The assigned assessor will complete their own screening of the ELP, within one week before the scheduled initial assessment, by either viewing the ELP’s licensing history on the CCR website (Search for Child Care Center or Home) or clicking the Monitoring Deficiency Findings button within the program’s Pre-Assessment tab within Engage and reviewing those findings. Only deficiencies posted within the most recent 12 months are reviewed and accounted for. This process is also followed for any future assessment or monitoring visits the assessor makes. If the ELP no longer qualifies to request an assessment, the assessor will notify the ELP immediately and provide the earliest date that the ELP can request an assessment.
Besides the initial assessment, all screening form impacts are placed after the assessment is complete and a calculated star is received. If the program is currently on an impact at the time of an assessment, then that impact is carried over to the newly assessed star level. Example: Two-Star ELP is currently on probation at reassessment and is now assessed at a Three-Star level. The ELP remains on probation but can be placed at the newly assessed star-level. For specific instructions and guidance on star-level impacts at a recertification visit, please see the EUG.
Quarterly screenings are done every three months and do not require a site visit. However, an assessor may schedule the quarterly screening to coincide with an annual monitoring. Any action to be taken will be from the point of discovery, and any rate changes will take effect the following month. If the ELP reports a change in CCR history to the Board and/or mentor or the mentor reviews the CCR history and notes an impact, the assessor should be notified immediately, and the assessor will complete an official screening, implementing any applicable impacts. Changes in CCR history will be recorded by the mentor in the Engage event log. A facility change request form will be submitted by the mentor or ELP by submitting a help ticket.
All quarterly screenings are to be completed by the assessor and placed into the Engage event log following all steps outlined in the EUG, including any applicable documentation. See the EUG for more information about event log data entry specific to quarterly screenings and impacts based on screenings. If the ELP has received zero citations within the most recent 12-month CCR history, an automated event log will not be created. Staff will need to input this screening by following the guidance in the EUG for this situation. For ELPs that have a screening form impact when utilizing the Monitoring Deficiency Findings button on Engage, the assessor will upload a completed Texas Rising Star Impacts Notice form (found in the Guidelines Section 5: Resources) sharing the results with the ELP’s mentor. If the assessor manually reviewed the ELP and noted a screening impact, they will upload the screenshot of the ELP’s licensing deficiency log, a completed screening form, and a completed Texas Rising Star Impacts Notice form and share the results with the ELP’s mentor (if applicable) so that the mentor may offer technical assistance to the site if needed. These documents may be completed either electronically or in hard copy and uploaded in the Engage event log.
Reminder: Probation impacts can begin the date they are discovered and determined, whereas star level impacts will begin the first of the following month.
If the minimum standard on the form states only the number, with no letter or number in parentheses, it encompasses the entire standard. For example, an ELP is cited for 746.2805(a). On the screening form, 746.2805 is listed; therefore, 746.2805(a) is counted as applicable.
Citations for Human Resource Code (HRC) or Texas Family Code (TFC) violations are counted within the total deficiencies if weighted as high or medium-high but will not equate to any similar deficiency noted in Section 3 or 4 of the screening form.
If an assessor observes more than one Probation A deficiency received within a single screening review, the impact is a singular Probation A. For example, the assessor conducts a screening on November 1, 2022, and notes the following deficiencies as recently incurred since the last quarterly screening: 745.621 received on 10/1/22, 746.2805(b) received on 9/27/22 and 746.1201(1) received on 9/27/22. The impact is one Probation A for all discovered Probation A deficiencies within this screening.
If a second consecutive probation is incurred while the ELP is currently on a first probation, then that first probation is ended and the second one begins. For example: An ELP is placed on probation for a citation received in January 2023. The first probation for a deficiency discovered in January would be effective January through June 2023. Once the second citation, discovered in March 2023, is implemented, the first probation immediately ends. The second probation would be effective March through August 2023.
If an ELP has multiple impacts, the assessor must determine whether one impact will supersede the other or whether they will run concurrently.
A star-level drop impact coupled with a probation impact will result in a concurrent impact.
If a probation impact is coupled with another probation, Probation B will supersede Probation A.
ELPs that have already been placed on an impact and incur a different impact during that period will have the subsequent impact put in place at the time of discovery, and the subsequent impact may run concurrently with the original impact. For example, a program on a star-level drop that receives a Probation A impact will be placed on a six-month probation at the point of discovery, and this time frame may overlap the star-level drop time frame. However, a program on a Probation A impact that receives a Probation B impact will have the Probation B impact considered as a second consecutive probation.
Please see the Impact of Deficiencies on Texas Rising Star Status section in the Guidelines for information on how consequences of deficiencies are applied.
Reminder: For any consequences related to an ELP’s screening, the assessor will complete the Texas Rising Star Impacts Notice form, found in Section 5 of the Guidelines. If staff have questions about an ELP’s specific CCR history situation and/or potential impacts, please email TexasRisingStar@twc.texas.gov to request a review of the ELP’s screening impacts.