August 17, 2022 Updates to Civil Rights Compliance Process The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has announced that effective August 22, 2022, there will be changes to the Civil Rights Compliance process for licensed child care providers. Learn More The following changes will be in effect: Providers will have to submit a new Civil Rights Compliance form when submitting a new licensing application and a new Civil Rights Compliance attestation form when submitting a licensing renewal application. The process of submitting the form has changed. New License Submissions Entities seeking a new license will utilize a Civil Rights Compliance (CRC) form (HS 2126). This form must be included in the packet submitted as part of any new license request. The new application, supporting documents and CRC form must be emailed to the DHS office that issues your license (OCDEL Western Region for Allegheny County providers – RA-ocdelcertwpittsbu@pa.gov). Entities licensed by OCDEL or the Office of Development Programs (ODP) who use CLS or PELICAN to submit new applications must submit the form by email. The CRC forms are not part of the electronic CLS/PELICAN new application process. The CRC form for new applications can be found on the Department of Human Services website. License Renewals For licensing renewals, a licensee will now submit a CRC Attestation form (HS 2125). The Attestation form must be submitted as part of a renewal licensing application. The renewal notice will still be sent out 130 days prior to expiration. The renewal application and Attestation must be emailed to the DHS office that issues your license (OCDEL Western Region for Allegheny County providers – RA-ocdelcertwpittsbu@pa.gov). Entities licensed by OCDEL or ODP who use CLS or PELICAN to submit renewal applications must submit the attestations by email. The attestations are not part of the electronic CLS/PELICAN renewal application process. The CRC form for can be found on the Department of Human Services website. The DHS Bureau of Equal Opportunity (BEO) currently issues a letter verifying that you are in compliance with applicable civil rights laws. With the new process, a letter from BEO will no longer be sent out to licensed entities. Instead, the issuance of the new license or renewal license will indicate that your CRC form or Attestation form submission was approved. If there are issues/questions on the submitted CRC or Attestation form, a staff member from DHS will contact you. Questions For more details, read OCDEL’s full announcement. Allegheny County child care providers should direct questions to the OCDEL Western Region Office at 800-222-2149.
November 13, 2018 PA Submits Plan for Child Care and Development Block Grant On August 31, 2018, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) submitted Pennsylvania’s plan for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) for the next plan cycle which spans Federal Fiscal Year 2019 through 2021. At present, the plan is under review by the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of Child Care. The plan is now posted and available for review at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) website. Plan Summary In the plan, OCDEL certifies that Pennsylvania is in full compliance with all CCDBG requirements except for those associated with criminal history background checks. For the background check requirements, Pennsylvania has met all mandated, preliminary milestones – in-state child abuse registry, Pennsylvania State Police, fingerprint background check through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and in-state sex offender registry. Checks for inter-state criminal histories, child abuse registries, and sex offender registries as well as a check of the National Sex Offender Registry have yet to be incorporated. OCDEL has requested a one-year waiver to come into full compliance with those requirements by September 30, 2019, and is on target to meet that deadline. Questions Questions about the plan may be directed to OCDEL at 717-346-9320. *Information provided by PA Early Ed News*
