Welcome to the ECE Recap where you can find the
most recent and important information from the
Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).
Child Care Hiring Days Begin Tomorrow: March 29-31

Are you hiring? You are not alone! With the majority of child care programs experiencing staffing shortages, action is being taken to connect job seekers to hiring early learning programs throughout Pennsylvania. 

Beginning tomorrow, ECE programs can participate in Child Care Hiring Days for PA on March 29, 30 and 31, 2022, at no cost! During this 3-day event, ECE programs will host walk-in hiring events, featuring on-the-spot interviews at their locations. Programs will display yellow balloons, ribbons, or stars in front of their facility to signify that they are participating in Child Care Hiring Days of PA. This event will be widely advertised via radio, social media and community organizations. The event aims to simplify the job search and hiring process for potential applicants and promote the rewards of working in early childhood education. 

Register, post your job positions, watch the recorded Information Session and learn more at ECEhire.com! Child Care Hiring Days for PA (phmc.org)
Can Families Easily Contact Your Early Learning Program?

Is your child care or early learning program making it easy for families to contact you when they locate your information via the child care search in COMPASS? The COMPASS search feature provides information for quick and easy contact once a child care or early learning program is selected in a search. Did you know there's also a CONTACT PROVIDER button for your program? Make sure families are able to contact your program by updating your information.

The CONTACT PROVIDER button will only appear for a location if your program specifically indicates you want to be contacted by using the functionality from www.findchildcare.pa.gov. See the step-by-step process from the PSS Release and PPT for how to update your information in PELICAN, activate the CONTACT PROVIDER button, and make it easy for families to contact your program!
ARPA Stabilization Grant Reporting

Important information about reporting is now available for Pennsylvania early childhood education programs who received an ARPA Stabilization Grant. Information released via email on March 24, 2022, by OCDEL's Bureau of Certification, contains a timeline of important dates, and process for reporting the use of ARPA Stabilization funds. Click here for more information.
March 31 ACF/ED Joint Webinar: Public Service Loan Forgiveness for the ECE Workforce

If you’re an early childhood education professional, please plan to join the Public Service Loan Forgiveness webinar on March 31, 2022, from 3-4 pm, hosted by the Office of Early Childhood Development, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and the U.S. Department of Education (ED), which will highlight flexibilities offered through the Limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver and the ways in which the early care and education workforce can take advantage of this time-limited opportunity. Get more info.
Open Position: Professional Development Organization (PDO) Grants Supervisor – The Pennsylvania Key

The Berks County Intermediate Unit is accepting applications for a Professional Development Organization (PDO) Grants Supervisor – The Pennsylvania Key. This full-time position will provide supervision of Pennsylvania’s Professional Development Organizations (PDOs) as well as to facilitate collaborative efforts supporting the goals of the PDOs and Office of Child Development and Early Learning’s (OCDEL) vision for workforce development as administered by OCDEL and the Pennsylvania Key. Get more information.
Child Care Crisis Survey - Chance at $100 Gift Card

If you are a child care program owner or director, Strong Start PA Campaign needs your help to tell the story of Pennsylvania’s on-going child care crisis. The Start Strong PA Campaign is collecting information from child care providers on the staffing crisis through a brief four minute survey. Directors and owners who complete the survey by Thursday, March 31, 2022, will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift card. Two gift cards will be awarded.
Is Your Contact Information Up-To-Date?

To ensure certified child care providers receive complete information on important opportunities from the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), certified child care providers should visit Provider Self Service (PSS) and confirm their contact information is up to date.
 
Specifically, certified child care providers are asked to visit their Licensing Location Profile(s) in PSS and check to ensure all Location Information is accurate paying special attention to the Email Address field. 
 
For help with PSS, certified child care providers should contact the PELICAN Provider Help Desk at 877.491.3818 (select option #2 twice), or by email at [email protected]. 
Week of the Young Child April 2-8

NAEYC invites early childhood educators, families and community partners to celebrate and shine a spotlight on their classroom, advocacy, and family engagement activities via NAEYC's social channels. Early childhood educators can plan their week around daily classroom celebration themes, or create their own. Discover resources and Step It Up (SIU) ideas to use in planning. Share ideas on NAEYC's Facebook WOYC event pages or other social media sites using #WOYC22 or email [email protected]. Stay tuned for more information on Pennsylvania-specific outreach.
Webinar Series: Improving Business Practices for Family Child Care Providers

The Office of Child Care’s National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance is partnering with Tom Copeland on three upcoming webinars on improving business practices for family child care (FCC) providers. The webinars are intended for FCC providers, who will learn about marketing, legal and insurance issues, and money management/retirement for their FCC business. Learn more.

The Early Childhood Professional Development Organization (ECE PDO) at PHMC is soliciting proposals for the provision of career pathway services for the 2022-23 fiscal year. The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to identify institutions of higher education (IHEs) and professional learning organization (PLOs) partners to develop educational pathways with workforce supports through program design to provide equitable access to degree and credential attainment for the incumbent ECE workforce in Philadelphia and the Southeast Region of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. Get more details. 
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