Ohio Connection State Family Child Care Association

  Provider Payment System Workgroup-Update

1.  The State will be installing Point of Sale machines in providers' homes this year.  Anyone contracted with the state to provide care will be issued these machines. There will be a slow roll out of the system.  It may take up to eight months to roll the system out.  Parents will slide a card through a Point of Sale machine to sign their children in and out.

2.  The centralized payment system will begin March 28th.  The first payment will be in May.  Your county will continue to process your paperwork as usual until you receive the Point of Sale machine in your home.  After processing, the county will input your payment information to the  state and the state will direct deposit your funds.  All payments will be done thru direct deposit.  Once the Point of Sales machines are installed throughout the state.  The state will start issuing weekly payments to providers.

3.  There will be a Provider Web Portal for providers to submit their information.  Providers will have to fill out three (3) forms-Provider Contract, Rate Form, and Banking Form.  Providers will no longer contract with the county.  They will instead be contracted with the state.  The voucher system will no longer exist.  The locally funded vouchers used in some counties will still exist due to the fact that this is locally funded child care and has no funding from the state. 

4.  Providers will need to acquire an email address to provide to the state.  Once you complete your forms, the state will send you a confirmation email. 

5.  An Enhancement and Authorization system will be implemented that will provide providers with the informations such as

• Blue Sheet Info/Notification of pay amount
• Co-payment changes
• Authorized hours
• Change of Provider
• Termination
• Authorization approvals
• Redetermination notification

6.  Providers will need to have internet access to obtain this information.  Providers who do not have internet access at home can use their local library to obtain access to the internet.

Question and Answer

  1.  How will transporting providers implement this system?

  The state is not sure.  This is a problem that the Vendor will have to work out.

2.  Multiple people dropping off and picking up.

More than one card and pin number will be issued to a family.

3.  Signing schoolagers in and out

Parents will be able to retroactively sign a schoolager in and out.

4.  What is needed for the machine and who will pay for the extra expense?

The machine will need a phone line and electricity.  Once the machine is set up, it cannot be relocated by the provider.  The cost of additional lines is the provider's responsibility.  While a parent is sliding their card, your phone line will ring busy.

Phone line must be a land line phone.  State regulations require that all providers have a land line phone.  Internet phones are not land line phones.

5.  Is providers required to have internet in their homes?

No, but you will need to have internet access somewhere.

6.  Power outages

Machine will store the data and transmit at a later time

7. Dual Placements

Parent will retroactively sign the child out at the first provider and retroactively sign the child in at the second provider.

8. Union Dues

Union dues will be deducted regardless of whether you sign the card or not.  Ohio is a forced unionization state.   You do not have the right to not join the union.   House Bill 1 requires the State to deduct the fee from your check prior to paying you.

9.  Fraud - Providers using the cards to sign children in and out.

Providers are not to have access to the card or pin number at any time.

Currently, one suggestion has been to sanction parents and providers the first time they are caught abusing the card.  The provider will be fined monetarily and the parent will be sanctioned with the temporary loss of daycare.

The second time, the provider will lose their license or certification forever and the parent will lose their daycare.

This may be subject to change as the program is rolled out.

For further information, send questions to www.ccids help desk@jfs.ohio.gov or call 1-877-302-2347.

Please feel free to suggest additions to the website.  This website is to benefit us all.

Family Child Care Home Business Focus Workgroup

In September 2003, the Day Care Advisory Council of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association convened the first meeting of the Family Child Care Home Business Workgroup.  Over the course of the last four years a diverse group of family child care home business professionals, state and county agency staff, child care resource and referral organizations staff, early childhood professionals, food program staff,  and parents met together and by phone to hammer out a set of short term and long-term recommendations.  These recommendations focused on the health and safety of children in care and improving the quality of their early learning opportunities.

Who will be licensed?

Family Child Care Home Businesses receiving payment from any source-public or private-to care for between three and six children on a regular basis will be required to be licensed.  The provider's own children under the age of six and foster care children are included in this count.

Quality Rating System Proposal

This system will rate providers based on five categories.  These categories are Ratio and Accreditation, Education and Qualifications, Specialized Training, Administrative Practices and Early Learning Implementations.

As currently drafted, this will be a three step process.  A provider will have to meet all qualifications in the designated step in order to obtain the quality rating for that step. As with the daycare centers' rating system, this system will be voluntary for providers.

This system is being devised to help parents when selecting care for their child/children. 

The State is currently beginning the process of placing all early care and early education components under the control of the Ohio Department  of Education.  Governor Strickland is also calling for better qualifications for family child care providers that receive subsidized pay.