March 21, 2023 2023-24 Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Request for Applications The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) recently announced its 2023-24 Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Request for Applications (RFA). This is a full, competitive rebid opportunity to disperse all available funding to select, eligible grantees for a five-year grant period beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, and is intended to support providers in preparing to serve and enroll children by September 2023. All FY 2022-23 Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts grantees wishing to serve children in FY 2023-2024 must apply as part of this competitive rebid process. Those seeking to become new Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts grantees may also apply. About Pre-K Counts Grants The ceiling or limit on the potential number of slots that may be awarded to any applicant will depend upon a county’s unmet need percentages and the amount of funding available. Funding is contingent upon approval by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Grants are funded via state dollars, therefore, carryover funds are not permitted. All grant dollars identified in this FY 2023-24 application must be encumbered or spent by June 30, 2024. Eligibility Eligible applicants include: existing PA PKC grantees new applicants from: school districts PDE-licensed nursery schools Head Start grantees child care centers and group child care homes designated at Keystone STAR 3 or STAR 4, and third-party entities applying for PA PKC funding to administer the lead agency responsibilities for entities that are eligible to provide the classroom services under the categories listed above Eligible applicants must: provide assurance that they operate in full compliance with Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Statute, Regulations, and Guidance submit a Letter of Intent possess a: vendor number (SAP#) administrative unit number (AUN) master provider index number (MPI) federal ID number or tax ID number, and MyPDESuite login ID Eligible applicants are encouraged, but not required to: thoroughly review: Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Statute, Regulations, and Guidance Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Request for Applications (RFA) Guidance view the “Getting to Know PA PKC Rebid Webinar Series,” found under “Quick Links” on the Pre-K Counts How to Apply webpage Applicants should view this series prior to submission of a Letter of Intent to ensure an understanding of the program requirements and expectations of compliance if an application is successful. The application review process will include evaluation of the extent to which the applicant demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the PA PKC statute and regulations Letter of Intent Interested applicants must submit Letters of Intent to RA-PAPreKCounts@pa.gov by 3 p.m. on March 28, 2023. Because of the need to establish access to the eGrants procurement system, applicants must submit a completed Letter of Intent to apply for funds using the template posted at PKC How to Apply. The Letter of Intent represents the applicant’s intent to apply for PA PKC funding and must include: the legal name of the eligible entity that will apply the AUN associated with the applying legal entity’s proposed PA PKC provider type preliminary information about requested funding program model provider type, and area to be served. Except for the legal entity and AUN, information submitted in the Letter of Intent may be modified in the final eGrants application. Programs that do not submit the Letter of Intent will not be able to access or submit a funding application in eGrants. Late submissions will not be accepted. Applicants submitting a fully complete Letter of Intent to RA-PAPreKCounts@pa.gov by 3 p.m. on March 28, 2023 will be notified when the PA PKC application is open in eGrants. Learn More To learn more, consult the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Request for Applications (RFA) Guidelines or visit the Pennsylvania Keys website. Any questions should be sent to RA-PAPreKCounts@pa.gov.
July 25, 2022 OCDEL Announces Obsolete Certification Announcements The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), Bureau of Early Learning Policy and Professional Development and Bureau of Certification Services have issued that several Announcements for certified child care providers have been rendered obsolete. Learn More OCDEL regularly uses policy announcements to reflect requirements for methods of child care and the facilities it is provided in. This message provides details as to which announcements that will no longer be in effect and what they will be replaced with. Bureau of Certification Services staff have been instructed to delete copies of the obsolete Announcements. The following announcements are included: C-11-01: Emergency Temporary Relocation of a Child Care Facility, issued May 12, 2011. Replaced by Announcement C-17-05: Emergency Temporary Relocation of a Child Care Facility, issued September 29, 2017. C-12-01: Proof of Identification Required for Child Care Center Directors and Group Child Care Home Primary Staff Person, issued September 18, 2012. C-14-03: Clarification Regarding Degrees Earned from Business, Technical, and Trade Schools, issued April 22, 2014. Replaced by Announcement PDO 22-01: Career Pathway Level A-Plus Verification Change and Clarifying Procedures for Verifying Credits and Degrees from Nationally Accredited (Non-Regionally Accredited) Institutions, issued February 7, 2022 and went into effect July 1, 2022. C-16-01: Meeting New Health and Safety Training Requirements as Required by the Federal Government, issued July 1, 2016. C-17-01: Child Protective Service Law (CPSL) for Child Care Facilities, issued February 23, 2017. Replaced by Announcement C-19-02, Meeting the Requirements of the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) for Child Care Facilities, issued August 30, 2019. Updated Important News from the Bureau of Certification Regarding the Provisional Hire Waiver, issued January 2, 2020. Released Important Information from the Bureau of Certification Services Regarding the Effect of Act 12 of 2022 on Provisional Hiring Practices, issued May 27, 2022. To learn more, see: Announcement C-22-05, Obsolete Bureau of Certification Services Policy Announcements.
