This broadcast was released by the Alaska Division of Public Assistance, Child Care Program Office on May 3, 2023.
The Child Care Program Office (CCPO) held their quarterly Provider Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. The following is information we shared regarding relief funding and upcoming surveys.
Stabilization and Relief Funds Updates
A new Child Care Stabilization Fast Facts document gives and overview of how Stabilization funds impacted Child Care Providers in the State of Alaska since they were awarded to Alaska in 2021. Links to this document can be found via the most recent CCPO Broadcast, and on the threadalaska.org website: https://www.threadalaska.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Stabilizing-Child-Care-For-a-Thriving-Alaska-FINAL-03102023.pdf.
Thank you for responding to our Phase 1 & 2 reporting surveys. Your answers to these surveys will provide important information for required federal reporting and will help thread better serve child care providers in Alaska. Your individual responses will be used for official reporting purposes only. McKinley has put together reports for Phases 1 and 2, but are waiting until phase 3 to create a comparative analysis. For more information on Phases 1-3 please visit https://www.threadalaska.org/stabilizing-child-care-for-thriving-alaska/.
For the latest information on Stabilization and Relief Funds from the CCPO, please visit our website for recent Broadcasts and updates: https://health.alaska.gov/dpa/Pages/ccare/broadcasts.aspx#20230411.
Monitoring & Tracking
As part of implementing the ARPA Stabilization- tracking, monitoring, and auditing go along with it. We have been working with our federal oversight agency, internal state quality assurance team to discuss what that will look like for stabilization grants. As noted, we have requested in all phases of ARPA stabilization that you keep track of expenses, receipts, numbers, etc., in the case of an Audit. Audit season will be coming up, addressing all Phases of stabilization, spent and unspent. Monitoring will occur monthly with a random sample of providers being chosen and we will ask for receipts on purchases to ensure they were within allowable use categories.
This process is not fully developed yet, and when it is we will share the information and guidance with you in our regular ways, town halls, broadcasts, FAQs, etc.
Surveys
Thank you for responding to our Phase 1 & 2 reporting surveys. Watch for the Phase 3 Stabilization Grant Program Utilization Survey following the distribution of funds to eligible programs. Responses will be used in federal reporting and inform development of future funding initiatives. Participation in these surveys is mandatory and a requirement of accepting stabilization grant funding.
In the coming months, thread will be conducting two surveys to gather your feedback. One will be for childcare programs, and one will be for individual early educators. Both will gather information about thread services. These surveys will inform how thread can design future services to best support you. Please be on the lookout for these surveys.
Governor’s Task Force: There may be additional surveys coming from this work, including a Workforce study and Cost of Care study.
Please note that these surveys will not be duplicative. The organizations and driving forces behind the surveys will be aligning their work as best as possible to not repeat data collection.
Other Initiatives
IMPROVE and Community INNOVATION grant applications closed on April 15. You will hear back from thread by June 30, 2023. For more information on those two grant opportunities, visit thread’s websites: www.threadalaska.org/thread/improvefaq-2/ and www.threadalaska.org/thread/innovatefaq/
thread is partnering with the Alaska Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to bring child care programs 15 free webinars to strengthen business practices. These webinars provide up-to-date information for managing your program’s financial, legal, and marketing practices.
After creating an account with the Alaska SBDC, you will have access to these pre-recorded webinars through February 28, 2024 to watch at your own pace. Sign up now. Visit: https://www.threadalaska.org/tech-signup/ for more information.
The CCPO appreciates the opportunity to engage with providers at town hall meetings and thanks you for your continuing commitment to Alaska’s children and families! For questions about this broadcast, please contact the CCPO by phone (907) 269-4500, fax (907) 269-4536, or email ccpo@alaska.gov.