Wisconsin Legislative Council
AMENDMENT MEMO
One Ea st Ma in Stre e t, Suite 401 • Ma dison, W I 53703 • (608) 266-1304 • le g.council@le gis.wisconsin.gov • http://www.le gis.wisconsin.gov/lc
Memo published: September 13, 2023 Contact: Amber Otis, Senior Staff Attorney
2023 Assembly Bill 389 Assembly Amendment 1
BACKGROUND
State law requires, subject to certain exceptions, that a person who provides care and supervision for
four or more children under age seven be licensed by the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
Under DCF’s administrative rules, a provider who cares for four to eight children under the age of seven
must be licensed as a “family child care center,” while a provider who cares for nine or more children
must be licensed as a “group child care center.”
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 389
2023 Assembly Bill 389 requires DCF to establish, by rule, a new category of licensed child care centers
providing care and supervision for four to 12 children. The bill requires DCF to regulate this new
category of child care centers the same way in which it regulates “family child care centers,” except:
DCF must require that, for a group of nine to 12 children, two providers provide care and
supervision at all times.
DCF may regulate the new category of child care centers differently from “family child care centers”
to the extent necessary to safely accommodate a larger group of children.
The bill also specifies that the new category of child care centers may not provide care and supervision
for more than eight children at one time who are two years of age or younger.
ASSEMBLY AMENDMENT 1
Assembly Amendment 1 specifies that DCF must regulate the new category of child care providers in the
same way that it regulates family child care providers with respect to the maximum number of children
per provider. In addition, the amendment requires that DCF prohibit more than two providers from
providing care and supervision of children at one time.
In light of these directives, the amendment removes the bill’s more specific provisions that prohibited
more than eight children age two or under from being in care at one time, and that required two
providers provide care and supervision for a group of nine to 12 children at all times.
BILL HISTORY
Representative Goeben introduced Assembly Bill 389 on September 1, 2023, and offered Assembly
Amendment 1 on September 11, 2023. On September 12, 2023, the Assembly Committee on Children
and Families recommended adoption of the amendment on a vote of Ayes, 12; Noes, 0; and
recommended passage of the bill, as amended, on a vote of Ayes, 8; Noes, 4.
For a full history of the bill, visit the Legislature’s bill history page.
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