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31, 2021 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

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Quick Look: EYCC Phase 4 Funding April 1 to December 31, 2021

Intended for Licensed Child Care Centre-Based Providers Revised: September 13, 2021

Please refer to the Revised EYCC Phase 4 Funding Guideline and your EYCC Phase 4 Memo(s) issued on March 31, 2021 and September 13, 2021 for further details

OVERVIEW

EYCC Phase 4 Funding (includes EYCC Phase 4 Top-Up funding) is intended to support the safe opening and viability of the licensed child care due to COVID-19. All EYCC Phase 4 Funding must be spent by December 31, 2021.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• You must be open and providing services, unless otherwise directed by Peel Public Health (PPH) or the Province of Ontario and follow all program, financial, contract (any EYCCS contract), and/or system planning data reporting requirements on or before the assigned timeline.

• To receive your EYCC Phase 4 Top-Up funding monthly payments beginning October 1, 2021, you must acknowledge and submit the funding change in GovGrants by September 17, 2021.

• Service Providers on hold who did not meet the reporting requirements as of September 1, 2021 are ineligible for EYCC Phase 4 Top-up funding. These Providers must still meet the requirements as per the revised Phase 4 Guideline and conditions of funding from their existing funding allocation. Failure to do so, may result in recovery of this funding and/or impacts to future EYCC funding supports.

ADMINISTRATION FUNDING

You may use a maximum of 10% of your monthly EYCC Phase 4 funding payment (unless the Region notifies you otherwise) to support the following eligible administrative expenses:

• Bank charges

• Central Administration Costs for Corporate Office (for multi-site agencies)

• Interest fees

• Legal fees

• Management fees (i.e. franchise fees)

• Office and general costs

• Professional and consulting fees

• Increased hours worked by employees who are on payroll and perform administrative functions due to COVID-19 (salary/ mandatory benefits portion not covered by the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy “(CEWS)” program) EYCC PHASE 4 – GENERAL FUNDING ELIGIBLE EXPENSES

You must use your EYCC Phase 4 Funding to support the eligible expenses prioritized in the following order:

Category Description

a) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) &

Enhanced Cleaning Expenses

• Contact-free thermometer (maximum $110 each)

• Hand sanitizer dispensers (i.e. wall-mounted/foot pedal) (maximum $300 each)

• Health Canada approved COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Devices (maximum $35 each) Important: Effective May 12, 2021 rapid antigen devices are no longer eligible for purchase using Phase 4 funds as Providers can apply for free rapid antigen tests through the Provincial Antigen Screening Program.

• Hand sanitizer

• HEPA replacement filters (maximum $175/each)

• Alcohol swabs

• Disinfectant wipes

• Disposable gowns

• Face shields

• Backup masks for children (as directed by Peel Public Health)

• Eye protection that is non-fogging and/or products that may prevent fogging (e.g.

fogging spray)

• Gloves

• Steam cleaner

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• Surgical/Procedure masks (i.e. medical mask)

• Other eye protection (goggles, wrap around safety glasses)

• Other cleaning supplies (e.g. bleach, paper towels, soap) Other cleaning services (e.g. professional steam cleaning b) Increased Staff to

Meet Enhanced Health & Safety Requirements

Support staff wages and mandatory benefits (portion not covered through the CEWS) for new/existing staff to do the following duties:

• Screeners

• Staff required to support pick up and drop off routines (runners/marshals)

• Staff required to fulfil enhanced cleaning and sanitation protocols

• Additional program staff required to meet ratio requirements under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA) so that groups of children do not mix with other groups (i.e., beginning and end of the day routines)

• Supply staff if regular staff is unable to work due to illness

• Supply staff if regular staff is unable to work due to vacation – if funds allow

• Additional staff required to transport children so that the groups of children do not mix with other groups

Note: Owners/operators already on payroll (as of September 1, 2020) are eligible for this funding.

c) Child Absenteeism (UPDATED!)

