working with children before they’re fully vetted, although they are required to be constantly supervised by another employee who has completed a background check.
The audit said CDD allowed staff to begin working with children before fingerprint-based criminal background checks are finished.
Federal rules also require those checks to be completed within 45 days, but many are taking much longer. In one group reviewed by auditors, more than half were still unfinished nearly three months later.
Noncompliance with these statutes could cost CDD up to $505,000 in forfeiture of federal funds, or 5% of its annual funding from the federal government.
Auditors said CDD should standardize procedures for assessing and documenting violations, consistently following up on site violations, and reducing background check processing times.
“Everyone knows how badly the State needs more high-quality child care slots for infants and toddlers, but with children’s well-being at stake, we have to be as safety-focused as possible,” Hoffer said. “The federal rules are in place for a reason, so state government needs to find a way to comply. Given the money at stake, we literally cannot afford not to.”
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