ELCD COVID-19 Guidance Webinar Notes

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Web Page

Good afternoon, and thank you for taking some time to join us for this webinar. My name is Stephen Propheter and I’m the director of the Early Learning and Care Division at the California Department of Education. We all are experiencing unprecedented times and we wanted to let you know the team at CDE is working across state agencies and with local partners to best support children, families, providers and contractors. The team presenting this webinar and the rest of the teams in ELCD and CDNFS are working behind the scenes, have gone above and beyond, working through weekends and late into nights to support local programs. We thank you for everything you are doing to support children and families during this crisis. I also want to thank our partners at Every Child California and the California Alternative Payment Providers Association for their support in hosting this webinar. With that, I'll turn it over to the ELCD’s Associate director, Erica Otiono for some additional remarks.

Thank you, Stephen. Again, my name is Erica Otiono, Associate Director, Early Learning and Care Division (ELCD), California Department of Education (CDE) – just to echo what Stephen has said, on behalf of all ELCD staff, I want to thank you for all you have been doing for children and families in your community, together we'll get through this. Please continue your outreach activities with families and remember to keep yourself and your loved ones and everyone around you safe. And now, I'll turn it over to Alana, our very first presenter…(30 second pause).

Hello, can everyone hear me? Yes, excellent! Okay, I think what I've learned with technology is that you think it will work and then one day decides to not work in your favor. Okay, so, thank you Erica and thank you Stephen. Again, my name is Alana Andrade, I am a Child Development Consultant in the Policy Office here at ELCD and I will be co-presenting this webinar with Megan Jones, a Child Development Consultant in the Program Quality Implementation Office, and Jo Sublet, a Fiscal Analyst in the Child Development and Nutrition Fiscal Service Division. Today we will be discussing the following:

• Senate Bill 117
• Management Bulletin 20-04: COVID-19 guidance on attendance and reporting requirements
• Management Bulletin 20-05: COVID-19 guidance on temporary waiver of family fees

You can find these COVID-19 specific management bulletins and future management bulletins, and any upcoming frequently asked questions on ELCD’s COVID-19 websites at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/elcdcovid19.asp. While the Center for Disease Control (CDC) devotes the virus as coronavirus, for the remainder of the presentation we will be using the term COVID-19 – just a reminder, this webinar will cover attendance and reporting requirements along with family fees, management bulletins and other communications, covering other topics or in the process of being developed, and will be shared as soon as they are ready. Shortly, we will be releasing management bulletins on the following topics

• Emergency closures
• Procurements and audits
• Emergency child care of admission priorities for essential workers
• The role of resource and referral agencies and local planning councils
• Program quality
• Program self-evaluations and contract monitoring review
• Family Child Care Home and Education Networks

Just a reminder, this webinar will only cover attendance and reporting requirements and family fees.

On March 17, 2020, the governor signed SB 117, which includes provisions to ensure continuity of payments to state subsidized ELCD ELC programs. Subject to the guidance 0f the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), the bill gives broad authority to the SSPI to modify contractual and reporting requirements, such as family fees, emergency closures, admissions and priority requirements, program quality requirements, and more.

Now we will discuss the information found in MB 20-04: Guidance on apportionment attendance and reporting requirements. This MB provides guidance about updated for apportionment, attendance and reporting requirements. This MB is not a permanent change to statute or regulation. These requirements will apply until June 30, 2020, unless nullified or changed by the legislature. As the situation evolves and more information is made available, the ELCD and CDE will continue additional guidance. MB 20-04 provides guidance on the following topics:

• Fiscal and attendance reporting requirements that are temporarily extended
• Contractor monthly apportionment payment
• Provider reimbursement
• Data reporting requirements for alternative payment contractors and county welfare departments

20-04 authority applies to fiscal year 2019 through 2020 and the following programs:

• Alternative Payment Program (CAPP)
• Migrant Child Care (CMIG and CMAP)
• California State Preschool Program (CSPP)
• General Childcare (CCTR)
• Family Child Care Home Education Network (FCCHEN)
• Care for children with severe disabilities (CHAN)
• CalWORKs stages 1 2 & 3 (C1 AP, C2 AP, and C3 AP)

