To be eligible for a Keystone STARS Continuous Quality Improvement Award, a regulated child care provider must meet all the following requirements both as of November 30, 2023, and at the time of award payment by the ELRC:
Providers who met the above eligibility criteria as of November 30, 2023, but fail to meet the above criteria at time of the award payment by the ELRC are ineligible.
No. Only certified Child Care Centers, Group Child Care Homes, and Family Child Care Homes are eligible for the award.
If the program is designated as ‘open’ by OCDEL-Certification on November 30, 2023, and the day the ELRC issues payment, the provider is eligible.
Providers should reach out to their ELRC as soon as possible to discuss options prior to February 15, 2024.
Clearance Certificates should be available through the PA Department of Revenue or at the provider’s local tax office and then presented to the ELRC to demonstrate fulfillment of past tax liens/liabilities prior to February 15, 2024. ELRCs will notify OCDEL, who will confirm with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue that all liens/liabilities have been paid in full.
No, your program is not eligible as you currently do not hold a regular Certificate of Compliance from OCDEL-Certification.
OCDEL is providing a policy exception for STAR 1 programs who were actively working to move up to a STAR 2, 3, or 4 designation as of November 30, 2023, and will complete their move-up designation on or before January 12, 2024. To be granted the policy exception, a STAR 1 program must have had an open designation case in the PD Registry system as of November 30, 2023. In addition, these programs must be successful in moving up in STARS as evidenced by a completed designation case in the PD Registry System on or before January 12, 2024.
Eligible providers must submit signed Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letters to their ELRC between December 18, 2023, and February 15, 2024. Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter received electronically or postmarked after February 15, 2024, will not be accepted and the program will not be eligible for an Award.
For reference, a copy of the Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter is available on the Pennsylvania Key website. Eligible providers will receive a Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter specific to their program from their ELRC. Only the site-specific Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter should be read, signed, and returned by programs to their ELRC.
Yes. Electronic signatures are acceptable when completing and signing the Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter.
Providers who think they meet the eligibility criteria for the STARS CQI should receive a Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter from their ELRC beginning December 18, 2023. Providers who think they are eligible for an Award but have not received a letter by January 15, 2024, should contact their ELRC immediately. ELRC contact information can be found on the Pennsylvania Key website.
Yes, the following documents will be available in Spanish:
Yes. The Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter, sent from ELRCs to eligible providers, will include an area in which providers can indicate their declination of the Award. Providers who are choosing to decline the CQI Award will need to sign and return the letter to their ELRC by February 15, 2024.
Yes. Providers may rescind a signed declination if they do so within the application period of December 18, 2023, to February 15, 2024. Providers who choose to rescind their declination should reach out to their ELRC as soon as possible upon making their decision.
Eligible providers do not need to specify why they are declining Award funds.
Eligible providers who misplace their CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter should reach out to their ELRC for a replacement letter. ELRC contact information can be found on the Pennsylvania Key website.
If the ELRC has not yet made payment when the ‘revocation or refuse to renew’ status has been declared by OCDEL-Certification, the provider will be found ineligible and no longer receive CQI Award funds.
Providers who wish to make a change to the amount of the CQI Award they want to accept after they submit their signed letter to the ELRC should contact their ELRC as soon as possible, but no later than February 15, 2024. If the ELRC has not yet made payment, the ELRC can send the program a new letter which the program can complete and return. If the ELRC has already made payment to the program, the program can return grant funds to the ELRC if they have decided to accept a smaller amount or decline the award in total.
The term submission date is the date the ELRC receives the Keystone STARS CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter via email, fax, or via USPS as validated with a postmark. It is NOT the date that a provider signs the Eligibility and Acceptance Letter.
Example: ABC Child Care signs and dates their CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter on January 4, 2024. They email the Letter to the ELRC on January 10, 2024. The submission date for ABC Child Care will be considered January 10, 2024.
Example: 123 Child Care signs and dates their CQI Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter on January 2, 2024. They place their Letter in the mail (USPS) on January 4, 2024. The letter is postmarked January 7, 2024, by the USPS. The Letter is received by the ELRC on January 11, 2024. The submission date for 123 Child Care will be considered as January 7, 2024.
This can include, but is not limited to:
For information on PDO’s, visit pakeys.org/pdos.
For information on Rising STARS Tuition Assistance, visit pakeys.org/keystone-stars/rising-stars.
For information on T.E.A.C.H, visit pacca.org/teach_scholarship.php.
