iCare Child Development Center LLC v. Cicero-Brown

Background The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning conducted simultaneous on-site reviews at four iCare Child Development Center locations. Auditors requested arrival and departure records, which three of the four centers failed to provide during the audit. The Department dismissed iCare from the voucher program for failure to cooperate with the investigation. iCare sued officials under Section nineteen eighty-three of Title forty-two of the United States Code, seeking a preliminary injunction to be reinstated in the program based on a claim of a due process violation requiring a pre-deprivation hearing. The court’s reasoning The court applied the Mathews v. Eldridge balancing test to determine if a pre-deprivation hearing was required. The court found the private interest in continued participation was less significant than interests in welfare or disability benefits because dismissal does not affect the provider’s license to operate. The risk of erroneous deprivation was deemed negligible since the dismissal turned on the clear fact of non-compliance with record-keeping requests. The government had a significant interest in promptly dismissing non-compliant providers to protect child safety and conserve public resources. Consequently, the court concluded that a pre-deprivation hearing was not constitutionally required. Because iCare was not entitled to a pre-deprivation hearing, we affirm. Opinion of the Court What it means going forward Daycare providers dismissed from state voucher programs for failing to comply with on-site investigations may be removed without a pre-deprivation hearing, provided the dismissal is based on clear non-compliance with record-keeping requirements.