CECMP Blog

Attention: Executive Directors and Program Directors of All State Subsidized Early Learning and Care Programs 

 The CDE, ELCD would like to thank local partners and programs for all of your efforts in supporting children and families during this incredibly difficult time. We acknowledge each and every one of you who are continuing to support the children and families of California. Whether you are currently open, preparing to open, or preparing for distance learning, the ELCD acknowledges your need for guidance at this time. We appreciate your efforts and continue to work with the Legislature and the Administration in order to provide the direction you need.  

 The ELCD knows that many school districts are beginning the school year with distance learning; therefore, school-age children need care during their parent’s work hours. The ELCD also knows that questions have arisen about how to interpret California Code of Regulations, Title 5 (5 CCR), section 18076.2, which does not allow CalWORKs Stage 2 (C2AP), CalWORKs Stage 3 (C3AP), California Alternative Payment Program (CAPP), California Migrant Alternative Payment Program (CMAP), and Family Child Care Home Education Network (CFCC) contractors to reimburse providers during “scheduled instructional minutes” of a public or private educational program that the child is enrolled and attending.  

 Since K-12 distance learning does not provide supervision for children, the CDE does not consider it to be scheduled instructional minutes for the purposes of reimbursing providers.  

Therefore, providers shall be reimbursed for care during the time a school-age child is participating in K-12 distance learning and attending their childcare program or provider during the typical school hours.  

 If the child is participating in a hybrid model (in-person instruction and distance learning) the provider may only be reimbursed for the time that the child is not receiving in-person instruction. 

 Contractors are responsible for budgeting their contract funds to ensure providers will be reimbursed for an increase in the cost of care associated with school-age children that are participating in distance learning.  

 The ELCD will be revising Management Bulletin (MB) 20-15 to include this clarification. Until that MB is released, the guidance in this listserv should be utilized when making payments to providers. 

  Please visit our Early Learning and Care Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) website for the latest updates at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/covid19elcdfaq.asp

Attention: Executive Directors and Program Directors of All Subsidized Early Learning and Care Programs

The CDE, ELCD would like to thank local partners and programs for all of your efforts in supporting children and families during this incredibly difficult time. We acknowledge each and every one of you who are continuing to support the children and families of California. Whether you are currently open, preparing to open, or preparing for distance learning, the ELCD acknowledges your need for guidance at this time. We appreciate your efforts and continue to work with the Legislature and the Administration in order to provide the direction you need.

To address concerns regarding the collection of family fees in a variety of situations, the CDE, ELCD engaged with the Legislature and the Administration on a solution to waive family fees for July and August 2020. Further, the CDE understands the Administration and Legislature plan to address the fee cost in August Budget Actions.

Contractors must immediately suspend collecting any family fees for the month of August and must notify families and providers that the fees for July and August have been waived, pursuant to the Superintendent’s authority provided by Education Code Section 8209. In addition, contractors should not disenroll families for non-payment of family fees until further guidance is released from the CDE. This guidance will address family fees for emergency childcare, distance learning, reimbursing families for paid fees, reimbursing providers for fees not collected, and other issues.

In addition, we understand the urgent need for information and appreciate your patience as we work hard to implement Management Bulletins (MBs) based on the Fiscal Year 2020–21 Budget Act.

As a reminder, the CDE will be releasing MBs for direction and guidance covering the following topics:

• Direct contract programs–regarding distance learning, Desired Results Developmental Profiles (DRDPs), contract reimbursement, and related issues
• Alternative Payment & Data–regarding provider payment and data collection requirements
• Resource and Referrals (R&Rs) and Local Planning Councils (LPCs)–regarding data collection requirements and supply distribution
• Family Fees – regarding family fees for children that are distance learning and addressing family fees paid for July and August.

Please visit our Early Learning and Care Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) web page for the latest updates at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/covid19elcdfaq.asp.

If you have questions regarding the information in this email, please contact your assigned Program Quality Implementation Regional Consultant on the ELCD Consultants Regional Assignments web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/assignments.asp.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to consumers and health care providers about hand sanitizer products that are labeled as containing ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that have tested positive for methanol contamination. Methanol (i.e., methyl alcohol or wood alcohol) is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening when ingested. As per the FDA news update hyperlinked below, “Methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizers and must not be used due to its toxic effects. FDA’s investigation of methanol in certain hand sanitizers is ongoing. The agency will provide additional information as it becomes available.”

FDA has identified more than two dozen hand sanitizers that are toxic when absorbed through the skin. It is urgent that this information be sent to child care providers, parents, state child care licensing offices, child care professional development agencies, and others who can disseminate this information.

Consumers who have been exposed to a hand sanitizer containing methanol and are experiencing symptoms should seek immediate treatment for the potential toxic effects of methanol poisoning, which can include nausea, vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, permanent blindness, and seizures. Although people of all ages are at risk for methanol poisoning, “young children who accidentally ingest these products and adolescents and adults who drink these products as an alcohol (ethanol) substitute are most at risk.”

Please see the full FDA news update on hand sanitizers with methanol at https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-hand-sanitizers-methanol for further information.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has requested the California Department of Education to share this grant opportunity with school districts and education agencies within California.

This is a message on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care (OCC).

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted. The CARES Act provides $3.5 billion and various flexibilities for state, territory, and tribal lead agencies to operate their Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) programs to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency and to ensure the supply of child care after the emergency subsides.

The CARES Act includes additional provisions that, although not specific to child care, address the needs of child care providers and child care workers, as does the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Families First Act”), which was enacted on March 18, 2020. State, territory, and tribal governments now face the complexities of blending COVID-19 funding programs across multiple agencies to best support children, families, and child care providers. To aid with these decisions, the OCC has prepared guidance listing the funding programs outside of the CCDF program that affect child care providers and staff. The information can be accessed, along with updates reflecting ongoing legislation, on the OCC COVID-19 Legislation Guide for CCDF Administrators web page at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/resource/covid-19-legislation-guide-for-ccdf-administrators.

Attention: Attention: All Executive Officers and Program Directors of California Department of Education Early Learning and Care Programs

On Thursday, June 25, 2020, at 10:00 a.m., the ELCD is co-hosting a webinar on Universal Design for Learning in early learning settings.

Hosted by the Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division in collaboration with the ELCD and the California Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Coalition, this webinar will provide information on UDL and its application to distance learning for early childhood education. UDL provides accessibility for all children to demonstrate their mastery of developmental milestones.

Kelly Wylie and Kathy Wahl from the Santa Clara County Office of Education will provide a broad overview of UDL and guidance on integrating UDL principles as educators plan and deliver instruction in a distance learning format for preschool students.

This webinar will be on Facebook Live and Zoom. Zoom registration can be found on the CDE Distance Learning web page at  https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/dl/.