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School‑age care coordinator asks board to certify program to accept childcare assistance
Summary
Amber, Cleveland’s school‑age care coordinator, asked the board to certify the district’s license‑exempt school‑age care program so it can accept county Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) payments, saying certification would expand access but require additional paperwork and state monitoring.
Amber, the Cleveland school‑age care coordinator, told the board the district’s school‑age care program should become a certified license‑exempt program so it can accept county CCAP payments and serve more families in the district. “Once we're certified, we can accept childcare payments from any county,” Amber said, adding that the district already uses ProCare for minute‑level attendance and that capability would help meet billing requirements.
Amber outlined the tradeoffs: certification would require more documentation, weekly billing tied to accurate attendance, additional staff training and state monitoring by the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families. She recommended naming an authorized agent (naming Michelle Widmer as a likely candidate) and said the program would remain license‑exempt but subject to certification monitoring. Amber estimated current program enrollment has been small ("only had 10 families") and projected CCAP participation could represent about 20% of enrolled students, and said the program plans to cap enrollment at about 90 for the coming year.
