During these unpredictable times, the Department of Children and Families’ (DCF) Division of Early Care and Education (DECE) will send updates every Tuesday and Thursday, throughout the pandemic, to everyone who has subscribed to the DCF Child Care listserv .

Individual educators who are interested in supporting the essential workforce, please complete information for background check
Thank you to those who are willing to provide care for the essential workforce! If you completed the initial survey, you should have received the text message below. Please click on the link and complete the personal information so DCF can run a free, name-based background check.

Text message:
Thank you for your willingness to help care for the children of essential workers during this challenging time. Before matching you with a family or child care facility, DCF needs some additional information from you in order to conduct a name-based background check, at no cost to you. Please to go https://ichildcare.wisconsin.gov/Login/Login?ReturnUrl=%2F for more details and to enter your information. 

Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy: March and April 2020 funds deposited
Over this past weekend, DCF completed an automated process for Wisconsin Shares eligible families to complete a benefit transfer of the parents’ unspent March and April 2020 EBT card child care funds and deposited these funds directly in their authorized child care providers’ bank account through an ACH deposit on 4/6/20. 
 
Save the Date: DCF hosting regional conference calls for child care providers
·        Southern region: April 9 at 4-5 pm
·        Northern region: April 14 at 1-2 pm
·        Southeastern region #1: April 15 at 1-2 pm
·        Western region: April 15 at 4-5 pm
·        Northeastern region: April 16 at 1-2 pm
·        Southeastern region #2: April 17 at 2-3 pm
Licensing specialists will send invites to all child care programs with conference call information.
 
Helping child care programs understand and navigate SBA loan options 
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is hosting two upcoming webinars that will help center-based and family-based child care programs understand and navigate how they can get financial support to endure the COVID-19 public health crisis. The bulk of the webinar will focus on helping participants understand and navigate through the Small Business Administration (SBA) loan options. There will be a discussion on how this intersects with unemployment insurance. This webinar will to help attendees understand how the different payment options work, which ones are best for them, and what precise steps are needed to apply.
 
Register by clicking on the webinar below and filling out the registration page. Please note that the content for each webinar is the same but they are being offered in English and Spanish:
Register here for the webinar in English : Thursday, April 9 from 3:30-4:30 pm CT
Regístrese aquí para el seminario web en español : Friday, April 10 from 3:30-4:30 pm CT  
 
In the News
March 30, 2020| Sarah Thomsen
April 3, 2020 | First Five Years Fund
April 6, 2020 | Tom Copeland
 
Additional Resources
*Please note that these web pages are updated frequently, so please check back often.