The CDE worked jointly with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) on the guidance as it pertains to stage 1. The CDSS also released guidance mirroring MB 20-04, in all county welfare director’s letters. For any questions on stage 1, they should be directed to the county welfare department or to CDSS. The CDE encourages states subsidized ELC contractors to collaborate with their local public health departments and refer to the guidance in the CDC and the California Department of Public Health. Some counties have determined that child care is an essential service when care is provided for families who are deemed essential service workers. Please refer to the California Department of Public Health for their definition of essential services. And, now I'd like to introduce Jo sublet

Thank you, Alana. Hello, this is Jo Sublet, a Fiscal Analyst with the Child Development and Nutrition Fiscal Services Office, here to share information on the extension of fiscal and attendance reporting, part of Management Bulletin 20-04. The deadline to submit the February 2020 monthly report or March 2020 quarterly report, is now May 20, 2020 – I will repeat this statement – the deadline to submit the February 2020 monthly report or March 2020 quarterly report, is now May 20, 2020. During this time, any contractors who are not previously subject to withholding of apportionments, prior to the COVID-19 emergency, will continue to receive monthly apportionment payments. Note, that the February and March reports determine May and June payments, so contractors will receive an apportionment to cover expenses for May and June, despite absence of a February and March report. If a contractor, during the state declared state of emergency related to COVID-19, has the ability to submit a February and/or March attendance and fiscal report, and if the report data benefits the contractor, they are encouraged to do so. This may include instances when a contractor has increased enrollment since their last reporting period, thus, increasing the calculated apportionment amount due. For example, if the most recent report you submitted is a December 2019 report, and if you increased enrollment in the months January through March, it will be in your benefit to submit a January and/or March report to ensure that your apportionment payment captures the increased enrollment. Reports currently submitted online, including CAPP, CMAP, CFCC, C2 AP and C3 AP may continue to be submitted online. For those reports that are currently mailed to the CDE, CDNFS is requesting that contractors email any updated attendance and fiscal reports to their fiscal analyst, in addition to also mailing the original report to the CDE when regular business operations resume. The CDE will continue to monitor the state declared state of emergency related to COVID-19, and will issue further guidance on reporting requirements if necessary.

Hello everyone…this is Alana again, I just wanted to make sure that you all know how to ask questions during this thing. So, this is a repeat of yesterday's webinar and we have made a couple of clarifications based on that feedback. During the presentation, we will use the Q&A function to receive your question. Please find the Q&A feature located on your screen now – most likely it will be on the top portion. We will offer pauses during the webinar so that you may enter questions regarding specific topics at that time. We will be answering questions at the very end of this presentation. Whether or not we were able to answer questions today, we will be collecting them all from the Q&A feature, and will be answering them and upcoming something frequently asked questions. And, now I will hand it back over to Jo, to talk more about contractor monthly apportionment payment.

