Download the FREE advice memo

Appeal licensing citations like a lawyer.

I'm an Ivy League-educated lawyer & preschool owner. I want to help every childcare provider in California appeal Type A & Type B licensing citations and win.

Get the Licensing Appeal Kit
Howard Wu headshot blank background

Lawyer-Made Resources for Childcare Providers

Cutting-edge legal arguments, written in plain English, so you can be ready to appeal any citation.

Flat icon, open book next to person's head

Guide to Licensing Appeals

I've written a 22-page step-by-step guide to appeal Type A and Type B licensing citations. The guide includes details on timing and deadlines; assembling evidence; frameworks for drafting your arguments; preserving the right to sue for money; petitioning for a writ of administrative mandamus, and more.

Icon of checkmark over documents

Templates & examples

The Licensing Appeal Kit also includes fill-in-the-blank templates for every level of appeal with some pre-written arguments for common appeal issues + full copies of real-life winning appeals + printable checklists for teacher files and children files to avoid the most common record-keeping citations.

Icon, overlapping blank speech bubbles

Consultation Call

Purchase a 1-hour phone or video consultation with me, with no expiration date. If you ever need personal guidance about how to handle a licensing citation, schedule a call with me to talk the issues through. (Only 50 currently available.)

You only get 15 days to appeal. Be ready now.

Purchase the Licensing Appeal Kit and get:

 

→ My 22-page step-by-step guide to appeal licensing citations

→ Fill-in-the-blank templates for every level of appeal with pre-written arguments for common appeal issues

→ FULL copies of real-life winning appeals

→ Printable checklists to avoid the most common record-keeping citations

→ A 1-hour phone or video consultation with me, to use whenever you need (only 50 currently available)

Get the Licensing Appeal Kit

Protect your center

The licensing agency issues illegitimate and spurious citations all the time. Agency officials will invent rules for checklists, paperwork, or furnishings, or claim that they can enforce "guidance" published in PINs or emails, then issue citations when their made-up rules are not followed. Agency officials will also hunt for any excuse to issue a citation to assert their power and authority. (A center in Gilroy, California received a Type B citation for a single dead fly on a window sill.) 

 

Many providers have said that they feel powerless to stand up to licensing, don't know where to start to challenge citations, and can't afford to hire a lawyer to help them appeal.  I want to help.

 

As a lawyer, clients paid $575 per hour for my work. The documents and research in my appeal package represent over 300 hours of my research and work, and for a limited time you can get all of it--plus a 1-hour consultation with me--for less than $100.

Get the Licensing Appeal Kit
Howard Wu professional headshot, closeup

Keep the Licensing Agency Accountable

We made national news for challenging Child Care Licensing's jurisdiction to enforce the Department of Public Health's mask mandate (and winning).

 

Afterwards, several preschool owners and directors reached out to express support, recounting times that CCLD had retaliated against them. Several said they regret not having the background or resources to hold CCLD accountable in the same way.

Get the Licensing Appeal Kit
Screenshot of Voice of San Diego headline, "Regulators Raided Three Preschools Over Mask Complaints Earlier This Year. Now They've Dropped the Charges

"After review of pertinent materials, the citations will be dismissed."

-Shanice Orum, Program Administrator, Child Care Licensing (8/29/22)

Get the Licensing Appeal Kit
This correspondence is in response to your second level appeal dated June 3, 2022. The appeal addressed the four (4) facilities noted above. After review of pertinent material, the citations will be dismissed. Please contact Assistant Program Administrator, Maria Hendrix at maria.hendrix@dss.ca.gov if you have any questions or concerns. Sincerely, Shanice Orum, Program Administrator, Child Care Licensing. c: San Diego Child Care Regional Office

I was never sure exactly what to do to appeal a licensing citation the right way.  We just used Howard's template and followed his instructions to appeal a Type B citation, and it was dismissed.  I recommend that every daycare owner download Howard's appeal kit and keep it on your computer desktop.

Elena G.

Owner, Barefoot Kids Daycare

I'm very grateful to Howard for his help handling our licensing appeal. We knew what DSS did wasn't right but it was too expensive to hire a lawyer. Howard made it easy to file our appeal and do everything on time. 

Luciana S.

Director, Our Lady Queen of Peace Preschool

Every director should have this appeal kit saved on their computer. The documents we got from Howard saved me hours of time and included ideas for arguments I had never thought of.  Just the time you'll save is worth the money.

Tamara A.

Director, Joyful Beginnings Academy

Get the Licensing Appeal Kit.
Researched & written by a lawyer and preschool owner, for childcare providers.

As a lawyer in private practice, clients used to pay $575 per hour for my time and effort. The guides, templates, research, and real-world appeals in my Licensing Appeal Kit represents over 300 hours of research and work on my part, which I’m making available to every childcare provider in California for the cost of a few children’s books. And for a limited number of providers, I’m offering the Licensing Appeal Kit and a 1-hour consultation with me to talk over any licensing issues whenever they need.

The Licensing Appeal Kit

$ 99

What you get:

  • My 22-page step-by-step guide to appeal licensing citations
  • A 9-page guide to help childcare providers understand and handle lawsuits (being sued)
  • Ready-to-use templates for first- and second-level appeals
  • A bulletpoint appeal template that makes it possible to assemble an appeal in less than hour
  • Checklists for children files and teacher files to help you avoid common record-keeping citations
  • Seven real-life examples you’ll have permission to copy from (over 400 pages of material)
  • Templates for licensing waiver requests
  • A pre-written waiver request to commingle toddlers with other age components (new for 2024, based on PIN 24-01-CCP)
  • Every future update (purchasers are the first to receive new materials)
or

The Licensing Appeal Kit
+ 1-hour consultation

$ 199

What you get:

  • Everything in the Licensing Appeal Kit
  • Every future update (purchasers are the first to receive new materials)
  • A one-hour phone consultation with me to discuss your licensing issue and analyze your appeal (never expires; save it for when you need it)
  • Only 6 more currently available
or
Skip to content