May 13, 2022 UPDATED: Streamlined Keystone STARS Designation System to Launch July 1 The Keystone STARS designation system will be live in the PA PD Registry beginning July 1, 2022. The new designation system will feature the updated 2022 Keystone STARS Performance Standards. As such, all designations initiated after July 1, 2022, will use the 2022 Keystone STARS Performance Standards and the new Streamlined Keystone STARS Designation System. (This page was updated on May 13, 2022 to reflect new information from OCDEL). About The new designation system in the PA PD Registry is replacing SMART Designation Software, the Keystone STARS Document Uploader, and portions of Provider Self Service (PSS). The new system features a Document Vault that will replace the current STARS Document Uploader, which will no longer be available after May 31, 2022. Providers can begin using the Document Vault feature, which is currently live in the PA PD Registry. Programs currently using the Document Uploader to complete a designation must ensure that all evidence is uploaded by May 31, 2022. From June 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022, there will be a black out period for any new Request for Keystone STAR Designations (RFSD) to be completed. During this time, programs will be unable to complete any new RFSDs either via Provider Self Service (PSS) from the Keystone STARS home page or via a paper RFSD. Details For complete details about the new designation system, read the Office of Child Development and Early Learning’s full announcement (UPDATED). Programs who require help in uploading documents to their Document Vault and/or attaching documents to quality indicators should reach out to the ELRC Region 5 at elrc5@alleghenycounty.us or the PD Registry team at registry@pakeys.org. Information about demonstrations and trainings , video tutorials, and tip sheets on the Keystone STARS Designation system will be housed on the PA Keys website.
April 20, 2021 Start Strong PA Provider and Family Field Forums: Building a Stronger Child Care System through the American Rescue Plan Child care providers and families are invited to virtual forums to share their pandemic experiences and make recommendations for how they feel the American Rescue Plan federal dollars should be spent in Pennsylvania. About Start Strong PA is hosting virtual forums to gather feedback from child care providers and the families they serve in order to make recommendations to the Wolf Administration for how the American Rescue Plan funds should be spent. The American Rescue Plan includes $24 billion for child care stabilization, $15 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant, and $3.55 billion in the Child Care Entitlement to States. Pennsylvania is estimated to be awarded $1.18 billion. The child care sector was in crisis before the COVID-19 pandemic, with eligible families unable to access child care subsidy, poverty-level wages for early childhood educators, and razor thin margins for providers. The child care sector has been pushed to the brink of collapse by the pandemic. Federal relief over the last year has helped many providers, however between March 2020 and February 2021, 592 Pennsylvania providers have closed permanently and 363 have temporarily closed. Child care providers are still incurring additional pandemic related costs while operating significantly under capacity. Register Allegheny County Forum | May 4, 2021 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Register Southwestern PA Forum | May 11, 2021 (Lawrence, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, Somerset, Fayette, Greene, Washington, Beaver, and Westmoreland counties) 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Register Both forums will be held virtually via Zoom. Registration is required to receive an attendance link.
