Dear early care and education supporters,
We wanted to share an important development. The Wolf Administration announced today that they will continue to make child care subsidy payments, with some exceptions, through the end of May. PennAEYC and its advocacy partners in the Start Strong PA campaign have called on Gov. Wolf to ensure these payments continue until the crisis ends, along with a slate of other recommendations to support the child care industry through the pandemic. This is a good step in the right direction and we appreciate you lifting your voices with ours to make a difference. Please see the below announcement issued by the Office of Child Development and Early Learning for all the details.
Finally, please be on the lookout for more information soon on how you can advocate with us and our partners to further support your programs and the children and families you serve.
Be healthy and safe,
The PennAEYC Team
Child Care Works Payment Modifications Due to Impacts Related to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Announcement provides additional information to child care programs participating in Child Care Works (CCW) and the Early Learning Resource Centers (ELRC) in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This is an updated policy, providing additional information and replaces ELRC Announcement 20 #05.
During this emergency period, child care providers are encountering complex challenges that exceed the scope of normal operations. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) recognizes that providers are impacted by mandated closure for significant periods of time due to COVID-19 impacts. In order to continue supporting child care providers through facility closures resulting from COVID-19, DHS is updating its previously issued guidance which addressed CCW payments through April 30, 2020.
Effective May 1, 2020, CCW payment will continue to providers, with the exception of providers who have been closed by Certification due to a negative sanction or who have reported permanent closure. Providers will continue to be paid based on enrollment for those children who remain eligible for CCW through normal invoicing and payment methods.
In most cases the ELRC is not terminating CCW eligibility for families during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there are some instances where eligibility must end. During the COVID-19 closures, adverse actions will continue to occur for the following circumstance:
- Over income
- Voluntary withdrawal
- Loss of appeal
- Child turns 13
- Family moves out of Pennsylvania
- Family assets over $1 million
- Intentional fraud
- TANF cases determined ineligible by the County Assistance Office
Providers will no longer be paid for children for whom an adverse action was issued.
This policy will be in effect through May 31, 2020.
The status of this policy will be reviewed and updated before the end of May 2020 to provide guidance to ELRC and inform the child care community of the policy for the period of June 1-30, 2020.
PennAEYC COVID-19 Webpage
PennAEYC continues to update the
COVID-19 page on our website
with links to our previous e-messages and to OCDEL announcements and guidance. There are also links to NAEYC and other online resources.
Key Resources
We encourage you to continue to consult these resources for updates on COVID-19, information on staying healthy, and updates on the situation in Pennsylvania.
We also encourage you to visit
www.sharedsourcepa.org
for helpful resources that you can use with families and staff to reduce the level of anxiety, communicate what is known to be most appropriate health, hygiene and safety practices, as well as interim guidance for child care businesses.
