4.5 Supply Building

Building a supply of high-quality child care that meets the needs and preferences of parents participating in CCDF is necessary to meet CCDF’s core purposes. Lead Agencies must support parent choice by providing some portion of direct services via grants or contracts, including at a minimum for children in underserved geographic areas, infants and toddlers, and children with disabilities. 4.5.1 Child care services available through grants or contracts Does the Lead Agency provide direct child care services through grants or contracts for child care slots? [x] Yes, statewide. Describe how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: The Infant Toddler Contracted Slots (ITCS) Program uses CCDF funding and is an alternative to the traditional voucher system. Instead of having funding follow the child, as in the traditional voucher system, the ITCS program, awards funding to a provider. If a child leaves the funded provider, the provider continues to be paid for the slot and is responsible to fill the slot with a different child eligible for Child Care Works (CCW). The program provides funding for 850 slots through ELRC contracts with 56 eligible Keystone STAR 3 or 4 providers. The eligibility for ITCS follows the same eligibility criteria for CCW funding. At the time eligibility is determined, families are provided information on the ITCS program (if slots are available). Eligible families may choose to enroll in either ITCS program or traditional subsidy funding. Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts (PA PKC) is a grant program to expand pre-kindergarten opportunities for eligible low income children with a focus on increasing availability in areas with high unmet need across the commonwealth. Eligible families must meet income requirements. Providers consider other factors during the enrollment process such as English Language Learners (ELL), community aspects, academic difficulties, and developmental delay for prioritization of slots. Children with identified developmental delays that meet the income criteria are eligible for the program and must be served in inclusive environments. Families utilizing PA PKC may also be eligible for other early learning services such as federal Head Start, subsidized child care and/or early intervention. They are encouraged to choose the most appropriate programs for their child and family based on their needs. The application process requires potential PA PKC grantees to include data regarding local community needs assessments and current early learning program availability. OCDEL awards PA PKC slots based on application scores and objective factors such as geographically underserved areas with a high unmet need. To determine unmet need, the Department reviews census data, the availability of publicly funded, high-quality pre-k services (Head Start school-based pre-k, locally sponsored programs) and county demographics. [ ] Yes, in some jurisdictions, but not statewide. Describe how many jurisdictions use grants or contracts for child care slots and how the Lead Agency ensures that parents who enroll with a provider who has a grant or contract have choices when selecting a provider: [ ] No. If no, describe any Lead Agency plans to provide direct child care services through grants and contracts for child care slots: If no, skip to question 4.5.2. i. If yes, identify the populations of children served through grants or contracts for child care slots (check all that apply). For each population selected, identify the number of slots allocated through grants or contracts for direct service of children receiving CCDF. [ ] Children with disabilities. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [x] Infants and toddlers. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: 850 slots [x] Children in underserved geographic areas. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: 29,453 full day slots 920 part day slots [ ] Children needing non-traditional hour care. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] School-age children. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children experiencing homelessness. Number of slots allocated through grants or contracts: [ ] Children in urban areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Children in rural areas. Percent of CCDF children served in an average month: [ ] Other populations. If checked, describe: ii. If yes, how are rates for slots funded by grants and contracts determined by the Lead Agency? The goals of the ITCS program include providing fiscal stability for high-quality child care providers serving CCW eligible infants and toddlers and establishing a continuum of care for children and families in high-quality child care settings with a focus on strengthening the link between high-quality child care programs and high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. The rates for ITCS range from $14,000 per slot to $20,000 per slot and are regionalized based on consideration of the annualized CCW rates for Infants and Toddlers plus an annualized STAR 4- tiered rate. OCDEL then compared the total average annual revenue a provider would collect serving CCW children over a 3-year period to the proposed Infant/Toddler Slot rates. OCDEL also compared the annualized private pay rates for Infants and Toddlers to the proposed Infant/Toddler Slot rates. The following entities may operate Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts classrooms. 