The Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) collaborated with numerous agencies to development a comprehensive system to ensure school-age children can access reliable child care. The following announcement will help providers and families understand how to navigate where care can be found and expectations are for providing care.

The primary purpose of this announcement is to provide guidance to non-licensed community-based entities and individuals planning to care for groups of school-age children during the 2020-2021 school year. The second purpose is to direct an entity or person who operates a non-licensed part-day school-age child care (SACC) program or Learning Pod to notify the Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) if they intend to care for more than six school-age children during the 2020-2021 school year during times public or private schools are not offering in-person instruction.

OCDEL encourages certified care when possible but recognizes that may not always be possible. Non-licensed providers must take the appropriate health and safety measures to ensure children are being cared for in a safe setting. 

Additional information can be found on the Pennsylvania Key website here.

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