Your child’s day-care centre licence

It is the licensing and supervision system that Act 173-2016 placed in the hands of the Department of the Family for all establishments dedicated to the care, development and learning of children in Puerto Rico. The Act covers everything from issuing the licence to inspections, notices of deficiency, suspension or cancellation, closure and the establishment’s right of appeal.

The ban on operating without a licence reaches every natural or legal person, private or public, including any department, division, board, agency or instrumentality or other political subdivision of the State. The Act excepts anyone caring for one (1) or two (2) children, and persons caring for children to whom they are related by blood or affinity up to the third degree, up to a maximum of five (5) related children in their care.

• That the establishment hold a licence issued by the Department of the Family and display it in a place visible to the public.Verified against the official source
• That the licence be current: it is issued for a term of two (2) years.Verified against the official source
• That the licence correspond to that physical plant and that natural or legal person: it may not be transferred, assigned, conveyed, reassigned or alienated.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Look for it on the wall

   Article 2.04 puts it thus: every child care, development and learning establishment shall display its licence in a place visible to the public, and the licence issued shall be valid for a term of two (2) years. Two things to look at, then: that it is hung where you can see it, and the date.

2. 2

   Step 2: Without a licence you cannot operate, and there are almost no exceptions

   Article 2.05 reaches everyone: no natural or legal person, private or public, whether any department, division, board, agency or instrumentality or other political subdivision of the State, may operate or maintain a child care, development and learning establishment within Puerto Rico’s territorial limits without a licence issued by the Department of the Family. The exception is narrow and worth reading closely: excepted is anyone caring for one (1) or two (2) children, and persons caring for children to whom they are related by blood or affinity up to the third degree, up to a maximum of five (5) related children in their care.

3. 3

   Step 3: The licence is neither inherited nor bought

   Article 2.06 says every licence the Department issues is granted only for the physical plant and the natural or legal person named in the application, and may not be transferred, assigned, conveyed, reassigned or alienated to another individual or entity. If the centre changed owner or moved premises, the licence that was hanging does not travel with the business: ask for the new one.

4. 4

   Step 4: It is inspected every three months

   Article 2.16 requires the Department to inspect each establishment whenever it deems necessary, but at least once (1) every three (3) months, to satisfy itself that they operate under the Act and its regulations. Inspections and investigations may be carried out at the Department’s own instance, at the request of the children receiving the service or their relatives, or on a complaint or institutional-abuse referral. In that last case, the Department is obliged to attend to and establish by regulation the process for handling every complaint or referral alleging abuse or negligence, and the investigation protocols.

5. 5

   Step 5: The deficiencies that admit no extension

   This is the detail worth knowing. Article 2.17 requires every deficiency observed or found during supervision and inspection visits to be noted in writing, stating the number of days given to correct it according to the type of deficiency and its severity. But it adds a rule with no nuance: deficiencies in the areas of safety, food, health and hygiene require immediate correction with no right to an extension. If after being notified of the deficiency the licence holder does not correct it within the term, the Department applies the established penalties or fines.

6. 6

   Step 6: Suspension, cancellation and immediate closure

   Article 2.18 gives the Department power to suspend or cancel the licence of any establishment that fails to comply with the licence’s terms or with the Act’s or its regulations’ requirements, and also where it misses the term to correct deficiencies or on the recommendation of the institutional-abuse units. Article 2.19 goes further: the Department has authority to order immediate closure even on a first violation, where it knows of or suspects imminent risk to children’s safety, well-being, health and physical, mental, emotional or moral integrity. And if the closure is permanent, it may additionally bar that person from operating any other child-care establishment, and they cannot continue providing services through licensing by any other government entity.

7. 7

   Step 7: If your child’s centre is closed

   The Act does not leave you alone. Where closure of an establishment is determined — voluntarily, because the licence was cancelled, or as a result of an investigation finding imminent risk — the Department is responsible for coordinating the relocation of the enrolled children or residents, together with the relative, guardian or tutor and the relevant agencies’ staff, if necessary. And if the closure was for abuse, institutional abuse, negligence, institutional negligence, fraud, document falsification or other crimes, the licence holder is disqualified from filing another licence application, sitting on boards of directors, being an employee or rendering paid or voluntary services in any establishment, and residing or staying overnight in the same structure where one operates, even if the premises are their own or are run by a relative.

8. 8

   Step 8: The public register, and what you find in it

   Article 3.10 requires the Department to prepare and keep updated a register of licensed centres with the establishment’s name, the full name of whoever operates it, telephone and email, location, physical facilities and services offered, maximum enrolment it may admit, and the licence status. That status includes information on any complaint or report once adjudicated on its merits and the final determination in each case. The record of that official action stays live for five (5) years, after which the Department removes it from the web-accessible register and notifies the establishment.

9. 9

   Step 9: If it is the centre that appeals

   Article 2.20 gives every applicant or licence holder the right to appeal to the Department of the Family’s Adjudicative Board the decision to deny the application or to suspend or cancel the licence. The term is fifteen (15) calendar days from the notification date. And one sentence is worth underlining: the administrative process shall not have the effect of staying or modifying the Department’s decision or the processes it entails. Separately, Article 2.21 lets the Department, through the Secretary of Justice, bring an injunction in the Court of First Instance to stop an establishment operating without a licence, whether because it never applied or because it was denied, suspended or cancelled.

Licensing and supervision are done by the Department of the Family, through its Licensing Office; the appeal goes to that Department’s own Adjudicative Board. ACUDEN, attached to the Department of the Family, is what publishes the Act’s text. The Act publishes no addresses, phone numbers or the web register’s link, and we do not invent them here.

• Not looking at the licence date: it is issued for two years, not indefinitely.
• Accepting the previous owner’s or previous premises’ licence: it is neither transferable nor assignable.
• Believing anyone may mind children at home without a licence: the exception is one or two children, or relatives up to the third degree with a maximum of five.
• Thinking you must wait for the Department to inspect: the child or their relatives may request it.
• Accepting an extension to correct a safety, food, health or hygiene deficiency: the Act does not allow one.
• Assuming an appeal halts the closure: the administrative process neither stays nor modifies the Department’s decision.
• Not consulting the register of licensed centres, which includes licence status and complaints already adjudicated.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de la Familia

  Familia

  docs.pr.gov

• ACUDEN — Administration for the Integral Care and Development of Childhood

  acuden

  www.acuden.pr.gov