News

Children's Week Feb 2022  What a great way to kick off Children's week by celebrating with so many amazing champions who work so hard to ensure Florida’s children get the best start in life! Our CEO, Renee Jaffe and our CPO, Howard Bakalar are currently in Tallahassee advocating for Early Learning. Together we can create a major impact in our childcare communities for our providers, our families, and most importantly our children! #Childrensweek2022 #BecauseEveryChildMatters #Advocacy #ElcBroward #childrenarethefuture    

Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature authorized two qualified disaster relief payments to child care and early learning directors and instructors affected by COVID in Specific Appropriation #80B of the 2021-22 General Appropriations Act (GAA) (Chapter 2021-036, Laws of Florida). This funding is CRSSA federal funding that the State of Florida has authorized to be used for instructor disaster relief payments. These payments are provided to qualified instructors in recognition of their continuing service and dedication to Florida’s children and families.   

The ELC is pleased to announce the release of the Phase VI (6) Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Support Grants. The grants provide additional funding to Coalitions to support private early learning/child care providers and contracted school district providers that were classified as operational/open on September 1, 2021 and are providing on-site early learning/child care services on the date of application, to assist them in remaining open during the COVID-19 crisis. Phase VI CRRSA Grant Application Webinar November 10, 2021 - 10am Our ELC staff will be hosting a grant webinar on…

Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature authorized two qualified disaster relief payments to child care and early learning directors and instructors affected by COVID in Specific Appropriation #80B of the 2021-22 General Appropriations Act (GAA) (Chapter 2021-036, Laws of Florida). This funding is CRSSA federal funding that the State of Florida has authorized to be used for instructor disaster relief payments. These payments are provided to qualified instructors in recognition of their continuing service and dedication to Florida’s children and families.   

Great news! We're excited to announce a new rate increase for School Readiness providers! Recently, ELC Broward requested an additional rate increase for Broward's School Readiness small businesses. We just received notice that Florida's Division of Early Learning (DEL), formerly the Office of Early Learning (OEL), has approved our rate increase effective July, 1 2021.

Hurricane season is upon us.  Learn ways that child care providers can be equipped in the event of a hurricane.  

This is a reminder of the upcoming changes to the eligibility criteria for the School Readiness financial assistance program. Job Search or less than 20 hours of employment and/or educational activity as an initial eligibility criteria for the School Readiness program will expire on June 30, 2021.

Through the first few years of a child’s life, we watch them grow exponentially. From coos to sentences and crawls to runs, parents watch in amazement at how quickly their child learns new things and moves from one stage of development to the next. During a “normal” year, thousands of local children under the age of 6 are enrolled in a child care or prekindergarten program in which their development is enhanced by daily learning opportunities and activities.

The ELC is pleased to announce the release of the Phase V (5) Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Support Grants. The grants provide additional funding to Coalitions to support private early learning/child care providers and contracted school district providers that were classified as operational/open on April 1, 2021 and are providing on-site early learning/child care services on the date of application, to assist them in remaining open during the COVID-19 crisis.

We have some great news to share! The Office of Early Learning has waived parent copayments for the months of May and June.

School Readiness Child Care Provider: Beginning on March 31, 2021, families receiving School Readiness funding will be asked to complete, decline or defer a Developmental Screening for all children ages birth through kindergarten eligibility (66 months) during their enrollment process.

Effective March 1, 2021, the Office of Early Learning (OEL) will be enforcing signing of the payment certificate in order for your child care provider to be reimbursed for services provided to your child(ren).

Here some information on how to Verify Your EFS MOD Overpayment Balance

The Early Learning Coalition of Broward County is working in partnership with the Office of Early Learning to gather information from child care providers on any financial challenges and needs you may have as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please take a moment to answer these brief questions in order to give us a better understanding of how your program has been impacted.

Florida’s Office of Early Learning recently announced that School Readiness reimbursement rates were increased as of January 1, 2021. Attached you will find the updated maximum reimbursement rates for School Readiness children. When determining your program’s individual reimbursement rate, your private pay rates are compared to the maximum reimbursement rates, and your reimbursement rate will be the lesser of the two. The increase in the maximum reimbursement rates requires an amendment to your current School Readiness contract (form OEL-SR 20). ELC staff are currently in the process of initiating these amendments on the…

Want to know... How to better understand your School Readiness and VPK contracts? How to properly enter children's attendance in EFS? How long the children in your program are eligible for subsidy? More about CLASS observations and how they affect your reimbursement? If you have ever wondered about how you can more easily conduct business with ELC Broward... The "A" Team is here to train you!

FOR CHILD CARE PROVIDERS: The EFS Modernization portal will be offline Thursday, February 25, 2021 from approximately 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. EST. OEL will be deploying the upcoming/past due redetermination lists that were mentioned at the last PLAN meeting.

School Readiness Partners!  We are pleased to announce that the Florida Legislature and Governor DeSantis approved an additional $50 million to be spent to reduce the differences in School Readiness (SR) reimbursement rates across the state.

School Readiness Provider: We want to make you are aware of some upcoming changes you will notice pertaining to the Provider Portal. OEL will begin enforcing the signing of  the payment certificate for School Readiness families on the Family Portal to complete their enrollment or redetermination process.

The March edition of the provider newsletter is jammed packed with lots of great resources and information for child care providers and educators. You'll find information on: COVID-19 Vaccine Information Office of Early Learning News Professional Development Opportunities Free Services  

The March edition of the provider newsletter is jammed packed with lots of great resources and information for child care providers and educators. You'll find information on: Summer VPK School Readiness Program Assessment Professional Development Opportunities Free Services