1. School districts; 2. Licensed nursery schools; 3. Head Start grantees; and 4. Child Care Centers and Group Child Care Homes that maintain a STAR 3 rating or higher under the Keystone STARS Program. A third-party entity may apply for Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts funding and administer the lead agency responsibilities for entities that are eligible to provide the classroom services under the categories listed above. Provider eligibility must be maintained throughout the entire grant period. Applications are announced and must meet the deadline for submission of all information by the dates announced in the request for applications. An approved rubric is used to score applications. The application process requires potential PA PKC grantees to include data regarding local community needs assessments and current early learning program availability. OCDEL awards PA PKC slots based on application scores and objective factors such as geographically underserved areas with a high unmet need. To determine unmet need, the Department reviews census data, the availability of publicly funded, high-quality pre-k services (Head Start school-based pre-k, locally sponsored programs) and county demographics. The per slot amount for PA PKC is established in state statute and periodically updated by the Governor, with the General Assembly's approval. The amount considers the resources required for a grantee to provide a high-quality pre-k experience for low-income children during the school year. The 2024-25 enacted budget increased the full-day and half-day per slot amounts to $10,500 and $5,250, respectively. PA will be asking for a waiver to implement contracted slots for children with disabilities. 4.5.2 Care in the child’s home (in-home care) The Lead Agency must allow for in-home care (i.e., care provided in the child’s own home) but may limit its use. Will the Lead Agency limit the use of in-home care in any way? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If yes, what limits will the Lead Agency set on the use of in-home care? Check all that apply. i. [ ] Restricted based on the minimum number of children in the care of the in- home provider to meet the Fair Labor Standards Act (minimum wage) requirements. Describe: ii. [x] Restricted based on the in-home provider meeting a minimum age requirement. Describe: Must be a relative provider at least 18 years of age. iii. [x] Restricted based on the hours of care (i.e., certain number of hours, non- traditional work hours). Describe: In-home care may only be used by a parent or caretaker between the hours of 9:00p.m. and 6:00 a.m. iv. [x] Restricted to care by relatives. (A relative provider must be at least 18 years of age based on the definition of eligible child care provider.) Describe: Relatives as defined in the Child Care and Development Block Grant. v. [x] Restricted to care for children with special needs or a medical condition. Describe: In-home care is permitted at any time where care outside the home is a risk to the child's health. The child's health condition and risk to health must be documented by a licensed physician or psychologist and explain the necessity for in-home care for reasons related to the child's health. vi. [ ] Restricted to in-home providers that meet additional health and safety requirements beyond those required by CCDF. Describe: vii. [x] Other. Describe: While Pennsylvania does not restrict in-home care to a minimum number of children to meet the minimum wage requirement, if the ELRC payment and parent's co-payment do not equal the minimum hourly wage, the parent is required to pay the provider the additional amount necessary to meet the minimum wage requirement. The parent must also agree to pay applicable federal and state taxes per the IRS Household Employers Tax Guide. 4.5.3 Shortages in the supply of child care Lead Agencies must identify shortages in the supply of child care providers that meet parents’ needs and preferences. What child care shortages has the Lead Agency identified in the State or Territory, and what is the plan to address the child care shortages? a. In infant and toddler programs: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Utilizing PDG funding, OCDEL has partnered with IRSA to conduct a state-wide needs assessment noting areas that are in need of specific program and or resources. ii. Method of tracking progress: OCDEL has partnered with IRSA to conduct the statewide needs assessment which is funded through PDG. IRSA will provide OCDEL memos to help guide future work prior the completion of the assessment. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes OCDEL will utilize PDG funding to provide mini grants to early learning providers to help expand facilities in child care and quality deserts around the Commonwealth. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? OCDEL will utilize PDG funding to provide mini-grants to early learning providers to help expand facilities in child care and quality deserts around the Commonwealth. b. In different regions of the State or Territory: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Utilizing PDG funding, OCDEL has partnered with IRSA to conduct a state-wide needs assessment noting areas that are in need of specific program and or resources. ii. Method of tracking progress: OCDEL has partnered with IRSA to conduct the statewide needs assessment which is funded through PDG. IRSA will provide OCDEL memos to help guide future work prior the completion of the assessment. