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The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), Bureau of Early Learning Policy and Professional, Development has released the Announcement ELRC 23-01, Increase to Child Care Works Base Payment Rates for DHS Certified Providers. The purpose of the Announcement is to announce an increase to base rates paid by PA Department of Human Services (DHS) to certified child care providers participating in Child Care Works (CCW). Base payment rates are also known as the Maximum Child Care Allowance (MCCA).
This Announcement replaces ELRC Announcement 21 #11 Increase to Child Care Works Base Payment Rates.
Effective March 1, 2023, OCDEL is implementing increases to the MCCA rates. The new MCCA chart is posted online here.
OCDEL established a fee structure policy to pay all DHS certified child care providers serving subsidy children at the lower of two rates – the rate DHS certified child care providers charge private-pay families or the established MCCA.
Effective March 1, 2023, if the DHS certified child care provider’s private pay rates continue to be higher than the newly published MCCA, participating DHS certified child care providers will not have to submit a new Appendix C-1. The new rates will automatically be reflected in the payment for March invoices which occurs in April.
If DHS certified child care provider’s private-pay rate is lower than the new MCCA, they will receive the lower of the two rates.
If a DHS certified child care provider wants to update their private-pay rates, they must communicate those changes to families and provide verification of the updated child care provider’s private-pay rates to the Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC). The updated rate will become effective the first of the month following the date the verification was received by the ELRC, if submitted after March 31, 2023.
For full details, including instructions for DHS certified child care providers updating private pay rates, please see the Announcement ELRC 23-01, Increase to Child Care Works Base Payment Rates for DHS Certified Providers.
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