SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE
Department of Health & Social Services
Child Care Program Office
Notice of *New* public comment and hearing
on the
Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan
The Child Care Program Office (CCPO) is soliciting public comment on Alaska’s Draft 2019-2021 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Plan, which will be submitted to the federal Administration for Children & Families (ACF), Office of Child Care.
The CCDF Plan is due on August 31, 2018 (originally due June 30, 2018, see NOTE below). This CCDF Plan must be approved by the federal government and is how Alaska receives its share of federal block grant funds for child care. The state of Alaska’s allocation for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2018 is over $17 million in block grant funds under this program.
The CCDF Plan is the primary mechanism ACF uses to determine Alaska’s compliance with requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 and the associated Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) final rule of 2016. The CCDF Plan describes Alaska’s progress on the following sections:
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Define CCDF leadership and coordination with relevant systems;
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Promote family engagement and consumer education;
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Provide stable child care financial assistance to families;
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Ensure equal access to child care for low-income children;
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Establish standards and monitoring processes to ensure the health and safety of childcare settings;
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Recruit and retain a qualified and effective child care workforce;
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Support continuous quality improvement; and
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Ensure grantee program integrity and accountability.
This three-year plan describes the overall services and activities administered by the State of Alaska Division of Public Assistance, Child Care Program Office through the following programs: Child Care Assistance; Alaska Inclusive Child Care (Alaska IN!); Child Care Licensing; Child Care Grant; and Child Care Resource and Referral.
As part of the CCDF Plan approval process, we are putting the draft plan out for public notice. You may comment on the draft CCDF Plan by submitting written comments to the Department of Health & Social Services, Child Care Program Office, 3601 C Street, Suite 140, Anchorage, AK 99503. The department will also accept comments by fax at (907) 269-4536 and email at samantha.ray@alaska.gov. Comments must be received not later than 5 p.m. on August 30, 2018.
Oral and written comments may also be submitted during the public hearing on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at the Frontier Building, 3601 C Street, Room 880, Anchorage, AK 99503. Those unable to attend in person may participate via toll-free teleconference by calling 1-800-633-8625, access code/reservation #: 21892946.
Persons with a disability who need a special accommodation to participate should contact Samantha Ray at samantha.ray@alaska.gov or (907) 269-4681 by August 22, 2018 to ensure necessary accommodations are made.
A copy of Alaska’s draft 2019-2021 CCDF Plan is available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System at https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/default.aspx and on the Child Care Program Office website at: http://dhss.alaska.gov/dpa/Pages/ccare/regs.aspx. You may also obtain a copy by contacting Samantha Ray at samantha.ray@alaska.gov or (907) 269-4681.
NOTE: Alaska’s draft 2019-2021 Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) plan was originally posted to the Alaska Online Notice System for public comment May 29, 2018 – June 30, 2018.
The federal Office of Child Care was delayed in receiving OMB approval of the final Preprint so the deadline for submission of FFY 2019-2021 CCDF Plans was extended to August 31, 2018.
The CCPO is re-noticing the fully completed draft 2019-2021 CCDF Plan using the final Preprint that will be used for submission of the plan by August 31, 2018. The draft plan has also been updated to reflect the current status of the regulation changes to 7 AAC 57 Child Care Facilities Licensing.
All comments previously provided do not have to be resubmitted.
We apologize for any inconvenience, appreciate your understanding, and value your input.