Thank you, Alana. The extension of fiscal and attendance reporting deadlines allows CDNFS to continue to process monthly apportionment payments to contractors, despite the absence of attendance and fiscal reports. The CDNFS will use the most current attendance and fiscal report to project earnings. These projections will be the basis for determining the monthly apportionment payments. For contractors that report quarterly, this means that the December report submitted in January, will be the basis of their March, April, and May as usual. Due to the report deadline extension, the December report will also be the basis for the June payments. Again, if a contractor's enrollment has increased since December, it may be in their benefit to submit a February or March report sooner than the May 20^th deadline, to ensure sufficient funds are apportioned. Please note, that the COVID-19 can be considered a family emergency, therefore, center-based contractors may include absences due to COVID-19 as excused absences. As stated in an earlier slide, a management bulletin on emergency closures will be released soon. That management bulletin will further address reporting and reimbursements for both alternative payment and center-based contractors. In the next few slides, I will discuss how alternative payment contractors should reimburse providers, whether the provider is open or closed for management bulletin 20-04. Providers who are remaining open, must submit attendance records or invoices in accordance with current reporting policies. Providers may submit an invoice or attendance record without the parent signature if the parent is unavailable to sign, due to COVID-19, and then the provider should indicate on the attendance or invoice that the parent is unavailable. For record-keeping purposes, we recommend that providers indicate on the signature line that the parent is unavailable to sign due to COVID-19. Providers reimbursed by AP programs, including, CalWORKs stages 1, 2, & 3, must be reimbursed using the most recent monthly attendance record or invoice, except in certain circumstances. Those include: (1) for families certified for variable scheduled reimbursement shall be made for the maximum authorized hours of certified need, (2) for licensed exempt providers reimbursement shall be made for the maximum authorized hours of certified need, (3) providers that are unable to submit an attendance record or invoice should contact their AP contractor. The AP contractor must reimburse based on the certified needs certificate. For record keeping purposes, the AP contractor must keep a record of the providers inability to submit an attendance record. For families who still need services, but whose usual provider is closed, can select an alternate provider. The AP contractors should work with providers to determine the best way to receive attendance and/or invoice records, while ensuring local public health department guidelines are being met. This may include but is not limited to, submitting electronic records, including digital signatures or access to a Dropbox outside of the building. Contractors are encouraged to establish a procedure to accept electronic attendance records. This may include, accepting the records by email. Providers who are closed during COVID-19, and are unable to submit the attendance record, should be reimbursed based on the certified need certificate. Alternative Payment (AP) contractors, must reimburse providers that have closed and are not providing services for 30 days after the date of closure. We will issue a clarification for management bulletin 20-04, that states it is 30 days total, and not any derivative of 30 days. Providers that are able, must submit attendance records or invoices in accordance with current reporting policies. Providers may submit an invoice or attendance record without the parent signature if the parent is unavailable to sign due to COVID-19, and then, the provider should indicate on the attendance record or invoice that the parent is unavailable. If providers are unable to submit an attendance record or invoice due to COVID-19, they should contact their AP contractor to inform them of their inability to submit the documentation. The provider will be reimbursed based on the certified need certificate. For record keeping purposes, the AP contractor must keep record of the providers inability to submit an attendance record. Families certified for a variable schedule, shall be reimbursed based on the maximum authorized hours of care. License exempt providers shall also be reimbursed based on the maximum authorized hours of care. The CDE and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), will be asking that AP contractors and County Welfare departments, collect information and report data on dual provider payments for the time period of March 16th 2020, through March 31, 2020. Based on feedback we received, we will be releasing the survey in two stages in order to ensure that we collect the data necessary, as well as, the understanding to the workload this imposes on AP contractors. The first release of the survey will be to collect a limited amount of data and will be released this week. The second release of the survey will be to collect a more extensive amount of information that will allow us to determine a more precise estimate of dual provider payments. The CDE and CDSS will jointly issue further guidance on reporting instructions this week. If you have any questions on management bulletin 20-04, please go ahead and type them into the Q&A feature now. Whether or not we're able to answer all of your questions today, we will be collecting them all from the Q&A feature and will be answering them in upcoming frequently asked questions (pause for questions). Okay, let me take this moment to introduce, Megan Jones.

Thank you everyone for your questions, and thank you Jo. My name is Megan Jones and I'm a Child Development Consultant with the Program Quality Implementation Office at ELCD. Now, we will discuss management bulletin 20-05: COVID-19 guidance on temporary waiver of family fees. This management bulletin or MB, is to notify and provide guidance to state subsidized early learning and care or ELC programs that they must waive family fees. Effective April 1, 2020, ELC contractors shall not collect family fees for April, May, and June 2020. This management bulletin is not a permanent change to statute or regulations. These requirements will apply until June 30, 2020, unless nullified or changed by the legislature. Any fees collected for April, May, and June shall be refunded to families. The following information applies to all Early Learning and Care Division contractors:

• Fees paid for March services will not be credited or refunded
• Contractors shall not be required to collect receipts or canceled checks for the months in which family fees are waived
• Contractors must immediately suspend collecting any family fees as of April 1, 2020 for the remainder of the fiscal year
• Contractors must immediately notify families and providers that the fees for April, May, and June have been waived

