Features / When Licensing Visits

When Licensing Visits

The inspector picks a few children and employees. Every file is already complete.

Inspection day

What it does

  • Expirations watched months ahead, with reminders sent for you
  • Any gap found and fixed in a couple of clicks
  • Pick the files the inspector asks for and open them in seconds
  • Immunizations, signed state forms, training hours and background checks, all in order

13 screens in about 50 seconds. No sound needed.

Why it matters

A licensing visit is rarely about one dramatic problem. It is about whether, for the handful of children and employees the inspector happens to pick, every required record is present, current and signed. One missing parent signature on one form is a citation.

Centers that do well on inspection day are the ones that never stopped checking. Centerly does that checking for you every night, sends the reminders, and makes a gap easy to close the day it appears. By the time someone visits, there is nothing left to find.

How it works

In practice

All year: watch and remind

Expiring CPR cards, background-check renewals, training hours, doses coming due and forms needing a new signature are tracked months ahead. Reminders go to the employee or the parent without you.

Any day: find and fix

A gap appears on the office to-do list with a plain explanation. Most are closed in two clicks, for example by sending a form to a parent's phone for signature.

Visit day: open the files

Tick the children and employees the inspector names and open their files. Each shows every required record, with dates and signatures, and prints as one packet.

Screen by screen

When Licensing Visits in 13 screens

SCREEN 1 OF 13

Centerly watches every expiry date

Staff cards, background checks, training hours, immunizations and forms are tracked all year, and the reminders go out on their own.

Centerly watches every expiry date
Teachers get the nudge, not you
SCREEN 2 OF 13

Teachers get the nudge, not you

Thirty days before her CPR card expires, Priya gets a reminder with a one-tap upload. The 60-day reminder already went out.

Parents are reminded too
SCREEN 3 OF 13

Parents are reminded too

When a child's next dose is coming due, the parent gets a reminder and can upload the new record straight from a phone.

SCREEN 4 OF 13

Find the one gap in seconds

The to-do list shows exactly what is missing. Here, a state admission form is waiting on a parent's signature.

Find the one gap in seconds
SCREEN 5 OF 13

Fixed in two clicks

Send for signature, and the parent signs on her phone. Forty minutes later the form is filed and the item is done.

Fixed in two clicks
SCREEN 6 OF 13

Then one morning, licensing arrives

Open Licensing visit mode. Every child and staff file was checked at 6:00 this morning, and nothing is open.

Then one morning, licensing arrives
SCREEN 7 OF 13

The inspector picks the files

The licensing representative names five children and three employees. Tick them on the roster and open all eight files.

The inspector picks the files
SCREEN 8 OF 13

A child's whole file at a glance

Every record your state requires for Mia, each with a green tick, a date, and the document one click away.

A child's whole file at a glance
SCREEN 9 OF 13

Immunizations, dose by dose

Each dose is checked against your state's schedule, with the scanned record beside it for the inspector to read.

Immunizations, dose by dose
SCREEN 10 OF 13

State forms, signed by both

The parent's and the director's signatures, each with date and time, on the current version of the form.

State forms, signed by both
SCREEN 11 OF 13

An employee's file, all green

Training hours, CPR and first aid, background check, affidavit and orientation for Priya, each one current and on file.

An employee's file, all green
SCREEN 12 OF 13

Training hours, certificate by certificate

Every course with its date, hours, provider and certificate, adding up to the annual requirement, plus the background-check dates.

Training hours, certificate by certificate
SCREEN 13 OF 13

Hand over the packet

Print all eight files or share a secure link with the inspector. Nothing is missing, and the visit is on record.

Hand over the packet
In detail

What is in each file, and how it stays current

A child's file

RecordHow it gets thereHow it stays current
Admission or enrollment formCompleted online by the parentA change to pick-up people or contacts asks for a fresh signature
Immunization recordUploaded by the parent or scanned by the office; read by the assistantNext dose tracked; parent reminded before it is due
Health statementUploaded or scannedRenewal date tracked
Hearing and vision screeningUploaded or scannedFlagged when a child reaches the age your state requires
Emergency and pick-up authorizationsEntered by the parent in the portalParents update them; every change is recorded
Allergy or medical planUploaded, with allergies shown on classroom screensReviewed at re-enrollment
State formsPre-filled, signed by the parent, countersigned by the directorRe-signed when your state issues a new version
Tuition agreement and handbookSigned onlineVersioned; the signed version stays on file

An employee's file

RecordHow it gets thereHow it stays current
Annual training hoursEach course entered with its certificateHours short of the requirement are flagged as the year goes on
Pre-service training and orientationCompleted and signed during onboardingOne-time, kept permanently
CPR and first aidCard uploaded and read at uploadEmployee reminded ahead of expiry
Background checkNotice recorded with the cleared dateRenewal date tracked and reminded
Notarized affidavitUploaded and checked for every page and signatureKept on file
Health statement or TB screeningUploaded where your state requires itRenewal tracked
Questions

About When Licensing Visits

What does an inspector usually ask to see for a child?

It varies by state, but typically the enrollment or admission form, the immunization record, a health statement, screenings where required, emergency and pick-up authorizations, any allergy or medical plan, and state forms with the parent's and the center's signatures.

And for an employee?

Typically annual training hours with certificates, pre-service training, CPR and first aid, the background check and its renewal date, a notarized affidavit where required, and a signed orientation.

Can the inspector look at the files on screen?

Yes. Many are happy to. You can also print the packet or share a secure link to the selected files.

Does this guarantee no citations?

No software can. Centerly shows you the gaps and helps you close them before anyone visits. Your center remains responsible for meeting the standards.

See When Licensing Visits with your own center in mind

A 30-minute call, shaped around how your center runs today.