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? OCDEL will utilize PDG funding to provide mini-grants to early learning providers to help expand facilities in child care and quality deserts around the Commonwealth. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? OCDEL will utilize PDG funding to provide mini-grants to early learning providers to help expand facilities in child care and quality deserts around the Commonwealth. c. In care for special populations: i. Data sources used to identify shortages: Utilizing PDG funding, OCDEL has partnered with IRSA to conduct a state-wide needs assessment noting areas that are in need of specific program and or resources. ii. Method of tracking progress: OCDEL has partnered with IRSA to conduct the statewide needs assessment which is funded through PDG. IRSA will provide OCDEL memos to help guide future work prior the completion of the assessment. iii. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using family child care homes? OCDEL will utilize PDG funding to provide mini-grants to early learning providers to help expand facilities in child care and quality deserts around the Commonwealth. iv. What is the plan to address the child care shortages using child care centers? OCDEL will utilize PDG funding to provide mini-grants to early learning providers to help expand facilities in child care and quality deserts around the Commonwealth. 4.5.4 Strategies to increase the supply of and improve quality of child care Lead Agencies must develop and implement strategies to increase the supply of and improve the quality of child care services. These strategies must address child care in underserved geographic areas; infants and toddlers; children with disabilities, as defined by the Lead Agency; and children who receive care during non-traditional hours. How does the Lead Agency identify any gaps in the supply and quality of child care services and what strategies are used to address those gaps for: a. Underserved geographic areas. Describe: Technical assistance support: ELRCs are instructed to target STAR 1 and STAR 2 programs serving high numbers of children accessing CCW to ensure vulnerable children have access to high-quality care. In addition, this targeting ensures children accessing CCW funding have high-quality options in their home communities. Tiered payment rates: Keystone STARS tiered add-ons incentivize programs to increase their quality and STAR level and help to off-set the higher costs of providing high-quality child care. The STARS add-ons begin at STAR 2 and increase through STAR 4 among all program types and care levels. STAR add-ons are only available to programs serving children eligible for the subsidized child care program. Add-ons are tiered to be higher for infants and toddlers than preschool or school-age add-ons. The add-ons provide support for improving business practices, such as management training, paid sick leave for employees, and shared services. Pennsylvania supports the shared services concept, particularly as such services strengthen the business practices of small programs, and consideration of shared services models is reflected in the Keystone STARS performance standards. Programs can earn points in the Leadership and Management Performance Standard category through participating in shared services that support cost savings, greater efficiencies related to operations, and/or program quality enhancements. Mental health consultation: Mental health consultation (MHC) services are available by request for any program participating in QRIS, not including HS/EHS. MHC services have been expanded, through PDG-R, to include school age child care environments, in addition to those programs caring for children birth to age 5. Consultants are regionally located and available to provide tiered consultation supports including Virtual Office Hours (universal consultation), child-specific and classroom focused consultation to adult caregivers related to the social-emotional development and relational health of infants/toddlers, young and middle childhood aged children in the child care environment. The program focuses on reducing the number of children expelled from child care due to behavior challenges, increasing understanding among ECE practitioners and families of social-emotional development and its impact on educational success, and linking and bridging systems and services on behalf of the child, family, and program. Pennsylvania offers supports through the Keystone STARS program to all child care programs. b. Infants and toddlers. Describe: The Infant Toddler Contracted Slots (ITCS) Program is an alternative to the traditional voucher system. Instead of having funding follow the child, as in the traditional voucher system, the ITCS program, awards funding to a provider. If a child leaves the funded provider, the provider continues to be paid for the slot and is responsible to fill the slot with a different CCW eligible child. The program provides funding for 850 slots through ELRC contracts. The eligibility for ITCS follows the same eligibility criteria for CCW funding. At time eligibility is determined, families are provided information on the ITCS program (if slots are available). Eligible families may choose to enroll in either ITCS program or