Tiered Reimbursement for Child Care Subsidy Program
Tiered Reimbursement Subsidy Program for Child Care Providers
The Division of Early Care and Education within the Bureau for Children and Families announces the availability of a new tiered reimbursement rate for the child care subsidy program. Child care programs, including centers, facilities and family child care homes, are now able to apply for Tier II reimbursement rates of $2 extra per day of care provided, if specific higher quality standards are met.
What is Tiered Reimbursement?
The Child Care Tiered Reimbursement System is a quality initiative that offers higher subsidy payments to child care programs that demonstrate they meet higher standards of care. Programs that are licensed as a center or facility and registered family child care homes are currently receiving Tier I rates through the child care subsidy program. Programs that are accredited by an approved accrediting agency currently receive Tier III rates. Child Care programs are now able to receive a new tier level, Tier II reimbursement rates, if the specific quality standards are met.
Which programs are eligible for tiered reimbursement?
To be eligible for Tier II reimbursement rates, a child care center or facility must have a regular operating license (not a provisional or initial), and a family child care home must have a certificate of registration for at least six (6) months. The program must also enroll children who receive subsidies for care.
Bonus Funding Available
After child care programs meet the required quality standards and raise their tier level, additional funding is available as a “bonus” for increasing the program’s quality. The bonuses are available in the following amounts:
- Centers:$1,500.00
- Facilities:$500.00
- Homes:$250.00
How do programs apply for tiered reimbursement?
To apply for tiered reimbursement or change your tier level, you must complete and submit a Tiered Reimbursement Application along with the required documentation listed on the application form. For more instructions on how to apply or to access an application form, which includes quality standards, click the applicable link below:
- Child Care Center Tiered Reimbursement Application
- Child Care Facility Tiered Reimbursement Application
- Family Child Care Home Tiered Reimbursement Application
Tier II Sample Documentation
*Please note: Sample documentation is not to be duplicated for use in a Tier II application. Submitting sample documents in a Tier II application will result in automatic denial of approval.
- For Child Care Centers
- Section 1- Program Management
- Section 2- Health Safety and Nutrition
- Section 3- Child Growth and Development
- Section 4- Positive Interactions & Relationships
- Section 5- Curriculum
- Section 6- Child Observation & Assessment
- Section 7- Family & Community
- Section 8- Professionalism (note: Large File Size of 10 megabytes)
- Section 1- Program Management
- For Child Care Facilities
- For Family Child Care Homes
Tiered Reimbursement FAQs:
- Are summer-only staff members, substitutes, and volunteers required to complete the full 18 hours of professional development that regular, full-time staff members need?
Substitutes and volunteers are not required to complete all 18 hours of professional development annually. The hours for these types of staff will be pro-rated if they are in positions used for classroom ratios and care for children directly. Summer-only staff members are required to have 4.5 of the 18 professional development hours, including the 2 required training hours in Positive Interactions and Relationships. All other qualified staff are required to complete 18 hours annually. Qualified staff, as defined in licensing regulations, includes the program director, assistant director, lead teachers, teachers, assistant teachers or teaching assistants.
- If new staff members are hired, do they also need to complete the full 18 hours of training before my program can apply for Tier II?
The policy for new staff members will allow up to 25% of the total number of staff in a program to complete a pro-rated number of training hours. For instance, a program with 16 staff members will be allowed to pro-rate professional development for up to 4 staff. The staff members must be newly hired to the program, and the pro-rated amount is determined in 3-month increments. Access the Provision for new staff members
- Which core competency areas does the Apprenticeship for Child Development Specialist (ACDS) course complete for Tier II requirements?
When reviewing Tier II applications and documentation, the ACDS Coursework Framework, as determined by the WV STARS program, is used in determining credit hours for ACDS completion. The framework is divided into ACDS semesters. Access the ACDS coursework framework.
- What qualifies as a conference in meeting the Tier II conference requirement?
A conference can generally be characterized as multiple training sessions with a keynote speaker or an all day training institute on the same topic. However, some trainings that do not qualify as a conference may fit this description. For the purpose of Tier II, a professional development event that may qualify as a conference is subject to approval by the Division of Early Care and Education.
- What if a WV STARS registered training has not shown up on my STARS Professional Development Record yet and I am ready to apply for Tier II?
WV STARS Training Certificates can be submitted if a training course has not been entered onto the transcript yet. WV STARS transcripts and/or certificates and academic transcripts will be accepted as documentation for Tier II professional development requirements.
- What happens if I submit a Tier II application notebook and some documentation is missing?