For families that have a delinquent family fee plan, contractors must place the plan on hold for the months of April through June 2020. Families must not be terminated due to outstanding fees owed or while repayment plans are on hold. For families who do not pay family fees owed for the month of March, collection of March fees owed will be delayed until July 1, 2020. Family fees waived for April through June 2020 will not be included in the delinquent family fee plan. Management bulletin 20-05 provides guidance on alternative payment for AP provider family fee collection. AP contractors that require providers to collect family fees directly, must direct providers to suspend collecting these fees. Contractors will reimburse providers fully without deducting the amount assessed for family fees. The waiver of family fees for parents will not affect the amounts paid to providers when the AP’s process is to collect the fee directly from families. If a provider's regular process is to collect the fee, and the provider payment is therefore offset, the contractor’s reimbursement to the provider will include the amount of the family fee for the months of April, May, and June. This allows the provider to receive reimbursement for the full amount of the certificate or voucher. Contractors that are continuing to certify or recertify families during this time, where family fees are waived, shall continue to indicate the family fees on the notice of action. The notice of action shall indicate the family fee assessed, as well as, indicate that the family fee is waived for the months of April, May, and June. Family fee payments will begin for new recertifications or resumed on July 1, 2020. Other reporting requirements from management bulletin 20-0 5: March family fees will be reported as usual on the Child Development and Nutrition Fiscal Services or CDNFS attendance and fiscal reports. The waive family fees for April through June 2020, will not be reported on the CDNFS attendance and fiscal reports. If you have any questions on management bulletin 20-05, please go ahead and type them into the Q&A feature now. We will do our best to answer what we can. Whether or not we are able to answer your questions today, we will be collecting them all from the Q&A feature and will be answering them in the upcoming frequently asked questions. Here is Alana to share some resources.

Thank you, Megan. And, thank you everyone for the questions that you’re entering into our Q&A feature. We are capturing them here, and all our team over here at ELCD is working to make sure that they get answered thoroughly, and many of them will be answered at upcoming management bulletins and upcoming frequently asked questions. While new resources are gathered each day, here's a list of resources we think would be useful for contractors (displayed in PowerPoint presentation). The CDE has developed a resource page that will include answers to frequently asked questions, all management bulletins issued regarding COVID-19, and other relevant resources. They can be found on the website at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/elcdcovid19.asp .  The CDSS Community Care Licensing Division has also developed a COVID-19 response page, which includes provider information notices and all County Welfare director letters. That website can be found at https:// …my apologies, that should be reading www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/child-care-licensing. We will have the correct link and someone on our team can put that in our chat box for everybody, please. For more information about federal and state guidance regarding COVID-19, please refer to the California COVID-19 response website at https://covid10.ca.gov/, the California Department of Public Health website at https://www.cdph.ca.gov/, and the CDC's website at https://www.cdc.gov/. And, to be informed of all updated information, including when management bulletins and frequently asked questions will be released, please sign up for Early Learning and Care Division’s email list at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/progspeclist.asp. I will pause on this slide and let's take time to answer any questions that are in the Q&A feature. If you feel they have not been answered and are pertaining to the information discussed in this webinar, please enter them in now. And again, we will be capturing any and all questions and comments. If at the end of this presentation there are other questions that you have, please email ELCDEmergency@cde.ca.gov. So, let's begin with your questions now. There are a lot of questions regarding getting a copy of this PowerPoint, and if it is recorded, and where it will be posted somewhere. Yes, this webinar will be recorded, and as soon as that it is available, the recording, the transcription, and the PowerPoint itself, will be posted on ELCD’s COVID-19 web page. Let's see…there is also some questions regarding information that is not pertaining to management bulletin 20-04 or 20-05, but is pertaining to management bulletins that will be released shortly. All of them are very important questions and we will be answering them thoroughly in the upcoming manager bulletins as soon as they are ready. They will be made available on ELCD’s COVID-19 web page, and just for this sake, I will read the webpage out again. That is https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/elcdcovid19.asp, and it's important to note that the 19 is numerical. There are also some questions about when those upcoming management bulletins and our FAQ’s will be released. The staff at ELC D are working tirelessly to get them ready for you and as soon as they are ready, they will be made available on that website that I have just been linking at.