traditional subsidy funding. The limited availability of the ITCS program currently does limit the number of available slots for the program. The goals of the ITCS program include providing fiscal stability for high-quality child care providers serving CCW eligible infants and toddlers and establishing a continuum of care for children and families in high-quality child care settings with a focus on strengthening the link between high-quality child care programs and high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. Technical assistance support: Infant Toddler Specialists are available to providers for targeted technical assistance on improving quality in developmentally appropriate practices for infants and toddlers, and other areas of need specific to physical health and development of children 0-3 years old. Tiered payment rates: Keystone STARS tiered add- ons incentivize programs to increase their quality and STAR level and help to off-set the higher costs of providing high-quality child care. The STARS add-ons begin at STAR 2 and increase through STAR 4 among all program types and care levels which include higher rates paid for infants and toddlers. The add-ons provide support for improving business practices, such as management training, paid sick leave for employees, and shared services. Pennsylvania supports the shared services concept, particularly as such services strengthen the business practices of small programs, and consideration of shared services models is reflected in the Keystone STARS performance standards as well as supported through outside funding opportunities to seed innovation. Programs can earn points in the Leadership and Management Performance Standard category through participating in shared services that support cost savings, greater efficiencies related to operations, and/or program quality enhancements. Child care health consultation: Child care health consultants are placed at the ELRCs and are intended to provide rapid response where necessary while also providing general best practice and professional development to providers. This model allows providers to maintain child enrollment if they have a special need (like medication administration) and supports providers in building a high-quality environment for all children. Mental health consultation: Mental health consultation (MHC) services are available by request for any program participating in QRIS, not including HS/EHS. MHC services have been expanded, through PDG-R, to include school age child care environments, in addition to those programs caring for children birth to age 5. Consultants are regionally located and available to provide tiered consultation supports including Virtual Office Hours (universal consultation), child-specific and classroom focused consultation to adult caregivers related to the social-emotional development and relational health of infants/toddlers, young and middle childhood aged children in the child care environment. The program focuses on reducing the number of children expelled from child care due to behavior challenges, increasing understanding among ECE practitioners and families of social-emotional development and its impact on educational success, and linking and bridging systems and services on behalf of the child, family, and program. Pennsylvania offers supports through the Keystone STARS program to all child care programs. c. Children with disabilities. Describe: ELRCs are instructed to target STAR 1 and STAR 2 programs serving high numbers of children accessing CCW to ensure vulnerable children have access to high-quality care. In addition, this targeting ensures children accessing CCW funding have high-quality options in their home communities. Bureau of Early Intervention and Family Supports (BEISFS) has prioritized the development of coaching supports for caregivers in the natural environment in which eligible children are enrolled. When developmental or therapeutic supports are authorized for a child, there is intentional work to include the child care staff in coaching to assure ongoing supports are available to the child beyond their designated units of EI service. The add-ons provide support for improving business practices, such as management training, paid sick leave for employees, and shared services. Pennsylvania supports the shared services concept, particularly as such services strengthen the business practices of small programs, and consideration of shared services models is reflected in the Keystone STARS performance standards and supported through outside funding opportunities to seed innovation. Programs can earn points in the Leadership and Management Performance Standard category through participating in shared services that support cost savings, greater efficiencies related to operations, and/or program quality enhancements. Mental health consultation: Mental health consultation (MHC) services are available by request for any program participating in QRIS, not including HS/EHS/MHS. MHC services have been expanded, through PDG-R, to include school age child care environments, in addition to those programs caring for children birth to age 5. Consultants are regionally located and available to provide tiered consultation supports including Virtual Office Hours (universal consultation), child-specific and classroom focused consultation to adult caregivers related to the social-emotional development and relational health of