February 2, 2021 Family Engagement Toolkit Now Available When adults come together to support children, profound changes can happen. To reinforce parents, caregivers, and early learning professionals in their work to create strong partnerships, Trying Together created the Family Engagement Toolkit. About When early learning programs implement family engagement practices, they invite parents, caregivers, and other important adults to learn the best ways to connect, build trust, and join in true partnership for the wellbeing of their child. In fact, research shows that active family engagement leads to better outcomes for children and builds stronger learning communities. In an effort to support caregivers in bolstering their family engagement practice, Trying Together created the Family Engagement Toolkit, an online toolkit of printable resources that enable families and early childhood educators to: access strategies that strengthen the relationships that nourish a child’s growth and sense of belonging, find ideas and resources to enrich relationships in their learning community, learn ways to increase equity and access for all involved, and take the opportunity to reflect on the family engagement practices in their home or program. The Toolkit is best suited for families and child care providers of children ages birth to nine years old. The Toolkit provides information and resources on family engagement practices in a variety of settings, including: child care centers, family child care homes, group child care homes, and relative provider locations. For more information, visit our About the Family Engagement Toolkit page. Featured Resources Trying Together’s Family Engagement Toolkit includes resources for families and child care providers. Continue reading below to view some of our featured resources. Resources for Families Each family brings its own unique talents, customs, and vibrancies to their child’s child care program. Because of this, it is essential that each family offers its own knowledge, lived experiences, and partnership to best support their child. To assist in this process, Trying Together developed the following resources: Create an Engagement Plan for your family. Fill out this questionnaire to help your provider learn more about your family. Learn about your rights as a parent or caregiver. Access a curated list of family resources on topics such as Choosing a Child Care Provider, Preparing for Transition, Anti-Racism Tools, Child Behavioral and Mental Health Support, Child Development Milestones, English as a Second Language Support, Food Assistance, and more. Resources for Providers Family engagement is a process in which educators and families build intentional, authentic relationships toward the shared goal of supporting a child’s healthy growth and development. To assist providers in achieving this goal, Trying Together developed the following resources: Download the Family Engagement Toolkit to access family engagement ideas and resources. Use this questionnaire to get to know more about the families you serve. “My Day” documents can help communicate about the child’s day (infant and toddlers) (pre-k). Create a Family Engagement Plan. Create a Provider Family Engagement Plan. Create a Relative Provider Family Engagement Plan. Access a curated list of provider resources on topics such as Creating a Family EngagementPlan, Making the First Connection, Strengthening Existing Connections, Supporting Transition, Professional Development, and more. More Information Support, inspiration, and insight for the Family Engagement Toolkit were drawn from several sources, including Jefferson Regional Foundation. To view the full Toolkit, visit our Family Engagement Toolkit page. For assistance with creating a family engagement plan, contact Trying Together at 412.421.3889 or info@tryingtogether.org.
June 25, 2020 Join Providers Across PA to Tell Your Story On Tuesday, June 30, child care providers across Pennsylvania are participating in a day-long, story sharing event on social media to increase attention on child care and its importance as a community resource and economic driver. About Governor Tom Wolf and the General Assembly authorized the spending of stimulus funds to support early learning programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even once all those funds are distributed, they are not enough. With diminished enrollment, scarcity of staff, unpaid bills, and no clear picture of what tomorrow will bring, many child care providers still do not know if their business will survive. We need the federal government to allocate more funding to support child care programs so they can weather this crisis. To gain these urgently needed funds, stories from child care providers, early educators, and families are essential. Stories can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 30. We want to be sure that as many people as possible–especially our elected officials–understand that the child care crisis is not over and without child care there is no recovery! Alert your network of friends, families, and staff to look out for your story and like, share, and/or retweet it. How to Share Prepare your story ahead of time so that you can easily post or tweet during the event. You can use your answers to the questions on this Google form to help create your draft. Pictures are encouraged to help others see the real people affected by this crisis! Sharing on Twitter: Break your story down into a thread of 280 characters. Click the blue “Tweet” button in the upper right hand corner of your screen. Type out the first tweet of your thread. Press the + button in the lower right hand corner of your Tweet composition window, and a new space will appear for you to add a second tweet. In the final tweet of the thread, include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) and Senator Bob Casey (@SenCasey). Sharing on Facebook: From the top of your News Feed, click What’s on your mind, [Name]? Add a text update or click the type of post you would like to share (example: Photo/Video, Feeling/Activity). Posts can be up to 63,206 characters so you have plenty of room, however, longer posts get cut off in a user’s feed, forcing them to expand the text if they want to read the full story. At the end of your post include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and tag @SenatorBobCasey and @SenatorToomey Sharing on Instagram: Tap + at the bottom of the screen. Take a photo or video or choose one from your phone’s library. Tap Next. You can also add effects or filters. Tap Next again, and then tap Write a caption Enter your caption and tap OK > Share (iPhone) or Share (Android). In your caption include #FundChildCare #SaveEarlyLearning and tag @senbobcasey and @senpattoomey More Information Questions? Please contact Cristina Codario at cristina@tryingtogether.org.