To support child absenteeism until December 31, 2021, you must:

A. Expand Child Absenteeism Policy:

Revise your absence policy to cover the following situations:

1. A child answered YES to screening questions in the Active screening form for children and their absence was not a result of a COVID-19 positive, confirmed case.*

• Determine how many absent days to cover for situations #1 and

#2.

• We strongly

recommend that you use your Phase 4 funds to increase the number of days in your policy retroactively from April 1 to December 31, 2021.

2. Any other additional situations you choose to cover related to an individual child’s absence.

3. Peel Public Health (PPH) directs the closure of a

room/centre (effective August 24).

• Effective August 24, you must credit/refund families for all absent days related to the closure of a

room/centre, or

required self-isolation due to a confirmed, positive COVID-19 case.

• Absences for situations

#3 and #4 should not count towards the number of maximum days in your policy.

4. A doctor, health care provider or PPH directs a self-isolation due to a confirmed, positive COVID-19 case (effective August 24).

B. Notify families of your revised policy

Communicate through your regular communication process to families:

• Your revised policy for April 1 to December 31, 2021.

• The Region’s “Did You Know?” Poster to families

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regarding funding to support Child Absenteeism (see attached). You must post this at the entrance of your child care site by September 30, 2021.

• Eligible absences incurred during this period should be credited/refunded within 45 days of the eligible absence.

• Absences related to PPH directed closures of a room/centre or self-isolation will be credited/refunded and must not count towards the maximum number of days

IMPORTANT: You must credit/refund families for eligible absent days within 45 days of the eligible absence.

Failure to comply will result in you not being able to use your Phase 4 funds and recovery of funding. The Region will include an attestation as part of its Reconciliation to ensure any impacted families were credited/refunded for eligible absence days. You may be selected as part of the Region’s random audit to demonstrate this. We may also request a copy of your policy at any time, including with the Region’s reconciliation process.

C. Credits/

refund families MANDATORY

• Eligible families must be credited/refunded within 45 days of the eligible absence. Families who withdraw from the program must be refunded.

• While funding is provided to the agency based on the Region’s approved municipal rates, you must

credit/reimburse families for actual fees paid:

o The full cost of care paid by full-fee families o The parent portion of the fee paid by families

receiving fee subsidy

o Licensed full-day kindergarten programs with no municipal rate, the Region will reimburse the preschool municipal rate, or the actual fee paid, whichever is lower.

o Fees for unlicensed programs are ineligible for reimbursement.

IMPORTANT: Track ALL child absences related to COVID-19 including the mandated closures and self- isolations on the Child Absenteeism Tab in your Reporting and Reconciliation Template.

D. Pay staff If the room/centre is directed to close or there are child absent days due to COVID, you must pay the impacted staff for the eligible absent days.

IMPORTANT: You must pay impacted staff for eligible absent days their regular pay (not vacation, personal or sick time). Failure to comply will result in you not being able to claim your Phase 4 funds for child absenteeism and recovery of funds; and will result in impacts to future EYCC funding. The Region will include an attestation as part of its Reconciliation to ensure any impacted staff were paid on closure days. You may be selected as part of the Region’s random audit to demonstrate this.

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d) Fixed Operating Expenses (UPDATED!)

Use your EYCC Phase 4 funds to offset a maximum of 75% of the following eligible fixed operating expenses net of federal/provincial/municipal and third-party supports,

discounts, and grants (e.g. Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, landlord rent discounts, etc.):

• Costs for catering/food

• Health and dental benefits

• Insurance

• Lease/rental costs (portion not supported through other initiatives/discounts)

• Maintenance expenses (i.e. contracts for rug/mat cleaning, security/alarm systems)

• Mortgage payments (portion not supported through other initiatives/discounts)

• Program supplies for children’s use consumables (e.g. art and play materials such as paint, paper, crayons, markers, etc.) and non-consumable materials not covered through Special Purpose Funding (e.g. Montessori play materials)

• Property tax

• Supply agency costs

• Telephone/internet

• Transportation expenses (bus transportation contracts)

• Utilities e) Additional Staff

Absenteeism Policy (Optional)

(NEW!)

