California Code § 102418(a): Pre-Admission Immunizations

This regulation requires that children be fully immunized according to California's Title 17 requirements BEFORE their first day at your family child care home - not during their first week, not 'we're working on it,' but before admission. You must verify that each child has received all required vaccines for their age before you can legally accept them into care. This protects all the children in your care from preventable diseases and ensures compliance from day one.

As of November 23, 2025, 35 facilities have been cited for pre-admission immunization violations in the past 90 days. This affects approximately 1 in 1,143 California childcare facilities (0.46% of the 7,551 facilities inspected). Citations occurred across 14 counties, with Los Angeles County leading at 11 citations, Riverside County with 6, San Diego County with 5, and both San Bernardino and Orange counties with 2 each.

Inspectors check enrollment files for children who started care without complete immunization documentation on file BEFORE their first day. Citations happen when providers let children start with a promise that 'records are coming,' when parents submit records after the child has already been attending, or when conditional admission forms are used incorrectly. Even letting a child do a 'trial day' without verified immunizations can trigger this citation. The state considers any child present without prior immunization verification to be improperly admitted.

Make immunization verification the very first step in your enrollment process - before you discuss payment, before you show them around, get those records. Tell parents during initial contact that their child cannot start until you have received and verified complete immunization documentation. Create an enrollment checklist that physically prevents you from setting a start date until immunizations are checked off. Review California's Title 17 immunization requirements so you know what 'complete' means for each age group. When parents say 'I'll bring the records on the first day,' explain that the first day cannot happen until records are received and verified.

Review every child's file to identify anyone who started without proper pre-admission immunization verification. Document the dates they started versus when records were received to show the compliance gap. Implement a new enrollment procedure that makes starting care impossible without verified immunizations, and document this policy in writing. Train any staff involved in enrollment on the pre-admission requirement. In your Plan of Correction, show your new enrollment checklist and provide examples of how you've since turned away families who weren't ready with immunization records. If families cannot provide records, direct them to get official documentation from their pediatrician before setting a start date.