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Guide To The Childcare Education And Training Support (CETs) Programme And Administrative Procedures  (September 2012)

Most of the information in this Guide relates to administrative procedures and is primarily aimed at service providers.  However, parents may find some sections helpful.

In this document:

"the Department" means the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and

"Local CCC" means your local City or County Childcare Committee.

A list of the CCCs, together with their telephone numbers, is at Appendix 2.

This guide details how the CETS programme will operate in September 2012. Please note that some of the procedures have changed since last year.

Contents:

1. Overview of CETS Programme
2. Allocation of CETS places.
3. CETS Programme details
4. How the CETS Programme will operate
5. Conditions of the Programme
6. Contracts
7. Parents
8. Documents to sign
9. Payments to Providers
10. Payment Rates
11. Transferring from CETS to ECCE, CETS to CCS
12. Summary

Please read this document carefully as service providers are required under their contract to comply with the procedures outlined herein.
 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS

As the service provider, you are responsible for ensuring that you are implementing the programme correctly.

If you do not comply with the terms and conditions of the programme, you may not receive payment, and you may be required to repay any funding already paid to you.  In addition, your contract with the Department may be withdrawn.

You should not give a parent a CETS place in your service unless:
You have been allocated the place by the CCC after 1st August 2012
AND
You have written evidence from either FÁS or the VEC that the parent is eligible for a CETS place.  (Evidence that the parent is enrolled on a training course is not sufficient.)

 
1. Overview of the CETS programme

The Childcare Education and Training Support programme (CETS) is administered by the Department of Children & Youth Affairs on behalf of FÁS and the VECs. FÁS and the VECs decide who is eligible to avail of the programme, and the main terms and conditions of the programme.

There are about 2,800 places in total available at any one time under the programme. These are divided between FÁS and VEC places, with full-time, part-time and afterschool places available.

The allocation of places under the scheme is managed by the Department, via the City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs). The information is then passed on to Pobal, who make the payments to providers on the Department’s instructions.

2. Allocation of places

The number of CETS places is limited and service providers have no initial allocation of CETS places from September 2012.  CETS providers are not guaranteed to get the same number of places that they had last year, or indeed any places.

To apply for CETS places, you must follow the instructions below and then contact your City / County Childcare Committee (CCC).

If you have a parent in the CETS programme at present whose course continues past August 2012, you must apply to the CCC to keep the place. You will not be paid otherwise. The CCCs will take applications for specific places from 1st August 2012 onwards.

You will be paid for the duration of the course the parent is attending. If the parent leaves an eligible course, you must inform the CCC and payment will cease from the end of the week that the parent left. Where a parent leaves the scheme earlier than originally planned, the provider is not entitled to compensation from the Department or the parent.

The provider may charge the parent additional amounts per week, subject to a maximum amount, and only in accordance with their approved CETS fees policy (see paragraph 10 for further details).

3. CETS Programme details

The objective of the programme is to support parents on certain eligible FÁS and VEC courses by providing subsidised childcare places.

The CETS programme is managed by the Department on behalf of FÁS and the VECs.

Rules of eligibility and terms and conditions of the programme are determined by FÁS and the VECs in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills.

Not all VEC and FÁS places are eligible for CETS.

There are approximately 2,800 places available under the programme. These are divided between FÁS and VEC courses, with full-time, part-time and afterschool places available.

4. How the CETS programme operates

CCCs allocate places on a first-come first-served basis, up to a pre-determined maximum number of places available.

If a parent has contacted their CCC looking for a place and the CCC decides your service is suitable, the CCC will contact you to ask you to take a child under the CETS programme. You are entitled to refuse a place if you are unable to take the child.

Alternatively, a parent may come to you seeking a CETS place.

In either case:

1. Make sure you have a letter issued by FÁS/VEC (on their headed paper) from the parent confirming they are eligible for a CETS place.

2. The letter must contain all of the following information:

• the name of the parent,
• the name of the eligible course
• the start date of the course
• the number of weeks of the course
• confirmation that they are eligible for subsidised childcare under the CETS programme for this course.

NOTE: The Department may stop payment and seek repayment of any monies paid out if the provider does not have adequate proof that a parent is eligible for CETS.

3. Keep a copy of the letter and contact your local County or City Childcare Committee (CCC) to apply for your CETS place.

4. When you apply, the CCC will require the following information:

• Your service’s reference number
• The name of the parent
• The name of the child
• Whether the place is FÁS or VEC
• Whether it is full-time, part-time or afterschool
• The start and finish dates of the course
• A copy of the letter from VEC/FÁS

5. If the parent has any questions about whether they are eligible for CETS, remember that it is FÁS and VEC who decide eligibility. It is up to the parent to contact their local FÁS or VEC office in order to determine their eligibility.

6. Any questions that the service provider has about how the CETS programme operates should be directed to the CCC. 

5. Conditions of the programme

The conditions of the programme are set out in the contract, including the Terms and Conditions at Appendix 1 of the contract. The following should be noted:

• Services offering VEC places under the CETS programme must be open from September 2012 to at least 6th July 2013

• Services offering FÁS places under the CETS programme must be open all year around (except for one week at Christmas)

• Services will not be paid for FÁS CETS places for one week from Christmas to New Year.

6. Contracts

All services which apply to participate in the CETS programme and which meet the qualifying criteria will receive contracts. However, receipt of a contract does not imply that services will be allocated CETS places.

7. Parents

FÁS and VECs will have a list of service providers with CETS places, and will be asked to advise qualifying parents to contact their CCC for placement in childcare services.  Parents who qualify for the programme will be provided with an initial letter from FÁS or the VEC detailing their eligibility.

The CCCs will aim to identify services in contract which can provide suitable place(s), and submit these to the Department.