You will be notified of the missing documents and given the chance to submit them. However, your application can only remain in a pending status for up to 2 weeks. If the missing documentation is not submitted within the 2 week period, the application will be denied and you must re-apply again at a later date.
- Can an Environmental Rating Scale (ERS) Self-Assessment Readiness Checklist be submitted as documentation for the Tier II ERS requirement?
No, only the Environment Rating Scales written by Harms, Cryer, and Clifford (ITERS-R, ECERS-R, FCCERS-R, SACERS) will be accepted for the Tier II ERS requirement. The revised version of each Environment Rating Scale must be used.
- Can the liability insurance requirement for family child care homes be included in the homeowner’s insurance policy or is a separate business liability policy needed?
According to the insurance commission, this varies with each individual insurance company. Therefore, providers must submit a letter or other documentation from their insurance company stating that the company is aware of multiple children being cared for in the home and that they are assuming liability for the child care business. Otherwise, a separate business liability policy will be required.
- If my program becomes accredited, do I still need to submit a notebook of documentation to receive a Tier III reimbursement rate?
No, accrediting agencies that are approved for tiered reimbursement have their own monitoring systems in place. Programs that become accredited simply need to send in the tiered reimbursement application form along with an accreditation certificate.
- How do I get an application?
An easy, new web link was recently created to access the Division of Early Care and Education’s website. Go to www.wvchildcare.org. Click on the link ‘Apply for Tiered Reimbursement.’ The site has detailed instructions regarding how to apply, a link to applications for all 3 types of care, and sample documentation for all 3 types of care.
Reminders:
- All 6 Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies across the state have model validation notebooks for programs to use as a resource when applying for Tier II. Call your local CCR&R Agency to use one.
- Read the standards! The Tier II standards are attached to the very end of the application packet for tiered reimbursement. The ‘Standards’ are different than the ‘Documentation Requirements’ and reading both will help give a better understanding of why certain documents are required for application as well as what the documentation should verify.
- In order for training to apply to the Tier II requirement of 18 professional development hours annually, the training courses must have been taken within the past year. For the purpose of Tier II, training modules that are more than 18 clock hours such as ACDS, WVIT, and Mind in the Making will only count for one year of professional development hours. The hours will not carry over into another year as they do for licensing (Tier I) requirements.
- Training requirements for Tier II must be met with training that is either registered with WV STARS or from an accredited college or university. Please remember to highlight on academic transcripts which Tier II training requirement is being met by the course.
- WV STARS will recognize ‘non-registered training’ of up to 15 hours of the required 45 to renew a STARS Credential. This policy is in place for renewals only and will not show up on the Professional Development Record. Therefore, tiered reimbursement policy will reflect approval of up to 6 hours of the required 18 professional development hours for Tier II. Certificates must be submitted to verify the training. The certificate submitted must include the participant's name, date of training, training title, number of clock hours, and signature of the presenter/supervisor verifying attendance. Only trainings that can be linked to the WV Core Knowledge and Core Competencies will be considered.
- WV STARS training transcripts can be accessed online at http://www.wvearlychildhood.org/WV_STARS_Professional_Development_Record.html .
- Programs that move up in Quality Tier level will receive a bonus payment in the following amounts:
- Child Care Centers- $1,500
- Family Child Care Facilities- $500
- Family Child Care Homes- $250
- Programs that have been approved for Tier II Quality Status must renew the status on an annual basis with the Division of Early Care and Education. Each year, new documentation must be submitted with updated and accurate information to maintain the Tier II reimbursement rate.
- Beginning October 2009, child care center directors are required to attend the Annual Center Directors Meeting hosted by the Division of Early Care and Education to be eligible for tiered reimbursement or any related grant funding. A certificate of attendance must be submitted with documentation for Tier II Quality Status or when submitting an accreditation certificate for Tier III Quality Status.
Additional Resources
Child Care Business Plans
- http://web.sba.gov/busplantemplate/BizPlanStart.cfm
- http://www.bplans.com/child_care_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.cfm
- http://www.myownbusiness.org/
- http://childcareaware.org/child-care-providers/business-plan
Transition Planning
WV STARS-
Professional Development Plans-
- http://www.nsta.org/pdfs/pd_steps.pdf
- http://net.educause.edu/section_params/mentoring/M06_%20PDP.pdf
Other useful resource sites:
- Child Care Exchange- www.childcareexchange.com
- National Child Care Information Center- www.nccic.org
- National Association for the Education of Young Children- www.naeyc.org
- National Association for Family Child Care- www.nafcc.org
- West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources- www.wvdhhr.org
- West Virginia Birth to Three- www.wvdhhr.org/birth23/
