Announcement C-21-11, Addition of COVID-19 to List of Reportable Communicable Diseases
Dec. 20, 2021. The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning Bureau of Early Learning Policy and Professional Development and Bureau of Certification have released the Announcement C-21-11, Addition of COVID-19 to List of Reportable Communicable Diseases. This Announcement notifies child care facilities that the Pennsylvania (PA) Department of Health (DOH) has added COVID-19 to the list of reportable communicable diseases. To provide guidance on the requirements of child care providers for child or facility person return to the child care facility after having a communicable disease, specifically COVID-19. For full details, see Announcement C-21-11, Addition of COVID-19 to List of Reportable Communicable Diseases.
Regulations Rewrite Subcommittee Update
OCDEL would like to thank all of the providers and other stakeholders who expressed interest in participating on the Regulation Rewrite Subcommittee. Just under 600 people submitted their application! OCDEL will be working with the State Capacity Building technical assistance partners to review applications and assign successful applicants to a workgroup, with the goal of notifying all applicants of a decision in early January 2022. OCDEL appreciates your patience as this work is completed. Please continue to send any questions about the project to Karen Grimm-Thomas at c-kgrimmth@pa.gov.
Bilingual Assistance Available for ARPA Stabilization Grant Applications
The Pennsylvania Key will host recurring office hours for Spanish speaking early childhood education providers interested in submitting an application for the ARPA Stabilization grant. All types of child care settings–center, group and home-based–are invited to participate in this effort, geared to support Spanish speaking owners, directors and administrators. During the office hours, a bilingual (Spanish/English) representative will be available to translate on the call, as well as a Registry Specialist who can answer questions and provide demonstrations relating to the PA PD Registry and the ARPA Stabilization Grant. Read more.
Asistencia bilingüe disponible para solicitudes de subvenciones de estabilización ARPA
El Pennsylvania Key organizará horas de oficina recurrentes para proveedores de educación de la primera infancia que habla español y están interesados en presentar una solicitud para la subvención de estabilización de ARPA. Se invita a todos los tipos de programas de cuidado infantil( centros, grupales y en el hogar) a participar en este esfuerzo, orientado a apoyar a los propietarios, directores y administradores que hablan español. Durante las horas de oficina, un representante bilingüe (español / inglés) estará disponible para traducir en la llamada, y una especialista en el PD Registry que puede responder preguntas y proporcionar demostraciones relacionadas con el Registro PA PD y la Subvención de Estabilización ARPA. Lee mas.
Announcement C-21-10 Obsolete Certification Announcements for Certified Child Care Providers
Message from Acting Secretary Meg Snead - Mask Guidance
Dec. 10, 2021. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has issued a ruling that ends the Secretary of Health’s order that masks must be worn by children over two and educators and staff at child care settings. This decision does not impact the Federal directive requiring all Head Start and Early Head Start programs or passengers and drivers to wear a mask on school buses, including on buses operated by public and private school systems; these requirements remain in effect. Read more.
ARPA Stabilization Grant
As of Friday, Dec. 17, 2021, more than 82% of eligible child care providers have applied for their ARPA Stabilization Grant! Are you one of the nearly 1,000 eligible child care providers who has not yet applied? Six weeks remain until the Jan. 31, 2022 application deadline, so don't delay! Get more information on how you can apply.
Gov. Wolf Announces Acting Health Secretary Alison Beam to Depart Wolf Administration, Names Keara Klinepeter as New Acting Secretary
Gov. Wolf recently announced Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam will resign her position with the commonwealth at the end of the year. The governor intends to name Department of Health Executive Deputy Secretary Keara Klinepeter to serve as Acting Secretary.Read more.
Coming Soon: Compliance Announcements
OCDEL will be releasing several policy announcements that pertain to the child care regulations for certified child care facilities so child care providers understand what is required to be in compliance with the established CCDF regulations and the Pennsylvania Child Care Regulations. Read more.
