Child Care Vouchers

New CCDF and OMWPK applicants

OMWPK applicants, families who earn below 100% FPL, child care workers and families who may not be able to reauthorize due to financial limitations.

Employment, seeking employment, or enrollment in an education or training program

FSSA plans to continue to reauthorize families as long as funding permits.

Once an application is submitted, a priority is assigned, and a family is placed on the waitlist in priority order. Families who are not in a priority group will receive vouchers on a first-come, first-served basis, as available. The state’s waitlist is not the same as a provider’s waitlist. The state’s waitlist is to receive a voucher that can be used at any participating program in the state, including centers, homes and ministries. Provider waitlists are for a spot in a specific program.

Statewide. FSSA will continue to prioritize small counties as the state continues its work to expand child care access in rural communities.

FSSA is re-implementing a child care waitlist due to significant growth in families supported through vouchers. Both OMWPK and CCDF programs have grown substantially. OMWPK peaked last year, supporting nearly 8,000 children, up 167% from just 3,000 children when it went statewide in 2019. CCDF has grown to more than 70,000 children this year, up 43% since 2019.

Families will receive an email notifying them of their placement on the waitlist when they apply for a CCDF/OMWPK voucher.

Providers will not see any interruptions initially. FSSA plans to continue to reauthorize existing families as long as funding permits.

The state can support up to about 50,000 children with CCDF/OMWPK vouchers moving forward.

Many states have waitlists for vouchers. In fact, Indiana had a waitlist until 2018.

The federal government provided about $50 million in additional funding in 2018, followed by pandemic funding in 2020, both of which have supported thousands more families over the last six years.

FSSA estimates between 16,000 and 24,000 families will not need to continue receiving vouchers each year based on a variety of factors such as children moving onto primary school and families earning more. The agency estimates about 20,000 new children and families will apply and be added to the waitlist each year.

Families will no longer swipe a card to record attendance. The new model will also include an excessive absence policy. Warning letters will be issued to families and providers at 10, 20, 30 and 40 days with voucher termination at 45 days.

This new policy will increase children’s time in care which can lead to improved learning outcomes. Providers are encouraged to use the warning letters to talk with families and stress the importance of regular attendance.

Providers will no longer have to maintain a POS device or have a landline phone system, but will still be required to track and maintain attendance records via internal business methods (e.g., within their child care management system, via paper records, etc.) This change is designed to make attendance reporting faster and easier, reduce errors and avoid missed information.  After submitting bi-weekly absences, a provider will be paid full-time until a child reaches their excessive absence limit of 45 days per enrollment year. If a child is no longer enrolled or enrolled but never attended the program, it will be the provider’s responsibility to report this to the eligibility office within five (5) business days to avoid overpayment and repayment of funds for an ineligible child.

This new model is designed to modernize families’ service experience, reduce hassles related to daily and missed swipes and facilitate expanded access and choice of care as more providers may participate in voucher programs.

Providers will no longer need to manage daily or missed swipes which will make reporting easier, streamline administrative tasks and allow them to focus more on the children they are supporting. The new system will also create greater financial stability for child care voucher payments, making it easier and more beneficial for providers to participate.

The change will take effect in summer 2024.

Providers will be responsible for tracking attendance internally and recording child absences in the provider portal or in a state preferred CCMS. Absences will be tracked against an excessive absence policy of 45 days across all providers where a child is enrolled. Warning letters will be issued to families and all providers where a child is enrolled at 10, 20, 30 and 40 days with voucher termination at 45 days. The provider will continue to be paid up to this point as long as the child is attending and enrolled in the program.

Providers will use the new provider portal (PPP) through I-LEAD to enter and manage children’s absences and off days, provider paid and non-paid closures, and view voucher and past absence data for the children on their rosters. The portal is also how providers will connect to Tyler Technologies/RFS, OECOSL’s new payment vendor that replaces Conduent. Providers and families will no longer use the Hoosier Childcare sites.

Providers can also choose to submit attendance data using one of the state-preferred CCMS vendors. Providers who use one of these systems will no longer have to duplicate attendance entries into the provider portal. Providers will be able to easily transmit attendance data for voucher children to the portal using a data bridge.

Providers are still required to keep their back-up attendance method (e.g., CCMS, electronic tracking, paper attendance) for licensing and auditing purposes. This should be kept for three (3) years.

Policies related to both children’s absences and provider closures were updated as of July 15. Please make sure you familiarize yourself with these new policies.

OECOSL will be replacing Conduent as the current payment vendor and host of the provider portal, and will switch to a new provider portal and new payment vendor, Rapid Financial Solutions (RFS). Families and providers will be required to register with the new system to access their portal. Once the model is in place, providers will be responsible for tracking attendance internally and recording child absences in the provider portal.

OECOSL will notify families of the change beginning in June. Communications will encourage families to work with providers to address any missed swipes or late attendance before the system change. Providers will be equipped with communications templates to share and reinforce this messaging with families.

When the new system launches, families will receive a letter in the postal mail with instructions for how to register and activate their new portal account. Their portal view will contain read-only information to help them monitor absence counts and keep track of their reauthorization dates. It is not mandatory for families to register their account, however, and their account status will have no bearing on provider responsibilities or payments.

Auditors for the state will monitor attendance data submitted through the new provider portal. Providers who do not submit any absences for all children in care for three (3) consecutive months will automatically be subject to audit. Providers are still required to keep their back-up attendance method (e.g., CCMS, electronic tracking, paper attendance) for licensing and auditing purposes. Providers should expect to maintain these records for at least three (3) years.

The parent of any child who will not be using care for two (2) weeks or more should notify the eligibility office to set up a gap in their voucher so the absences do not continue to accumulate against the excessive absence total.  No payment will be made to the provider during that gap.

Yes. To facilitate the shift to enrollment-based vouchers, OECOSL will transition to a new provider portal which will go live this summer. At that time, families and providers will be required to register with the new system to access their portal.

For the best experience, providers will need an up-to-date computer with an internet connection and access to frequently used browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari to record absences. Alternatively, a mobile device can be used if it is up to date and using the default browser for that phone (e.g., Safari for an iPhone).