CAIR Hub School & Child Care Roster Lookup (SCRL) ​​Facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1.  What is SCRL?  ​

The School and Child Care Roster Lookup (SCRL) is a tool that can determine whether or not a student meets all immunization requirements to enter school or child care. SCRL (we like to call it squirrel) looks at immunization data in the California Immunization Registry (CAIR2) and uses the pre-K or K–12 immunization requirements to show a student’s immunization status. The statuses include: 1) Complete, meaning they have all required vaccinations and can be admitted; 2) Conditional, meaning they are currently up to date and can enter but will require more doses and follow-up; or 3) Overdue for certain vaccines and should not be admitted yet. In other words, SCRL is a tool that makes immunization record checking of children easy for schools and child care facilities.

2.  How does SCRL work?

SCRL works by looking at lists of students or students individually (single student lookup). You can upload a student roster list from your student information system or build a list on your own and submit it to SCRL. SCRL looks at data from the California Immunization Registry (CAIR2) and quickly returns the immunization status for each child on your roster found in CAIR2, using pre-K or K–12 immunization requirements, so that you can easily see which students have completed the requirements and which students may be behind on their immunizations. SCRL can print Blue Cards (the California Pre-Kindergarten and School Immunization Record) from within the Vaccination History​ or roster file pages for students. The SCRL tool can also help you create lists of students that need follow up because they are either overdue or have been admitted conditionally for their grade, making immunization tracking much easier for you.​

3.  Who can use SCRL?​

SCRL can be used by child care and school personnel throughout California who are normally tasked with checking immunization status of students to admit them into school or to report immunization data to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

4.  If I’m in a RIDE county, can I still use SCRL?

Yes. Schools that have traditionally accessed the Regional Immunization Data Exchange (RIDE) (in counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne) can also use SCRL because data from RIDE is uploaded into CAIR2 in near real time on a daily basis.

5.  Do school or child care sites need both CAIR2 and SCRL access?

No. Schools and child care sites only need SCRL access since SCRL provides results that are specific to school and child care admission requirements. If your school also helps notify families of other recommended vaccines besides those required by law, you may want to consider having “Read-Only” access to CAIR2 in addition to SCRL.​

6.  How does a school or child care facility get started using SCRL?

Click on the Register button at the top of the CAIR Hub page or see the step-by-step enrollment guide (PDF) located on the home page.

7.  How is CDPH ensuring that only school staff have access to SCRL?

Just like joining CAIR2, CAIR Hub has a vetting process to ensure that only those personnel who should be using SCRL can do so. Users can either be invited by the school or child care site where they work or can join on their own after going through a verification process.

8.  Is SCRL connected to CAIR-ME (CAIR - Medical Exemption website)​?

Not currently. The California Immunization Registry - Medical Exemption (CAIR-ME) website is a secure site for physicians to issue and manage standardized medical exemptions for children in school or child care. Parents use the same site to enter and update information so their child’s doctor can issue a medical exemption. Schools and child care facilities can review and receive updates regarding medical exemptions issued for children in attendance. For information about CAIR-ME, please contact MedicalExemptions@cdph.ca.gov or see Exemption FAQs (ca.gov).​

9.  What is AB 1797 (Akilah Weber, 2022) and how does it affect SCRL​?

AB 1797 (Akilah Weber, 2022) is a bill that requires all health care providers to enter all administered vaccines into a California Immunization Registry (there are currently two immunization registries in CA, CAIR2 and RIDE) starting January 1, 2023. More information about this bill is posted with our AB 1797 Immunization Registry FAQs. As time progresses and information in immunization registries becomes more complete, it will mean that data from SCRL will also become more complete, making it easier for school or child care staff to check the immunization status of their students.​

10.  Where can I learn more about SCRL and how to use it?

Additional information about SCRL functionality is found in the FAQs about how to use SCRL, or in this training video.

For further assistance about SCRL items that were not covered from this fact sheet or linked resources, please contact the CAIR  Hub Help Desk at Cairhub@cdph.ca.gov  or call 800-578-7889.​

Updated: 8.26.24

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