Reminder: Submit Your Get Kids Ready Intent to Participate by February 1! Are you considering participating Get Kids Ready for the 2026-27 school year? The Get Kids Ready Intent to Participate for the is available in the DCF Provider Portal and must be submitted by child care providers no later than February 1, 2026. Child care providers who do not submit an Intent to Participate by February 1, 2026, will not be able to participate in Get Kids Ready for the 2026-2027 school year. Check out the Get Kids Ready webpage for child care providers for full program details including: Important Dates Eligibility Requirements for Child Care Providers Information on the Intent to Participate Information on Child Enrollment Frequently Asked Questions Resources, including the Intent to Participate Submission Guide Note: During the Intent to Participate, you do not need to verify that you meet these requirements. That will take place later in the process. For example, you will verify that you will provide 437 hours of Get Kids Ready instruction per year and that your curriculum meets WMELS during the Program Eligibility Verification Application. And you will verify that Get Kids Ready lead teachers have an associate or bachelor's degree in each Payment Application. Remember, you can withdraw your Intent to Participate at later date but, you cannot start participating in the program mid-school year if you do not submit your Intent to Participate by February 1. We encourage all providers who may be interested in Get Kids Ready to submit an Intent to Participate by February 1, 2026. To avoid any issues with submitting your intent by the February 1 deadline, please do not wait to submit until the last day of the intent to participate window. DCF does not have flexibility to extend the deadline past February 1, and submitting early allows us to address any technical issues you may experience. Additionally, DCF is typically only open Monday-Friday. While the application does not close until February 1, for timely responses, please submit all inquiries by noon on Friday, January 30. If you have any questions after you have reviewed the website, please submit them through the Get Kids Ready Inquiry form.
