June 23 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. June Child Care Counts Application/Update Period Closes Tomorrow Time is running out to apply/update your information for the June Child Care Counts Program. The deadline is Friday, June 24 at 11:59 p.m. June applications should reflect end of school year/summer program enrollment. Do you have changes to your facility or programming for the summer? See the Update Week section of the FAQs for information about: Closures for summer, and how to update your application Changes in children/staffing for summer Don’t forget: You must complete monthly updates to number of children and staff employed during the Application/Update Week, per the Terms and Conditions of the program. If your application(s) status is “Review Needed” this means that you have not completed your update/review. The application status should show as “Submitted” for any applications that have been reviewed and updated as needed during Update Week. Is your correct email address in the Provider Portal? DCF may send important Child Care Counts information via email. Check your email address to ensure you have correctly entered it while you are updating your application this week! If you need assistance, please email DCFDECECOVID19CCPayments@wisconsin.gov. If you are unable to email, please leave your detailed message at 608-535-3650. It may take up to 24 hours to receive a response from the call center. The call center is experiencing high call volumes. We will respond to your question as soon as possible. Email is recommended for a faster response. Please be sure to include your provider ID, location number, and details about your question when calling or emailing. Call center hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday. Spending Reminder All Stabilization Payment Program Funds must be spent within 120 days of the date of your payment letter. Payments from February (payment letter date 3/11/2022) must be spent by 7/9/22. 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 spend your Child Care Counts funds. Child Care Counts Información en español. Reminder: REWARD and T.E.A.C.H. Expansion An important reminder: The REWARD Wisconsin Stipend and T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Wisconsin programs are expanding significantly starting this summer. REWARD will be able to support a majority of the state’s early childhood educators at higher stipend amounts, and the changes to T.E.A.C.H. will make qualifying educational pathways nearly free for professionals pursuing credit-based education. The T.E.A.C.H. application deadline for the fall semester is Friday, July 1 – start the application process here. Sign up for an email update notifying you when the new REWARD application goes live. For more details, visit WECA’s website. For questions, contact WECA at reward@wisconsinearlychildhood.org or teach@wisconsinearlychildhood.org.
