Background:
As a result of the K-12 school and child care program closures
because of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ohio Department of Job and Family
Services (ODJFS) is working to ensure:
1.Child care is
available for parents employed providing health, safety
and other essential services; and
2.Providers
serving Ohio’s most vulnerable children remain supported during program
closure.
New Policy
Temporary
Pandemic Child Care License:
In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, additional changes in policy are being implemented:
The following new rules are effective as of
March 24, 2020.
Rule 5101:2-12-02.1: "Temporary Pandemic
Child Care Center License" has
been filed again to lower the ratio and group size requirements for pandemic
child care centers in paragraph (D)(5), as well as to add notification
requirements for serious incidents in paragraph (D)(19). Pandemic centers will be limited to six
children per room.
Rule 5101:2-13-02.1: "Temporary Pandemic
Family Child Care License" is
a new rule which sets forth the
process and requirements of the temporary pandemic family child care
license. This temporary licensure will
allow currently licensed family child care providers to apply to serve children
whose parents are employed providing health, safety and other essential services
as defined by the Director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in
consultation with the Director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency. There is no application fee and these
programs will not be required to be rated in Step Up To Quality in order to
provide publicly funded child care. Payment for these programs will be
determined through an agreement process with the Ohio Department of Job and
Family Services. When approving
programs for temporary licensure, ODJFS must use discretion regarding the
number of licenses approved based on need and pandemic health concerns. As a result, ODJFS will evaluate programs
based on location, capacity, and the number of children currently being served
with parents employed to provide health, safety or other essential
services. Pandemic family child care
providers are limited to six total children.
Rule 5101:2-14-02.1: "Temporary Pandemic
In-Home Aide Certification"
is a new rule which sets
forth the process and requirements of the temporary pandemic in-home aide
certificate. This temporary
certification will allow currently certified in-home aides to apply to serve
children whose parents are employed providing health, safety and other
essential services as defined by the Director of the Ohio Department of Job and
Family Services in consultation with the Director of the Ohio Emergency
Management Agency. When approving
programs for temporary certification, ODJFS must use discretion regarding the
number of licenses approved based on need and pandemic health concerns. As a result, ODJFS will evaluate in-home aide
applications based on location and the number of children currently being
served with parents employed to provide health, safety or other essential
services.
Temporary Pandemic Child Care Payments
The temporary pandemic child care programs will be paid the
weekly five-star rate for enrolled publicly funded children. Providers must set their own private pay
rates.
Child Care Payment During Closure
Programs should use pandemic days for Thursday, March 26 –
Saturday, March 28, 2020.
ODJFS, in partnership with the Governor’s office, is working
with the General Assembly to provide closed programs with ongoing payments
equal to a historical weekly PFCC payment for the week starting Sunday, March
29, 2020. Additional information will be
forthcoming as details are determined.
Implementation
Programs willing to
provide service for parents employed providing health, safety and other
essential services during the pandemic
should complete the JFS 01258 "Application for Temporary Pandemic Child
Care Program" and submit it to ODJFS_CHILDCARE@jfs.ohio.gov as soon
as possible.
If the application is
approved, ODJFS will issue a letter notifying the pandemic child care program
of the license/certification approval and approved capacity.
If a pandemic child care
program needs to report a serious incident, injury or death pursuant to one of
the emergency rules, the program shall send an email to childcarepolicy@jfs.ohio.gov
with "pandemic reporting" in the subject and include the following
details:
- Name, address, license number and phone number
for the program.
- The name(s) and age(s) of the children involved.
- A summary of the incident including date and
program staff involved.
Parent Reminder
Any parent that can find
a safe and healthy alternative child care option during the pandemic that will
keep their child(ren) out of a group setting and not with an elderly provider
should do so as soon as possible. However, we recognize that this is not an
option for all families and are working to ensure all children have safe option
while parents provide health, safety and other essential services.
Provider Guidance
Providers shall:
- Limit use of shared space or mixing of groups.
If shared space is used you MUST have a rigorous cleaning schedule.
- Maintain the same teachers and children in the
room, whenever possible.
- Keep children of parents of the same employer
together, whenever possible (i.e. when determining classes keep children of
Hospital A together)
- Limit parent interaction at drop off and pick
up.
Questions
Please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at 1-877-302-2347,
option 4, or email childcarepolicy@jfs.ohio.gov if you have any questions about
the new policy.