MADISON, Wis. – Eight child abusers and convicted felons were improperly living or working at state child care facilities until this year, according to a review released Thursday.

The Legislative Audit Bureau’s report found gaps in the system for conducting background checks on operators, delays by regulators in making site visits, and data problems that let high-risk centers avoid extra scrutiny.

Its look at the regulation of 11,000 child care centers overseen by the state, counties and tribes turned up seven family members of operators and one employee either convicted of felonies or who had child abuse or neglect findings substantiated.

The audit bureau said it had no way to know whether the felons and abusers were present while care was provided, and the Department of Children and Families said its separate investigation found no children were harmed.

In each case, the offenders have either moved out of the address or its license or certification to operate has been revoked, the report found. Their offenses, uncovered by matching information provided by operators against state criminal and child abuse databases, should have barred them from the facilities or required evidence of their rehabilitation.

Auditors identified another 317 individuals whose past criminal offenses should have triggered investigations by regulators, but it’s unclear whether those happened. The department continues to review.

“I remain concerned and disappointed with the audit’s serious findings including the failure to conduct proper background checks to ensure day cares are safe from individuals with a criminal background or others who could be a threat to children,” said Rep. Peter Barca, a Kenosha Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature’s audit committee.

The concerns add to previous problems uncovered by the audit bureau this year, including four sex offenders who listed addresses as day care centers and millions of dollars in improper payments under Wisconsin Shares, which subsidizes day care for low-income working parents.

The audits and reports describing fraud, abuse and bureaucratic missteps in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have already prompted the department and state lawmakers to take a series of steps to improve the program.

Auditors said a change that will require more frequent background checks on operators will be difficult to implement because regulators did not meet “substantially less-stringent requirements that had been in effect.” The operators of more than 200 facilities were overdue for criminal background checks as of June 30, the report found.

The report also said operators may conceal criminal convictions to stay in business and sometimes fail to conduct background checks on employees as required. The department also relies on county officials to tell them about child abuse findings against operators, household members and employees instead of checking themselves, and that did not always happen, it said.

The report found regulators were behind schedule in visiting hundreds of day care centers, including 149 instances where the visits were more than six months overdue. What’s more, the information in existing databases is not detailed enough to allow regulators to target higher-risk facilities for more attention.

Department Secretary Reggie Bicha said the agency implemented a more thorough system for background checks in October, which has already led to the revocation of 28 providers. He said the department was working to add abuse and neglect findings to the database, and planned to do so by next year.

Bicha said the agency is also working to complete overdue visits and focus more on providers with a history of violations.

SOURCE:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-childcarefraud,0,4227781.story