infants/toddlers, young and middle childhood aged children in the child care environment. The program focuses on reducing the number of children expelled from child care due to behavior challenges, increasing understanding among ECE practitioners and families of social-emotional development and its impact on educational success, and linking and bridging systems and services on behalf of the child, family, and program. The program does collect data relative to children served who are also concurrently receiving Early Intervention services. If a child has a developmental delay, the payment rate is based on the child’s developmental age, not their chronological age. d. Children who receive care during non-traditional hours. Describe: Certified child care providers who provide care to children receiving Child Care Works (CCW) during non- traditional hours are eligible for a non-traditional care add-on effective January 1, 2022. Non-traditional hours is defined as at least two hours during the hours of 6:00pm and 6:00am on weekdays or any amount of time on weekends. The add-on rate is 25 percent above the established subsidy base rate for each child served during non-traditional hours. e. Other. Specify what population is being focused on to increase supply or improve quality. Describe: 4.5.5 Prioritization of investments in areas of concentrated poverty and unemployment Lead Agencies must prioritize investments for increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and do not currently have sufficient numbers of such programs. Describe how the Lead Agency prioritizes increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment and that do not have access to high-quality programs. Data comparisons take place at least monthly and OCDEL reports out to the Governor’s office on the ratio of high-quality child care programs within each ELRC region. OCDEL’s strategic plan has a goal to maximize stable and equitable access to high quality early care and education with specific focus on underserved populations and regions. OCDEL plans to meet this goal with the objective of increasing the supply of high-quality providers for CCW-eligible families’ access across the Commonwealth by prioritizing programs to increase STAR levels of STAR 1 and 2 programs serving CCW to move to STAR 3 or 4 and increasing compensation for high-quality ECE providers participating in child care subsidy and Keystone STAR programs. By May 2025, OCDEL will have increased the total number of children enrolled in CCW in STAR 3 or 4 programs from approx. 36.7K to 47K. OCDEL, in partnership with the ELRCs and other connecting agencies, prioritize increasing access to high-quality child care and development services for children of families in areas that have significant concentrations of poverty and unemployment through the analysis of data collected and reviewed in the PELICAN system. Areas where access to high-quality programs needs additional outreach are a focus for OCDEL. Details on closings, low capacity and limited access are a focus of ongoing strategic planning and the work of PDG. 5 Health and Safety of Child Care Settings Child care health and safety standards and enforcement practices are essential to protect the health and safety of children while out of their parents’ care. CCDF provides a minimum threshold for child care health and safety policies and practices but leaves authority to Lead Agencies to design standards that appropriately protect children’s safety and promote nurturing environments that support their healthy growth and development. Lead Agencies should set standards for ratios, group size limits, and provider qualifications that help ensure that the child care environment is conducive to safety and learning and enable caregivers to promote all domains of children’s development. CCDF health and safety standards help set clear expectations for CCDF providers, form the foundation for health and safety training for child care workers, and establish the baseline for monitoring to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements. These health and safety requirements apply to all providers serving children receiving CCDF services – whether the providers are licensed or license-exempt, must be appropriate to the provider setting and age of the children served, must include specific topics and training on those topics, and are subject to monitoring and enforcement procedures by the Lead Agency. CCDF-required annual monitoring and enforcement actions help ensure that CCDF providers are adopting and implementing health and safety requirements. Through child care licensing, Lead Agencies set minimum requirements, including health and safety requirements, that child care providers must meet to legally operate in that State or Territory. In some cases, CCDF health and safety requirements may be integrated within the licensing system for licensed providers and may be separate for CCDF providers who are license- exempt. This section addresses CCDF health and safety requirements, Lead Agency licensing requirements and exemptions, and comprehensive background checks. When responding to questions in this section, OCC recognizes that each Lead Agency identifies and defines its own categories of care. OCC does not expect Lead Agencies to change their definitions to fit the CCDF-defined categories of care. For these questions, provide responses that best match the CCDF categories of care.