Use can choose to use your EYCC Phase 4 funding to support additional staff absent days if staff employed at the centre do not pass screening and are unable to work or require staff wellness day/s. It is up to you to determine the number of additional staff absent days you will cover and to communicate your policy to staff.

If you choose to support staff wellness day/s, you should consider supporting this benefit on days when there is minimal child attendance (e.g. over the winter holidays). If you choose to only support staff wellness days, you do not need to have a staff

absenteeism policy but must communicate your wellness plan to staff. We may request documentation as proof to ensure transparency.

To use EYCC Phase 4 to support Additional Staff Absenteeism, Providers must:

Decide • Whether or not you will offer additional paid staff absent days using your EYCC Phase 4 funding.

• How many absent days you will cover using your EYCC Phase 4 funding for absences between April 1 to December 31, 2021.

Important! Additional paid staff absent days is intended to support staff only after your existing sick day policy has been exhausted.

Document Decisions

• Develop or update your existing staff absent days policy that

documents your qualifying situations and the number of absent days covered per staff between April 1 to December 31, 2021.

Notify Staff • Through your regular communication process, communicate your Additional Staff Absenteeism Policy.

Important! We may request a copy of your policy at any time, including as part of the Region’s EYCC Phase 4 Reconciliation.

Pay staff for sick days

• Eligible absences from April 1 to December 31, 2021 must be paid to staff as part of your regular payroll process.

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f) One-Time Costs for Audited Financial Statements and Bookkeeping/Accoun ting

(NEW!)

You can use your EYCC Phase 4 funding to support costs for:

Expense Eligible Period

Audited Financial Statements OR Financial Statements

January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 Bookkeeping and Accounting

Expenses

April 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 For expenses over $15,000, detailed invoices listing the services rendered must be submitted with the Region’s Reconciliation. If a Service Provider is found to be using more than one eligible funding category to support the same eligible cost, it will result in all funding categories becoming ineligible and the funding will be recovered. Please refer to the Guideline for additional criteria associated with these expenses.

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM (BASP) CLOSURE ELIGIBLE EXPENSES (APPLIES TO BASP PROGRAMS IMPACTED BY MANDATED SCHOOL CLOSURES ONLY!)

Service Providers impacted by the BASP mandatory closure (April 6, 2021 to June 29, 2021) who issue a refund or credit to affected families by August 1, 2021, can use their EYCC Phase 4 to support the following BASP eligible expenses:

Note: Charging families for services that are not available will impact your eligibility to receive funding supports for the closure period.

A. Fixed Operating Expenses BASP Type Description Stand-Alone BASP

sites

• You may offset up to 100% of your BASP stand-alone site(s) unavoidable fixed operating expenses that you were contractually obligated to pay during the closure period.

• The expenses supported must be net of federal, provincial, municipal, and third-party supports, discounts, and grants (e.g. CERS, Ontario Small Business Support Grant, landlord rent discounts).

School aged

programs located in or attached to licensed child care centres (same licence)

• You may continue to offset up to 75% of your eligible fixed operating expenses that you are contractually obligated to pay (as per Fixed Operating Expenses of the EYCC Phase 4 Guideline).

B. Staffing Costs

• Service Providers that do not lay off their BASP staff during the closure can use their EYCC Phase 4 to cover the portion of the BASP staff wages and benefits that is not eligible for CEWS as follows:

o Staff on payroll (receiving a T4) who typically support BASP program: EYCC Phase 4 can be used to cover hours worked during the closure, up to the number of hours staff typically worked in the BASP before the closure.

