Violation

California Code § 1596.841Current Child Roster

How CCLD inspectors cite this regulation, what providers do to stay clear of it, and where it appears in the public record.

Type B, generalAffects Child Care Centers, Family Child Care Homes16 facilities cited in the last 90 days

ℹ️ Educational reference based on public CCLD inspection records. Not legal or compliance advice. Verify requirements with official sources. Full disclaimer →

Regulation text

What California Code § 1596.841 actually says

California Code § 1596.841

Each child day care facility shall maintain a current roster of children who are provided care in the facility. The roster shall include the name, address, and daytime telephone number of the child’s parent or guardian, and the name and telephone number of the child’s physician. This roster shall be available to the licensing agency upon request.

From the field

What providers tell us about this citation

Based on community experience, not official guidance.

Inspectors will ask to see your roster within the first few minutes of any visit, announced or not. They cross-check it against the children physically present in the room. If a child is there but not on your roster, or a roster entry is missing a phone number, that's an immediate write-up. Keep your roster in a binder at your sign-in table, updated same-day when a new child starts. Digital-only rosters get flagged if you can't pull them up instantly. A verbal warning usually happens for one missing phone number; two or more gaps and it's documented.

By the numbers

16^*CCLD: facilities cited in the last 90 days
6^*CCLD: counties where this citation appeared
49^*CCLD: rank among most-common citations
Trajectory: More citations than the prior period
+12 facilities

16 facilities were cited for this in the last 90 days. See if yours is one of them.

Check a facility

What other providers do

Common practices to stay clear of Current Child Roster

Common practices shared by providers. Confirm requirements with your licensing analyst.

Common practices

Maintain required adult-to-child ratios
Count all children present when calculating ratios
Ensure ratios are maintained during transitions and activities
Have backup plans if staff become unavailable

What to avoid

Keeping the roster in a back office filing cabinet instead of immediately accessible. Inspectors expect it within arm's reach of the main care area. If you have to leave children unsupervised to retrieve it, that compounds the issue.
Updating the roster weekly or monthly instead of on the day a child enrolls or information changes. CCLD expects real-time accuracy, and a roster that's even a few days behind gets documented as noncompliant.
Missing the physician name and phone number field. Providers focus on parent contacts but skip the doctor information, which is specifically required by this section. Inspectors check every field.
Removing children from the roster the day they stop attending instead of keeping records organized. While you don't need to keep departed children on your current roster, removing them before confirming disenrollment creates gaps if inspectors ask about a child who attended recently.

Regional record

Where this citation appeared in the past 90 days

Citation counts and rates by California county, drawn from CCLD inspection records. Click a county to see its weekly intelligence report.

Regional citations for Current Child Roster, last 90 days
County	Citations	Facilities	Citation rate
Los Angeles	10	--	--
San Diego	2	--	--
Monterey	1	--	--
Tuolumne	1	--	--
Santa Clara	1	--	--
San Luis Obispo	1	--	--

SOURCE

*CCLD: California Community Care Licensing Divisionviolation_citations2026-05-05Updated weekly

Articles about this topic

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Answers based on public CCLD data and regulation text. May not reflect recent changes.

What is the Child Roster requirement?

California Health and Safety Code Section 1596.841 requires every child day care facility to maintain a current roster listing all children in care. Each entry must include the child's name, home address, parent or guardian daytime phone number, and the name and telephone number of the child's physician. This roster must be available to CCLD licensing staff on demand, meaning you cannot keep it locked away or stored only in a digital system that takes time to access.

How common are child roster citations?

According to California CCLD inspection records as of March 15, 2026, 11 facilities have been cited for this violation in the past 90 days across 5 California counties. That works out to roughly 1 in 3,636 inspected facilities statewide. Los Angeles County accounts for more than half of citations with 6 facilities cited, followed by San Diego with 2. Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, and Solano counties each had 1 citation. The concentration in Los Angeles suggests regional enforcement emphasis on this requirement.

What triggers a child roster citation during an inspection?

Inspectors ask to see your roster within the first few minutes of arriving and cross-check it against the children physically present in the room. Based on CCLD inspection patterns, the most common trigger is a child who is present but not listed, or a roster entry missing the physician's name and phone number. Inspectors check every required field. If you have to leave children to retrieve the roster from a back office, that compounds the issue. A roster that hasn't been updated since a child enrolled last month also gets documented as noncompliant.

How can I prevent a child roster citation?

Keep your roster in a binder at your sign-in table where you can hand it to an inspector without leaving the room. Update it the same day a new child starts, not at the end of the week. Build a simple template with columns for every required field: child name, address, parent daytime phone, and physician name and phone. Review it every Friday for accuracy. Digital-only rosters get flagged if you cannot pull them up instantly, so maintain a printed backup even if you track enrollment electronically.

What should I do if I receive a child roster citation?

Correct the specific gaps documented by the inspector right away. If entries were missing physician information, contact those parents today and update the roster before end of business. If a child was present but unlisted, add them immediately and review your enrollment intake process to prevent recurrence. Create a new-child checklist that includes same-day roster entry as the first step. Submit your Plan of Correction with a dated copy of the corrected roster attached. For complex situations, consider consulting a licensed childcare compliance specialist.

Related violations

Other citations in this regulation family

This information is educational and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed child care compliance consultant for guidance specific to your facility. Citation data is sourced from California Community Care Licensing Division public records and is refreshed regularly.

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