April 12 Child Care Provider Updates During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Division of Early Care and Education (DECE) will send updates to everyone who has subscribed to the DCF Child Care listserv. It’s Child Care Counts Application/Update Week – Update Your Records Now! The April application/update period is this week, April 11-15, 2022. Indicate if you were open during the Count Week and update your staff and child records as needed. Payment letters for March were posted on April 8, 2022, via a payment letter uploaded to the Child Care Provider Portal. See the Child Care Counts Calendar for future Count and Application Weeks. Reminder All Stabilization Payment Program funds must be spent within 120 days of the date of the Payment Letter. December Payments (Payment Letter date 1/7/22) must be spent by 5/7/22. See the Use of Funds section of the Frequently Asked Questions for more information. View this step-by-step Spending Tool training video to learn tips and tricks for organizing and tracking how you spend your Child Care Counts You may download the Spending Tool Excel spreadsheet to help you keep track of how you spent Child Care Counts funds. Application Tip Reminder Determining Full-time or Part-time Status for Children Children’s schedules can vary from week to week. Do I need to count the hours each child attends during the Count Week to determine full-time or part-time status? Providers should use enrollment information to determine if a child should be entered in the application as attending full-time or part-time. If a child is enrolled on a full-time basis (21 hours or more per-week), they should be entered into the application as full-time. If a child is enrolled on a part-time basis (20 hours or less per-week) they should be entered into the application as part-time. If a child only attends “drop-in” care and there is no formal agreement/contract to determine a regular schedule of attendance, providers will need to determine if they meet the full-time or part-time definition based on the hours the child actually attended during the Count Week. Regardless of full-time or part-time status, a child must have attended at least once during the Count Week to be added to the application. Other Helpful Tools and Resources See the Temporary Closure Guide to learn how to select the appropriate COVID-19 Temporary Closure reason if your center was closed during the Count Week. How Payments are Determined shows the March payment dates and amounts. See the Provider Informational Training Module in the Resources section as your all-in-one guide to Child Care Counts. See the FAQs about YoungStar Quality Incentive payments through Child Care Counts. If you need help or have questions about your Payment Program status, please email DCFDECECOVID19CCPayments@wisconsin.gov or call and leave your detailed questions at 608-535-3650. Check out our recently updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to get answers to your questions. Child Care Counts Información en español. Announcing the Launch of Raising Wisconsin Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) is thrilled to announce the official launch of Raising Wisconsin, a statewide initiative dedicated to advocating for transformational change in Wisconsin’s early care and education system and optimal child health and well-being. Raising Wisconsin is powered by a multi-sector coalition, led by WECA, which brings together expertise and experiences from across the state to push this important effort forward. The initiative builds upon decades of WECA’s advocacy work on behalf of the early childhood workforce, and the efforts of the Wisconsin Infant Toddler Policy Project, which began in 2019. Visit the Raising Wisconsin website to learn more.