8. Documents to sign

Parents will have two forms to complete:

1. A CETS Parent Declaration form (including PPS number of parent and child), which should be given to the service provider, who will forward it to the Department (without making a copy). 
2. The weekly sign-in sheet. This should be sent by the service provider to the CCC at the end of each term.

9. Payments to providers

Payments will be made periodically by Pobal to services with eligible CETS places. As far as possible, payments will be made in advance of the due date.

VEC places will be paid for a maximum of 43 weeks in total or for fewer weeks if the course is of a shorter duration or if the parent leaves the course for any reason.

FÁS places will be paid for a maximum of 51 weeks in total or for fewer weeks if the course is of a shorter duration or if the parent leaves the course for any reason.

Holidays: All VEC places are paid for during mid-term breaks, Christmas and Easter.
All FÁS places will be paid for during mid-term breaks and at Easter, but not for the week at Christmas.

Services will not be paid for places once a parent completes or leaves their course. You must inform the CCC when this situation arises.

Payments will be withheld or recovered from services which provide CETS places without adequate evidence that the parents are eligible for places.

10. Payment rates

The payment rates for the programme are set out below.  Services may charge the parent additional fees, subject to a strict maximum.

The rates of payment for FÁS and VEC services will be:

Full-time: €145 per week
Part time: €80 per week
Afterschool: €45 per week
Afterschool with pickup service: €80

The maximum amount that providers may charge to parents per week is:

Full-time: €25 per week
Part time: €15 per week
Afterschool: €5 per week
Afterschool with pickup service: €15

All additional charges for parents availing of CETS places must be detailed in a fees policy drawn up by the provider and approved by the local CCC.

All additional charges for parents must be receipted weekly. Services may not charge for weeks where the service is not open.

11. Transfers from CETS to ECCE or ECCE to CETS

Transfer from the ECCE programme to the CETS programme Where a child who was included in the ECCE programme return takes up a new place under the CETS programme, either within the same childcare service or in a different service, his or her entitlement to ECCE should immediately be transferred to CETS by completing and returning ECCE Form 4 - Transfer from ECCE to CETS Form to the Childcare Directorate.  A copy must be sent to the CCC. If the CETS placement ceases, and the child is to be transferred back to the ECCE programme, ECCE Form 5 - Transfer back to ECCE from CETS must be completed and returned to the Childcare Directorate. A copy must also be sent to the CCC.

Where the child is taking up a CETS place in a different childcare service, the childcare service where the child had been enrolled for the ECCE programme is entitled to continue to receive the ECCE capitation fee for a period of four weeks after the commencement of the CETS place.  Where the child is taking up a CETS place in the same childcare service, the ECCE capitation will cease with effect from the date the CETS place starts.

Transfer from CETS programme to ECCE programmeIf a child is in a CETS place from the start of the pre-school year and the placement ends at a later point in the pre-school year, he or she may enter the ECCE programme in the same service or a different service on submission to Childcare Directorate of the completed ECCE Form 1- New Entrant Form. A copy must be sent to the CCC.

Transfer from one CETS service to another CETS service.Parents may choose to transfer their children from one service to another at any stage during their course.  However, in order to exercise this option, the parent must give written notice of the transfer request to the first provider and the CCC at least 4 weeks in advance of the date of transfer.

The advance notice of 4 weeks is not required where a parent finishes a course and leaves the scheme OR where the parent starts a new course.

Transfer from the CETS programme to the Community Childcare Subvention Programme (CCS), or from the CCS to the CETS programme
A child may not transfer from CETS  to CCS after the October e-return has been submitted.

12. Summary

Summary of the role of the CCCs in relation to the CETS programme• Allocating places
• Point of contact for eligible parents & services
• Sending information to the Department and getting approval
• Informing parents and services of the success of their application
• Collecting the attendance sheets that services complete with the parents and sending out new ones

Summary of steps to be carried out by parent• The eligible parent gets a letter from FÁS / the VEC regarding their eligibility for a CETS place, and contacts a provider and / or the CCC to get a suitable CETS place
• Once they start a course, the parent will provide a letter to the service from FÁS / VEC saying they have started the course
• The parent completes a CETS Parent Declaration form and gives it to the provider
• The parent signs an attendance sheet every week

Summary of steps to be carried out by provider• The provider applies to participate in the CETS programme and signs their contracts and returns them
• The provider applies to the CCC for places for qualifyinf parents as the need arises
• The provider keeps copies of letters from the parent confirming their eligibility and participation in courses
• The provider sends on the CETS Parent Declaration form to the Department
• The provider gets the parent to sign the attendance sheet every week and sends it at the end of each term to the CCC

Summary of Department’s role• Sends the providers the draft contracts, co-signs the signed contracts and sends one copy back to the provider
• Approves requests from the CCCs for places or swaps of existing places
• Checks the PPS information in the CETS Parent Declaration forms for control purposes
• Provides relevant information to Pobal so services can be paid
• Maintains responsibility for finance, audit, terms and conditions etc of the CETS programme on behalf of FÁS and VEC.
 

APPENDIX 1 - FORMS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT

Parent Declaration FormThis is available from the childcare provider and is given to parent when a CETS place is approved.  The completed form, including details of the PPS numbers of the parent and the child, is forwarded to the Department.

Sign in Sheets These are available from the CCC when a CETS place is approved. The sign in sheet is signed in the service by the parent and is normally for a term at a time. The sign in sheet is returned to CCC at end of each term.

Transfer from ECCE to CETS or CETS to ECCE:

ECCE Form 4 – Transfer from ECCE to CETS

ECCE Form 5 – Transfer from CETS to ECCE

ECCE Form 1 - New Entrant Form

 APPENDIX 2 - City/County Childcare Committees (CCCs)