Recent Communications On Temporary Emergency Funding

Dear Child Care Operator

Thank you for your exemplary hard work, resilience and patience as we navigate together through this pandemic. We want to acknowledge and thank you for the concerns, recommendations and questions shared by you and the families you care for while we look towards transitioning into our new normal and the next stages of BC’s Restart Plan.

We first want to announce that the Temporary Emergency Funding (TEF) will remain in place until August 31st, 2020. This is to ensure child care operators can smoothly transition over the summer to be ready when schools are planned to start up fully in September. This aligns with the Ministry of Education plans to return to full-time, in-class instruction for the K-12 system in September, if it is safe to do so.

It is our hope that most child care operators will be able to open, or if you are currently open, work towards full capacity, over the next few months.

We are aware that the circumstances brought on by the pandemic have made the already challenging issue of recruitment and retention even more difficult. To support your efforts in this area, any surplus TEF for the months of July and August are to be used to provide a temporary wage enhancement or other non-monetary compensation, such as training, to Early Childhood Educators in your organization. For child care operators who do not employ ECEs, please refer to the recently updated TEF guidelines for appropriate use of TEF surplus funds.

While we realize that each operator will determine if they wish to open, we encourage those of you who are able to do so, to support families across the province as they return to work. As these families return to your centres, here are answers to some of the questions and concerns you may have on transitioning through the province’s Restart Plan:

• Until August 31st, if you choose to remain closed, TEF will continue at your current rate for closed facilities; if you choose to re-open, you will be eligible for the higher rate of TEF
• Facilities now open, who close in July and August as per their usual scheduling, will receive TEF at the closed rate of two times your facility’s average monthly CCOF base funding.
• All operators who wish to continue receiving TEF until August 31st will need to agree to the updated Modification Agreement in your July TEF sign-up form. If you are already participating in TEF but you do not accept the updated Modification Agreement terms as required, you will revert to your regular Child Care Operating Funding Agreement effective July 1, 2020.
• As of September 1st, all providers in receipt of TEF will revert to their regular CCOF Base Funding.
• Staff to child ratios remain in place and unchanged. However, facilities may request approval for a temporary exemption in certain circumstances from their licensing officer.
• As of July 1st, any surplus TEF during the months of July and August must be used as a temporary wage enhancement or other non-monetary compensation, such as training, for ECEs where ECEs are employed in your operations.
• Until August 31st, open facilities receiving TEF must continue to prioritize children of essential service workers and not charge parent fees for children who are temporarily withdrawn.
• Facilities participating in TEF that are at capacity with children of essential service workers and cannot accommodate returning families who are not essential service workers, should refer these families to your local CCRR or to the Child Care Request Form for referral to available space in other facilities.

To help communicate the transition in funding and the potential displacement of current essential worker families as well as the return of temporarily withdrawn parents, we have drafted and attached three optional form letters for you to use and modify as needed.

Additionally, here are other useful resources:

• COVID-19 Public Health Guidance for Child Care Settings
• WorkSafe BC Child care and day camps: Protocols for returning to operation
• TEF Guidelines
• Cleaning and Disinfectants for Public Settings
• Remember to Wash your Hands

All documents are available on the Child Care Setting Practice Standards and TEF websites.

If you have questions regarding the TEF program transition, please do not hesitate to call the Child Care Operating Team at 1 888 338-6622, option 2.

Sincerely,
Childcare BC
Stakeholder Engagement Team

Parent Response Template