Hi, we are also seeing many questions about reporting enrollment during closure. One question we have is if we normally submit a quarterly report and our enrollment is increased should we send a monthly report for April. So, the answer there would be, yes, you're always welcome to submit a monthly report throughout the year. You may submit monthly reports even if you are normally a quarterly reporter, just remember, CDNFS would need that report to be complete with enrollment attendance and fiscal data for us to process it. Another question we have is how do we code the days in March that were closed for COVID-19, excused or non-excused. The answer here is a management bulletin regarding emergency closures is forthcoming, that management bulletin will provide guidance on reporting absences during closure. If your agency was open and children were not attending due to COVID-19, those days can be reported as a family emergency, which is an excused absence. Another question we have is can we report attendance for closure days if we have not yet received acknowledgement of our closure from our consultant. So, you should not report days of attendance during closure until the emergency closure request has been approved by the CDE, however, as we've previously talked about, February and March 2020 report forms are not due until May 20, 2020. Agency’s will be reimbursed through June, despite the absence of enrollment attendance and expenditure data. The emergency closure management bulletin will provide further guidance on requests for days of closure. Another question we have is how should I send attendance records or resend them. So, with this question we're responding as if the provider is open, so contractors are encouraged to establish a procedure to accept electronic attendance records, this may include accepting the records by email. Providers who are closed during COVID-19, and are unable to submit the attendance record, should be reimbursed based on the certified need certificate. Who does the 30 days apply to, the 30 days applies to AP providers who are closed. And then another question, similar to that is, is it 30 days total or up to 30 days. So, it is 30 days. We will issue a clarification for management bulletin 20-04, that states it is 30 days total and not any derivative of 30 days. Is there a chance it will go past 30 days. Here, the CDE and the CDSS, are collecting data on the number of dual payments referred to refer to in the presentation earlier. This data will inform decisions about the ability to extend the 30-day dual provider payments beyond what is described in management bulletin 20-04. (Pause – technical difficulties).

This is Megan, I'm gonna read some questions regard to family fees – I apologize. Are families on delinquent family fee plans required to pay during the period family fees are waived. So, contractors must place the plan on hold for the months of April through June 2020. Families must not be terminated due to outstanding fees owed or while repayment plans are on hold. Family fees waived for April through June 2020, will not be included in the delinquent family fee plan. Another question, if I continue to certify and recertify families during COVID-19 how do I document family fees on a notice of action. The notice of action shall indicate the family fee assessed, as well as, indicate that the family fee is waived for the months of April, May, and June. Another question, how do I report waived family fees on the CDNFS reports. The waived family fees for April through June 2020, will not be reported on the CDNFS attendance and fiscal reports. March family fees will be reported as usual on the CDNFS attendance and fiscal reports. Are March family fees refunded to families. March family fees are not refunded or credited to families. Effective April 1, 2020, ELC contractor shall not collect family fees for the remainder of the fiscal year. The next question in regards to family fees, if we waive family fees for parents will that affect the amounts paid to the provider. The waiver of family fees for parents will not affect the amounts paid to providers when the AP’s process is to collect the fee directly from families. If a provider's regular process is to collect the fee and the provider payment is therefore offset, the contractor’s reimbursement to the provider will include the amount of the family fee for the months of April, May, and June. This allows the provider to receive reimbursement for the full amount of the certificate or voucher. One last question regarding family fees, how should AP contractors notify families about the change in family fees. The CDE is working on a template for contractors to use that will be made available in both English and Spanish. This is a template to be used to notify families about the change in fees.

Hi, there was a request to reread a slide, regarding reporting enrollment – reporting when you have higher enrollments, so I'm going to reread slide 10. So, if a contractor during the state declared state of emergency related to COVID-19 has the ability to submit a February and/or March attendance or fiscal report, and if the report data benefits the contractor, they are encouraged to do so. This may include instances when a contractor has increased enrollment since their last reporting period, thus, increasing the calculated apportionment amount due. For example, if the most recent report you submitted is a December 2019 report, and if you increased enrollment in the month January through March, it will be in your benefit to submit a January, February, or March report to ensure your apportionment payment captures the increased enrollment. Reports currently submitted online, including CIPP, CMAP, CFCC, C2 AP, and C3 AP, may continue to be submitted online. For those reports that are currently mailed to CDE, CDNFS is requesting that contractors email any updated attendance or fiscal reports to their fiscal analyst, in addition to mailing the original report to the CDE when regular business operations resume. And, the CDE will continue to monitor the state declared state of emergency related to COVID-19, and will issue further guidance on reporting requirements if necessary. There was also a request for some clarification regarding the 30 days. That is 30 calendar days. So, I just wanted to make that clear – it is 30 calendar days.

