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The new process for Keystone STARS pre-designation and designation applications, which was supposed to launch on to Pennsylvania’s Professional Development (PD) Registry on October 1, 2021, has been delayed until early 2022.

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In response to the increasing demands on early learning programs across the commonwealth due to the rise in COVID-19 cases and pandemic conditions, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) is delaying Keystone STARS designations for one year and the go-live date for the new streamlined Keystone STARS Designation System in the Professional Development (PD) Registry.

Only those programs who wish to forego an extension or wish to move up in STAR levels will need to complete designation activities through Sept. 30, 2022. Programs wishing to do so prior to the launch of the new streamlined Keystone STARS designation system in the PD Registry will continue to use the current STARS document uploader to submit evidence and documentation to their Quality Coach.

Programs wishing to forego the extension or move up in STAR levels following the launch of the new STARS designation system in 2022 will be required to use the new system to upload evidence and documentation to their Quality Coach. All programs will continue to have the ability to upload documentation and evidence into their Document Vault during the one-year extension.

The extensions will also provide additional time for programs to become comfortable and familiar with using the Document Vault feature and will help them store important designation information in a centralized location for future designation purposes.

OCDEL will release additional guidance related to the rollout of the streamlined Keystone STARS Designation System in the upcoming months and will continue to offer training for both providers and ELRC staff until the go-live date in early 2022.