Programs might consider pooling resources and collaborating to accomplish objectives difficult for smaller programs to fund individually. Examples include but not limited to:
No. Any one-time payments or bonuses paid to hourly or salaried staff must be processed through regular payroll operations.
Volunteers and contracted service staff such as cleaning, meal, transportation services, etc. who receive an Internal Revenue Services (IRS) 1099 form, are not eligible to receive a bonus or wage increase using CQI Award funds.
Yes, providing the cost of food is associated with the training event being attended by the program staff or parents.
Federally approved and/or corporate indirect cost rates assessed to affiliated programs are not permissible for the Award.
No. Expenses applied to a prior grant cannot be applied to the CQI Award.
The following are resource documents providers may find helpful:
Changes Occurring between November 30, 2023, and Time of Payment by ELRC
Eligible programs can use the Keystone STARS CQI Award funds for eligible expenses in the following categories:
These categories align with the Keystone STARS Performance Standards and represent the areas most closely associated with quality activity expenditures for ECE programs.
Award funds can be applied to eligible expenses incurred from July 1, 2023, to May 8, 2024.
Additional details on each category are provided below. Programs may wish to review their most recent CQI Plan and/or CQI Plan Annual Update to help identify areas in which the Award funding may best be used to reach their goals. Programs may contact their Keystone STARS Quality Coach for assistance in updating their current CQI Plan.
Staff Qualifications and Professional Development
This category includes the following eligible expenses:
Early Learning coursework and/or professional development that is eligible for funding through the Professional Development Organizations (PDO), Rising STARS Tuition Assistance Award, T.E.A.C.H, and/or the CDA Voucher programs will not be an allowable expense for the CQI Award unless the program can show proof that these funding sources are unavailable.
Early Childhood Education Program
This category includes the following eligible expenses:
* Programs are encouraged to purchase a curriculum and/or developmental assessment tool from the OCDEL approved listings in order to ensure the tools are aligned to Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Standards. The updated listings of OCDEL approved curricula and assessment tools can be found at pakeys.org/approved-curriculum-information-for-keystone-stars. Only OCDEL-approved curricula and developmental assessment tools can be used by programs to meet STARS quality indicators EC 3.4.1 and EC 3.4.2.
**Federal regulations prohibit the use of funds for “construction” or “major renovations,” but will allow funds to be used for “minor remodeling”. More information on minor renovations can be found in the Best Practices in Keystone STARS Financial Award Spending document.
Partnerships with Families and Communities
This category includes the following eligible expenses:
Leadership and Management
This category includes the following eligible expenses:
* When using award funds to pay for additional staff compensation and/or bonuses, providers must also include these amounts when calculating overtime pay for these individuals, as required by the United States Department of Labor. In addition, program employees who receive an hourly and/or salary wage are not permitted to receive a 1099 payment from Award funds. Any increased compensation issued to program employees who receive an hourly and/or salary wage must be reflected on the program’s payroll where the required employer payroll taxes are applied.
Accreditation Costs toward an OCDEL – Approved Alternate Pathway
This category includes the following eligible expenses:
The Keystone STARS CQI Award cannot be used for any of the following expenses. Although the list is not exhaustive, the following is provided for general guidance.
Non-compliance with the requirements of the Keystone STARS Continuous Quality Improvement Award Eligibility and Acceptance Letter could result in the provider being required to return the CQI Award funds to the ELRC.
The following timeline reflects important dates for eligible programs to consider.
Beginning on December 18, 2023, eligible providers will:
Beginning on December 18, 2023, but no later than February 15, 2024, eligible providers must:
Beginning on January 2, 2024, and ending on February 15, 2024, the ELRC will:
Beginning on January 2, 2024, and ending on March 15, 2024, the ELRC will:
Between on January 2, 2024, and ending May 8, 2024, eligible providers will:
No later than May 15, 2024, providers will:
No later than May 31, 2024, providers will:
While providers will not submit receipts to the ELRC (unless requested), providers must keep original receipts for their records. These receipts may be reviewed by the ELRC, OCDEL Program Representatives, and/or state/federal agents for auditing/monitoring purposes. All Award-related documentation must be maintained for 7 years.
Examples of Unallowable Receipt/Invoice Documentation
The following is a listing of documents that are unallowable as a receipt or invoice:
Following payment, the ELRC will monitor a sample of providers who received a CQI Award. Selected programs will need to provide the ELRC with proper verification and documentation of CQI Award spending. If non-compliance is identified during the ELRC monitoring, the program will be obligated to return funds to the ELRC.