REPORTING & RECONCILIATION REQUIREMENTS

The Region will release a revised EYCC Phase 4 Planning Tool and Reconciliation Template to Service Providers. You must submit your template, as well as any supporting invoices for expenses over $15,000 through GovGrants by January 31, 2022, unless otherwise directed earlier by the Region. All eligible expenditures for EYCC Phase 4 Funding must be used to support licensed child care spaces/operations in Peel only. Service Providers are required to retain documentation to demonstrate to the Region that EYCC Phase 4 allocations were used to support eligible expenses for a minimum of seven years.

We will collect:

• Actual expenditure amounts for each eligible expense category:

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Enhanced Cleaning Expenses

• Increased Staff to Meet Enhanced Health & Safety Requirements

• Supports for Child Absenteeism

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• Supports for Fixed Operating Expenses

• Supports for Additional Staff Absenteeism Policy (Optional)

• One-time costs related to the completion of:

• Audited financial statements or financial statements incurred from January 1 to December 31, 2021; and

• Bookkeeping and accounting costs incurred from April 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.

• BASP Fixed Operating Expenses

• BASP Staffing Costs

• Administration Expenses

Other information that will be required includes:

• Number of absent days and total amount of Reimbursement Funding that supported families during COVID-19

• Number of FTEs supported through Enhanced Staffing Supports

• Maximum number of absent days covered in your child absenteeism policy for April 1 to December 31, 2021

• Number of actual children and actual child absent days supported through your child absenteeism policy

• Number of additional staff absent days, including staff wellness days, supported through your staff absenteeism policy for April 1 to December 31, 2021 (as communicated to staff)

• Number of actual FTEs and the number of actual hours supported through your staff absenteeism policy (note:

the calculation for an FTE is based on a 35 hour work week, 1820 hours/week)

• Number of additional paid staff absent days supported through your staff absenteeism policy

• Number of BASP FTEs supported

• Report on eligibility/application status for the federal/provincial programs such as the CEWS, CERS, Ontario Small Business Support Grant

Your child absenteeism policy and staff absenteeism policy/staff wellness day(s) as well as your communication to parents/staff may be requested. Since your policies may periodically change, the Region reserves the right to request a copy of any revised policies issued to families/staff. As part of the Region’s Reconciliation, you will be required to submit an attestation declaring that you have:

• Paid impacted staff for eligible absent days. Staff must be paid their regular pay, not vacation, personal or sick time;

• Have credited/refunded eligible families for child absent days within 45 days of the eligible absence; and

• Have exhausted all other available funding and that expenses supported through EYCC Phase 4 have not been already covered through any other EYCC funding streams and/or other government funding.

AUDIT & RECOVERIES

Service Providers who do not comply with the eligibility requirements or fail to use Regional funding in accordance with the EYCC Phase 4 Guideline may be required to repay all/or part of the EYCC Phase 4 Funding received.

You may be contacted to complete an audit/review of your EYCC Phase 4 funding through the Region’s audit selection process. To assess whether funding has been used for its intended purpose and to ensure that funds were used to support licensed child care spaces/operations in Peel, the Region may conduct check-ins and request other supporting documentation at any time. Additional reporting/audit requirements may be implemented on a case-by-case basis.

You must repay to the Region all or part of your EYCC Phase 4 funding (as determined by the Region) if you did not use funding in accordance with the terms of your EYCCS Stabilization Funding Agreement or the EYCC Phase 4 Funding Guideline. Please refer to the EYCC Phase 4 Funding Guideline for a full list of situations.

When the Region determines that a Service Provider must retain all or pay of their EYCC Phase 4 funding, they will be notified by e-mail. The amount owed by the Service Provider must be repaid to the Region upon demand to maintain ongoing eligibility for EYCC funding.

CONTACT US

For any inquiries, please contact your Early Years Specialist or email the Region at:

EarlyYearsSystemDivision@peelregion.ca.

References

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