Okay this is Alana, there is a question…if we will be closed for the remainder of the school year do we need to submit an amended program. This will be addressed in the emergency closure management bulletin that is upcoming, and that will also lead to another question that we've been getting, are we supposed to follow management bulletin 10-09. So, manager bulletin 10-09 regarding emergency closures, is in effect until the new management bulletin on emergency closures is released. We do recommend waiting for this new management bulletin to be released in order to ensure that contractors are following the most recent guidance, when emergency closure request is submitted to the CDE. Another question regarding family fees, what if a parent did not pay their March fee, does management bulletin 20-05 allow us to collect for this month. So, management bulletin 20-05 discusses, for families who did not pay family fees owed for the month of March, collection of March fees owed will be delayed until July 1, 2020. So, we had another question regarding reporting, and the question was, we are not reporting for the month of April through June, correct. The answer there is management bulletin 20-04, it extends the due date for the February and March reports. There is currently no extension to the June report, however, we will issue further guidance if necessary, as we monitor COVID-19.

So, we are getting a lot of questions about future MB’s. So, I'm going to pull back towards here, so I'll leave this slide up that showcases what the upcoming management bulletins are. And, there will be a future management bulletin to address contract reviews, and anything regarding program self-evaluation, such as the DRDP, the (inaudible), all of that will be clarified in a future management bulletin. There is also a question, does the 30-day closure apply to license exempt providers. Yes, the 30-day applies to any provider funded by the AP contract, including license except. I also see that there is lots of questions about the upcoming emergency closure management bulletin, and yes, that bulletin will address reimbursements during closure. So, yes, the upcoming emergency closure management bulletin will address reimbursements during closure. And, once again, since we are coming close to 2:00, I will let everyone know again, what our email address is in case there are follow-up questions. Our email address for you to send your questions to is ELCDEmergeny – that’s all one space together – at cde.ca.gov (ELCDEmergency@cde.ca.gov). (brief pause)

So, we're getting other questions about the 30 days, and the question is, is there a chance it will go past the 30 days. So, the CDE and CDSS are collecting data on the number of dual payments referred to earlier, and this data will inform the decisions about the ability to extend the 30-day dual provider payments beyond what is described in management bulletin 20-04. (brief pause)

So, there is some questions regarding the upcoming information and management bulletins. We were just wanting to ensure everyone that we are working as quickly as possible on these management bulletins. We want to make sure that the information is thorough and concise, and exactly what you need. We will be releasing them as soon as they are ready. Please go back to our website so that you can be sure to read them as soon as they are processed and ready. (brief pause)

So, there was a question regarding the report submission dates, I just want to repeat that for you – the deadline to submit the February 2020 monthly report or the March 2020 quarterly report, is now May 20, 2020. So, there is an extension for those two months. (brief pause). So, the deadline to submit the reports has been extended, right now, to May 20th, however we did want to let you know that if your enrollment has increased, that you may submit an updated report to us, so that we can calculate it for you. Getting a lot of questions around March and family fees, guidance for a management bulletin 20-05. Fees paid for March services will not be credited or refunded, and for families who did not pay family fees owed for the month of March, the collection of March fees owed, will be delayed until July 1, 2020. (brief pause)

As we are coming up towards the end of the hour, I just want to reiterate that any questions and comments that you are putting into the Q&A feature are being collected, and we will be answering them in either upcoming frequently asked questions or in management bulletins. And also, I want to reiterate that this webinar will be made into a recording that you can find on our website. If you have any further questions after the presentation is over, please email us at ELCDEmergency@cde.ca.gov. (brief pause)

On behalf of myself, Megan Jones, Jo sublet, Associate Director, Erica Otiono, Director, Stephen Propheter, and all the staff and administration at ELCD and CDE, who are working continuously to give you the best possible information in a time when information is changing rapidly, we thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen to this webinar. I'd also like to close with another thank you for everyone for joining us, and also to thank Every Child California and the California Alternative Payment Program Association, for your support in making this webinar happen. Oh, I see Stephen (inaudible) – sorry Stephen. And, this webinar will be recorded and made available on our website as soon as possible. Thank you and take care you.